Minot Daily News SATURDAY, APRIL 3, 2021
History
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Y EARS OF DEVELOPMENT
Submitted Photo
ABOVE: This photo shows the Minot fair in 1941. 1966 marked the first year of the official North Dakota State Fair held in Minot. MDN File Photo
TOP LEFT: : Minot was named for Henry D. Minot, an associate of Great Northern Railway “Empire Builder” James J. Hill,
Minot got its start with railroad pushing through area By ELOISE OGDEN
Regional Editor eogden@minotdailynews.com inot, in the valley of the Souris River, or the Mouse as some prefer to call it, got its name through the influence of the Great Northern Railway “Empire Builder” James J. Hill whose railroad pushed through this area in the late 1880s as it moved westward. The city was named after a Bostonian, Henry Davis Minot, who tragically lost his life in a railroad accident when he was 31 years old. Henry D. Minot was an eastern investor and associate of Hill. He reportedly never set eyes on the Mouse
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Jill Schramm/MDN
LEFT MAIN: The railroad has had an important role in Minot throughout history. This photo is looking south on Main Street in downtown Minot in this June 2020 photo. River Valley. He was also an ornithologist and friend of Theodore Roosevelt. Minot, a rather “young” city compared to many others in the United States, “has grown from wild and woolly, devil-may-care formative years to an age its constituents herald as respectable and progressive” wrote the late Bob Anderson of The Minot Daily News in a story published in a June 30, 1964, issue of the newspaper commemorating North Dakota’s 75th anniversary of the admission of North Dakota to the Union. The story went on to explain: “Business and building followed the railroad boom. Tarpaper shacks grew into Main Street buildings sub-
GEM IN THE
stantial dry goods and general stores grew into being, carbon lights illuminated the streets, the few there were. “The homesteaders were here making their claims and enhancing the growing business of the community. “In 1907, Minot labeled itself as “Northwest North Dakota’s largest commercial center.” (In 1890, a year after North Dakota became a state, the population of Minot was 575. In 1962, when a special federal census was taken Minot’s population was 33,477. Other population totals have been: 1900, 1,277; 1910, 6,188; 1920, 10,476; 1930, 16,099; 1940, 16,577; 1950, 22,032; and 1960, 30,604. Counting Minot Air
M INOT
Roosevelt Park Zoo: A special part of Minot history
Force Base and developed areas immediately outside the city limits, it’s estimated that between 45,000 and 50,000 persons now reside in Minot and nearby, according to the June 30, 1964, edition of The Minot Daily News.) Minot was growing by leaps and bounds, and new businesses were continually being erected. The story continued: “It was still the railroad influence for the city. As the city grew, so did the railroad, which now has its $6 million Gavin Yard east of Minot. “Prohibition had its effect on the city and, whether good or bad, brought some money into the area. Minoters resorted to their “blind pigs”
COMMUNITY
and the city gained somewhat of a reputation as “Little Chicago.” It was on the gin mill run from Chicago and Minneapolis to Regina, Saskatchewan. “Maybe that railroad conductor wasn’t all wrong when he used to yell ‘Minot, next stop. Prepare to meet your God.’ “Carbon lights and neon lights weren’t all the lights Minot had. It had its share of red lights. Minot’s “Third Street” with its houses of ill repute was known throughout a wide area. “Through the efforts of the Junior Chamber of Commerce, highway construction and the city’s illuminating See MINOT — Page 2
By ELOISE OGDEN
Regional Editor eogden@minotdailynews.com “Minot is to have a zoo. This will delight the youngsters and some of the older boys and girls as well,” the Ward County Independent newspaper in Minot reported in April 1914. Roosevelt Park Zoo is the oldest public zoo in the state of North Dakota The history of the zoo dates back to 1914 when a decision was made to open a zoo in Minot. In the winter of 1914-15 a road was constructed through Riverside Park and the zoo was started. The first animals in the zoo reportedly were 12 fox squirrels and 12 gray squirrels. The park board decided to buy two buffalo in South Dakota (a bull and a cow for a cost of about $600), some coyotes, foxes, bears and raccoons. Plans were to also install a cage of monkeys during the summer. Park board members said the parks already had the squirrels. The first animals for the zoo arrived in February 1915, at Riverside Park. A 1927 Minot Parks souvenir book said the zoo had several families of monkeys, buffalo, elk, deer, African lions, mountain lions, kangaroos, bobcats, raccoons, lynx, coati, badgers, foxes, guinea pigs, 21 kinds of wild ducks, eagles, silver black foxes, flying squirrels, swans, alligator, pheasants, talking parrots, cockatoos and others. The Zoological Building, now the Aviary, was built in 1921. The first exotic animals, a pair of Nubian lions purchased for $250, arrived between 1924 and 1930. On Sept. 11, 1924, Riverside Park was renamed Theodore Roosevelt Park and a bronze statue of Theodore Roosevelt on his horse was dedicated.
