Saturday, January 12, 2013

The 49th Parallel and Pembina

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To wrap it all up: It 1823 the United States Army dispatched Major Stephen H. Long to Pembina (PEM-bih-naw) to officially locate the 49th ...
Friday, January 11, 2013

John Jacob Astor and the North Dakota Fur Trade

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England's Hudson's Bay Company was chartered in 1670 and was the first established in North America.  About 1774 they moved inland t...
Thursday, January 10, 2013

Now That The Packages Have Been Opened

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Now that all the Christmas gifts have been opened back in Texas, I can show folks what keeps me busy during the day in North Dakota as a...
Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Fur Sales in Europe

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Land 'o gumption!  Look at the HATS the men were wearing back in Europe in the 1600's!!  No WONDER they wanted to start wearing ...
Tuesday, January 8, 2013

The Ox Cart Trade

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By the 1840's, after the establishment of the 49th Parallel as the border between Canada and the U.S. and after the English and French h...
Monday, January 7, 2013

Packing the Furs

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Trappers couldn't change the weight of the hides, but they could have a bit of control over the size of the bundles.  This is a fur pres...
Sunday, January 6, 2013

The Chippewa (or Ojibwe) and Fur Trappers

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Pembina soon became the center of a vast trade territory whose main object of commerce was furs taken mostly from the Dakota side of the R...
Saturday, January 5, 2013

Furry Critters

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Even after the coming of man (especially the white man), the area abounded in furry critters, (Not like that, Granpa!  Up close like ...
Friday, January 4, 2013

Earliest Settlers in North Dakota

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We are talkin' ear-r-r-rly settlers, as in 5500 B.C. to 400 B.C.  Now, this is positively before Al Gore came up with Global Warming, b...
Thursday, January 3, 2013

Pembina, North Dakota

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Pembina (pronounced PEM-bih-naw) is the oldest settlement in the Dakota Territories.  It got its name from the Indian words "ane pemina...
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Wednesday, January 2, 2013

The Border

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Did you know that Napoleon was defeated in the Spring of 1814? After defeating Napoleon, the British plan was to move all of their troo...
Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Gettin' Closer !

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As we move on toward the border, through stands of frozen trees... and open fields ... with ... what's this? why!  It's...
Monday, December 31, 2012

Headed to The Canadian Border

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So, it's December 15th, and we finally decide to brave the weather and head north to the border. It's foggy with dry, blowing sn...
Thursday, December 27, 2012

Christmas Gifting

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Well, Granpa and Granny Beth conspired and combined to give me a treadmill for Christmas!  Granny Beth noted that it will only work if I get...
Monday, December 24, 2012

The Best Gift-Giving

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As I try to remember Christmas (and birthdays) past, it occurs to me that I don't remember the gifts - I remember the people.  As I'...
Saturday, December 22, 2012

Gift Giving

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I'm not a good gift giver.  Never have been.  Seems I never will be.  One of our daughters-in-law says my language of love is food becau...
Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Columbine, Colorado

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On Thursday, Darrell Scott, the father of Rachel Scott, a victim of the Columbine High School shootings in Littleton, Colorado, was invited...
Monday, December 17, 2012

Wonderful, Healing Balm

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Twas' 11 days before Christmas, around 9:38 when 20 beautiful children stormed through heaven's gate. Their smiles were contagiou...
Sunday, December 16, 2012

Evil

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Maybe the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut will make people admit Evil exists, Evil is THE reason. Once they realize that, they'll as...
Friday, December 14, 2012

Newtown, Connecticut

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Newtown, Connecticut: The school was supposed to be locked down 10 minutes before the gunman arrived. It's not the gun's fault,...