Submitted Photo
TOP RIGHT: This photo of the Zoological Building is undated but the vehicles at the left side of the photo indicate it is likely from the 1920s. The building was opened to the public in December 1921.
Eloise Ogden/MDN
ABOVE: Roosevelt Park Zoo, the oldest public zoo in North Dakota, is observing its centennial this year. The centennial is based on the zoo’s first building. The Zoological Building now is the zoo’s Aviary. Darius T. Ritchey, who was parks superintendent from 19451971, is often credited for helping to grow the zoo. The Minot Park Board broke ground in August 1972 for a new feline house for the large cats in the zoo. The facility was financed with the help of the Greater Minot Zoological Society, the City of Minot and many donations. A nonprofit organization, the Greater Minot Zoological Soci-
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ety, created in 1970 to promote the zoo, later changed its name to the Zoo Crew. About a year ago the organization went back to its original Greater Minot Zoological Society name. A children’s zoo was opened a number of years ago within the main zoo. Reached by a walk-bridge, the area covers about a halfSee ZOO — Page 4
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Minot Daily News • PROGRESS: History
Saturday, April 3, 2021
Jill Schramm/MDN
Minot
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the area, ‘Third Street’ today is but a memory a past history of a rather rambunctious youth.” Minot civic leaders looked toward the future and “knew that in order to attain a unity of effort, there must be agreement.” The 1964 story reported: “They have proved that principle in grabbing the first major military installation to come to North Dakota, the multi-million Minot Air Force Base. They gave inspiration to others for development of the Garrison diversion project. They’re still fighting the federal government for a new federal building, unwilling to take a new post office and a revamped federal building for an answer. “Minot grew from a onestreet railroad boom town in 1887 to a broadening eightstory high business boom town of 1964, termed as early as 1949 as a ‘metropolis.’” The 1964 story in The Minot Daily News related: “A Saturday Evening Post writer in a series of articles on ‘America’s most colorful cities’ said, ‘The word ‘metropolis’ can be applied, oddly, to at lest one town of only 25,000 people, Minot, in northwestern North Dakota. The town serves as a capital of a region larger than most states ... united by economy, geology and rough weather... “Today, Minot blandly claims that its trade area reaches 600 miles east and west, 350 miles north and south. “At population of 35,000 plus, ranking as the largest North Dakota city west of the
Minot’s Broadway has had numerous changes over the years. This photo shows Broadway in October 2020. Red River Valley, Minot as the mature adult, pounds its chest with pride. “The arms of the city reach wide and long, full of strength. “They encompass a major lignite mines area: they develop the city as an important center for grain marketing and as a livestock market center; they carry petroleum and petroleum products pipelines. “In line with the ‘Why Not Minot?’ philosophy, civic promoters have diligently launched a campaign to get the single North Dakota State Fair in Minot, pointing with pride to the Minot fair plant and noting Minot draws the biggest fair crowds in the state, totaling 110,000 plus in a week.” (1966 marked the first year of the one and only official North Dakota State Fair held in Minot.) Since that 1964 story and North Dakota’s 75th anniversary, Minot has been through floods including two major ones in 1969 and 2011. Work in the city is continuing as a result of the 2011 flood. The city has also gone through a deadly train derailment on Jan. 18, 2002. The derailment occurred at 1:40 a.m. on the western outskirts of Minot and resulted in a massive anhydrous ammonia leak. Thirty-one rail cars derailed in the incident. An oil boom in recent years brought many people to Minot and area communities. A new airport terminal was built in the city, officially opening in February 2016, and numerous hotels were constructed along with numerous new businesses, apartment buildings and houses. Minot’s population soared and hit around the 50,000 mark.
When the 2011 flood hit, hundreds of homes and businesses were extensively damaged. Housing became tight. The aftermath of the flood brought another wave of construction to the city as homes and businesses were reconstructed and others newly built. The drop in oil prices a few years ago led to the closure of some businesses and some people who had worked in the oil field were laid off from their jobs left the city. Besides the North Dakota State Fair and the State Parade held in Minot each July, the city also is home to Norsk Hostfest, a major Scandinavian festival, held in the fall. The city also is home to Roosevelt Park Zoo, the oldest public zoo in North Dakota; the Dakota Territory Air Museum with World War II aircraft and other displays and events honoring the men, women and machines that have impacted the rich history of aviation; and the Railroad Museum of Minot with stories and displays about railroading in the area. The Magic City Discovery Center for children is moving forward with construction this year. There’s also a wide range of events and other activities in the city. Many facilities and events or other activities were not held or open due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Minot also has a wide range of educational facilities from Minot State University to public and parochial schools. The city’s current population hovers around slightly over 47,000, according to 2019 U.S. Census estimates. What’s ahead for the future of Minot is yet to be seen.
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Minot Daily News • PROGRESS: History
THRIVING COMMUNITIES
By ELOISE OGDEN
Regional Editor eogden@minotdailynews.com “Empire Builder” James J. Hill’s Great Northern Railway ended its push through northern Dakota Territory for the winter in 1886 after having difficulty constructing a trestle across a coulee west of today’s city of Minot. When construction halted on the railroad, a tent town sprang up and over the next few months, its population grew to more than 5,000 residents. The townsite for Minot was selected in 1886 on land owned by Erik Ramstad, who settled here in 1883, according to the 1966 edition of “Origins of North Dakota Place Names” Situated in the deep valley of the Souris (Mouse) River, the town was named for Henry D. Minot, a railroad investor and friend of James J. Hill. Henry D. Minot also was an ornithologist and Harvard classmate and friend of Theodore Roosevelt. The railroad history of North Dakota goes back to territorial days. Before the coming of the railroads during the early 1870s, transportation in northern Dakota Territory was limited to river and overland stage or ox cart travel, according to the National Register of Historic Places. But no single factor has contributed more to the settlement and development of North Dakota and the northwest than the railroads, according to Dennis J. Lutz, MD, in an article about Railroad History of Ward County for a centennial history book. He said railroads brought people, supplies and transportation to the remote western territories and provided markets for what the settlers had to sell. The first railroad to enter North Dakota was the Northern Pacific when it reached Moorhead, Minn., across the river from Fargo in the 1870s, then proceeded west. By 1873, the railroad had reached Bismarck. Soon the Northern Pacific had competition with the Great Northern Railway. Great Northern was developed from the St. Paul and Pacific. James J. Hill, railroad entrepreneur and founder of the Great Northern, pushed his railroad west, creating a transcontinental railroad. His line reached
Photos by Eloise Ogden/MDN
TOP LEFT: BNSF trains on the tracks in northeast Minot are shown in this December 2013 photo. MAIN: Crude oil tank cars on the Canadian-Pacific Railway line at Max are shown in this April 2016 photo. Williston in 1887. The mainline linking North Dakota to the Pacific Ocean was completed in 1893. A second major railroad, the Soo Line, officially the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault St. Marie Railway, brought more prosperity to Ward County, with Minot enjoying a reputation as the rail center of northwestern North Dakota, Lutz reported. Other major railroads built in the state included the Chicago and Northwestern and the ChicagoMilwaukee and St. Paul. Many towns popped up as the railroad was built in the state. Some towns that already were formed moved closer to the railroad. “Old Ryder,” which began as “Centerville,” existed for three years without a railroad. When the Soo Line decided to extend its branch from Max west, the townsite was moved four miles north to a new site and new Ryder began, according to the Ryder Golden Jubilee book. That railroad line was completed as far as Ryder in November 1906, and the first train, a steel train, arrived Nov. 7. A blizzard then blocked the line completely. “Toward spring the railroad sent a rotary snowplow to open the line and when the train arrived in Ryder, it carried one carload of supplies – bottled beer! However, the citizens were so happy to see the first train that they threw a welcoming party for the train crew which delayed them several hours before moving
west, resulting in the superintendent of the division discharging the entire crew. It took a petition signed by nearly everyone in town to get the men reinstated to their jobs,” according to the city’s anniversary book. The railroad brought many settlers to North Dakota. Individuals, many with families, heard land was available in North Dakota for filing on a homestead and traveled to North Dakota in the early 1900s. Railroad cars were loaded with the belongings of families and they set out for North Dakota. Some could speak little or no English and had very little money to buy food for themselves and their families. When they got as far as they could by train, they might load all their belongings on an ox-drawn wagon to make their journey across the prairie to reach wherever they planned to establish a new home. The railroads tied North Dakota to the grain markets in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Settlement progressed as the rail lines extended through the state and the railroads promoted the region, also bringing supplies to the settlers. The railroads “created” North Dakota, said D. Jerome Tweton, in “Railroads Open Dakota for Settlement.” With a central location Minot was chosen for the Great Northern’s Gavin Yard just east of the city. Now the huge yard is in use by Great Northern’s successor Burlington Northern Santa Fe – BNSF. Today BNSF and the Canadian
Pacific (CP) Railway are the major railroads serving the area. Some short line railroads also continue to operate in the state. Today’s BNSF Railway is the product of nearly 400 different railroad lines that merged or were acquired over the course of 160 years, according to BNSF information. In 1990, Canadian Pacific took control of the Soo Line, which had absorbed the Milwaukee Road in 1985 and the Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway in 1982. Amtrak provides the passenger train service to this area, using BNSF track. Over the years, railroads have been and continue to be an important means to move North Dakota’s crops to ports on both coasts Crude oil has also grown in importance as a rail-transported commodity. With the recent years of the Bakken oil boom, rail loading facilities were built in a number of locations in and near the oil fields in western North Dakota. In 2020, news was made in Minot when the city became the host of the state’s only intermodal operation. Within hours of a news conference announcing Rail Modal Group Minot as the new operator for the intermodal rail service, the first shipping containers were on their way to the nearby AGT Foods. The facility, to reduce shipping costs for agricultural producers and other industries in the Great
Plains, provides service to the ports of Seattle and Tacoma in Washington. It gives producers and processors the opportunity to ship their products worldwide instead of just going to local and regional markets, according to Greg Oberting, president of RMG Minot. In the area CHS SunPrairie and TriGen Ag Partners have built or are building shuttle grain terminals. CHS SunPrairie’s 1-millionbushel Wiley Terminal, completed in July 2018, is located just northeast of Lansford along U.S. Highway 83. The new facility sits on 180 acres and has a circle track for around 120 cars. CHS SunPrairie also has rail terminals at Minot and Bowbells. Currently, a shuttle grain terminal with loop track is being built at Ryder in southwest Ward County by TriGen Ag Partners LLC. PlazaMakoti Equity Elevator merged with Max Farmers Elevator this past year. TriGen Ag Partners LLC, a newly formed LLC, consists of Agrex Inc. of Minneapolis and the cooperative. The project includes the shuttle grain terminal with 1.050 million storage capacity and slightly more than 10,000 feet of track. The train loader will be capable of loading 140 rail cars. Plans are to have it up and running for harvest this year. The railroad created the city of Minot and many other area communities, and continues to be a major factor in helping make many North Dakota communities thrive.
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Minot Daily News • PROGRESS: History
OF THE PLAINS
Tribes’ history goes back centuries
By ELOISE OGDEN
Regional Editor eogden@minotdailynews.com The Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation (Three Affiliated Tribes) of the Fort Berthold Reservation in western North Dakota and the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa on the Turtle Mountain Reservation in northern North Dakota are among five federally recognized tribes and one Indian community located in the state of North Dakota. The headquarters of the MHA Nation is west of New Town, about 75 miles southwest of Minot, and Belcourt, headquarters of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa is about 109 miles northeast of Minot. The other tribes in North Dakota are the Spirit Lake Nation on the Spirit Lake Reservation, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe on the Standing Rock Reservation, a reservation straddling the North Dakota and South Dakota border, and the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Nation on the Sisseton-Wahpeton Reservation. The Trenton Indian Service Area, west of Williston, was established in the 1970s for tribal members to maintain their identity with the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Tribe. “In total, there are 31,329 American Indians living in North Dakota, making up 4.9% of the total population. Almost sixty percent live on reservations and over forty percent of these American Indians are under the age of 20,” according to the North Dakota Indian Affairs Commission. Nationwide, there are over 500 federally recognized tribes – each with its own history, culture and language. A 1931 published history of North Dakota states which tribe of Indians first occupied North Dakota is not known definitely, but it seems probable that the first occupants within historical times were Mandans and Hidatsas. The Arikara and Chippewa/Ojibway arrived later. Fort Berthold Reservation and Turtle Mountain Reservation are the two reservations closest to Minot. The histories of the tribes on these two reservation date back many years.
In 1851, the Fort Laramie Treaty established the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. The reservation’s 12 million acres stretched from the Missouri to beyond the Yellowstone River in Montana but by the 1880s, the allotment system of private land ownership reduced the size of the reservation to about 1 million acres. In 1910, the U.S. government confiscated a large section of land from the reservation. Another reduction in the size of the reservation occurred in the 1950s when the United States built the Garrison Dam, creating the 152,300-acre Lake Sakakawea, dividing the reservation. The lake inundated much of the land, farms and homes and forced many families to uproot and move to drier land. As a result of the most recent oil boom, the tribe and a number of its enrolled members are recipients of royalties. The reservation produces about 20 percent of the Bakken oil in North Dakota. Mark Fox is the current chairman of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation.
Turtle Mountain Reservation
Eloise Ogden/MDN
MIDDLE: “Both horses and guns had an immediate and significant impact on the tribes of the Plains. People hunted bison more efficiently, traveled longer and farther, and warriors became faster and deadlier,” according to information posted with this artwork in the North Dakota Heritage Center and State Museum in Bismarck. MDN File Photos
TOP LEFT: Discussing solutions to road conditions and other problems within the Fort Berthold area are, from the left, Rolland McMaster, New Town mayor; August Little Soldier, tribal business council chairman; Fred Massey, Washington, D.C., assistant to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs; Adrian Foote, council vice chairman; Gary Gorder, president of the Fort Berthold Reservation New Town Development Corp.; and Sanford Sand, president of the New Today’s Fort Berthold Reservation is in Town Chamber of Commerce, shown in this August 1967 photo. Dunn, McLean, McKenzie, Mountrail, Ward TOP RIGHT: Francis Cree, center, of the Turtle Mountain Reservation, administers the sun dance to pass the tradition on to young Indians, and Mercer counties. The Mandans made their way to the shown in this June 1985 photo.
upper Missouri River from the Ohio Valley earlier than other tribes, according to “North Dakota History” published in 1931. It is believed they first touched the Missouri River at the mouth of the White River and then moved upstream. By 1750 and probably years before, they reached the Heart River. They had nine villages at the time – several on the west side of the Missouri and two on the east side. Lewis and Clark in 1804-1805, found the nine villages of the Mandans reduced to two villages – one on each side of the river. Conflicts with the Sioux and Assiniboin and smallpox pandemics in 1782 and 1837 reduced the number of the Mandans so the tribe moved to the vicinity of Stanton on the mouth of the Knife River where they occupied a village near the Hidatsa, according to “History of North Dakota.” When the Hidatsa moved from the mouth of the Knife River to Fort Berthold in 1845 the Mandans also moved in several migrations. Only an estimated 125 Mandans of a total population of
Zoo
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acre area and resembles a farmyard with a barn. Roosevelt Park Zoo has survived near closure during the Depression and in later years when its operating money was low. It has gone through major flooding of the Souris River, most recently in 2011, when animals and birds had to be evacuated, some going to other zoos during that time. The flood of 1969 caused every bird and animal to be moved from the zoo which led to the redesign of the zoo grounds. The foot bridge, a feline house, and a new bear den were constructed, according to zoo information. Zoo births attract many visitors. A few of the significant births include: – Two lion cubs born in April 1930 were the first such cubs born in the Minot zoo. – A baby kangaroo born at the zoo in 1956 was believed to be the first kangaroo ever born in North Dakota. – The birth of tiger cubs in the 1960s parented by the zoo’s first pair of tigers initiated the zoo’s first involvement in a tiger breeding program. – A Grant zebra foal born at
Saturday, April 3, 2021
about 1,600 were left after the smallpox pandemic of 1837. Originally part of the Crow people, the Hidatsa lived when first known to the whites at the mouth of the Knife River in close association with the Mandans and Arikara, according to “History of North Dakota.” About 1750 the Hidatsa lived near the mouth of the Heart River in close proximity to the Mandans, who also had villages at that point. Before 1796 the Hidatsa and Mandans moved to the vicinity of the Knife River, where Lewis and Clark found them in 1804. At that time the Hidatsa occupied three villages immediately bordering the Knife River on the west side of the Missouri and the Mandans lived in two villages a few miles down on opposite sides of the river. The three Hidatsa villages had a population of 2,100 at the time of the Lewis and Clark expedition but the smallpox epidemic of 1837 reduced their numbers so those in
Zoo Centennial Remembrance book
Roosevelt Park Zoo is celebrating its centennial year this year. The celebration is based on when the zoo’s first building, the Zoological Building now the Aviary at the zoo, was completed and opened to the public in 1921. The Minot Daily News is collaborating with the zoo to produce a centennial remembrance book to be released this summer. Watch for more information about the book. the zoo in August 1984 was the first zebra ever born in a North Dakota zoo. Photos of the foal and its mother were printed in newspapers across the country. There’s been some “celebrities” at the zoo over the years. Tigers purchased for the zoo performed in the Clyde Beatty, Shrine and Gil Gray circuses. The Minot Daily News reported a lion purchased for the zoo in the 1960s was the second cat in the world that could walk a tightrope. A cougar born at the zoo in 1981 was the star performer of Bob Steele Animal Productions in Florida in promotional advertising for Lincoln-Mercury dealers. The Minot Daily News also reported the cat, named Beaux, was trained to ride a motorcycle and sit at a bar and drink from a glass. Beaux appeared on the TV show, “That’s Incredible,” in November 1983.
Two mascots of the former 5th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Minot Air Force Base lived at the zoo for a number of years. “Liberty” and “Eagle,” a brother-sister pair, were donated to the zoo when the squadron deactivated in 1983. At the air base, the cats were always known as “the mascots” or “the lynx mascots” but actually they were bobcats (Lynx rufus) and not lynx. Col. Jack Broughton, a 5th Fighter Interceptor Squadron commander, was responsible for getting the live mascots for the squadron in 1963. Both cats are no longer living. Throughout the following years to the present, additions of new animals, new exhibits and the participation in the Species Survival Program have greatly enhanced the zoo. The zoo is accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums. Minot’s zoo was a free zoo for many years. In December
the three villages united to form one. In 1845 they moved up river and settled at Fort Berthold. The Arikara, an agricultural tribe, were found by French traders as early as 1770 living below the Cheyenne River in South Dakota, according to “History of North Dakota.” They were pushed northward along the Missouri River from South Dakota by the Sioux. In 1804 Lewis and Clark found them, reduced in numbers, living in three villages between the Grand and the Cannon Ball. By 1851 they had moved up to the vicinity of the Knife River. Wars with the Sioux and smallpox pandemics almost wiped out some of their villages so those left consolidated and united. The smallpox epidemic of 1837-38 devastated the three tribes. The three tribes came together in Like-a-Fishhook Village, but maintained tribal identity. 1979 the Minot Park Board voted to charge admission to the zoo. In November 2016, the Minot Rotary Club held a rededication to thank community partners for the refurbishment of Soo Line steam locomotive No. 735 at its site at the zoo. The locomotive was dedicated 60 years earlier on Nov. 5, 1956. During the winter of 20162017 the zoo remained open on certain days unless weather did not permit it. The winter opening offered visitors a different type of zoo experience to summer, according to Becky Dewitz, zoo director at that time. She said some animals, like the wolves are much more active when its colder. More plans to increase visitors’ experience at the zoo were planned starting with the 2017 zoo season. “We’re going to try to do more demonstrations about the animal training program and hands-on interactions with some of our animal ambassadors with our animal outreach program,” Dewitz said. In December 2017, Ron Merritt, Minot Parks executive director, Jennifer Shirley, vice president of the Minot Zoo Crew, now Greater Minot Zoological Society and chairman of the Centennial Capital Campaign, announced the launch
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The Turtle Mountain Reservation is located in Rolette County and has a land base of about 12 miles by six miles. The Chippewa or Ojibway moved from the eastern Great Lakes region to the northern Great Plains in the 1600s, about the same time as the first French traders and missionaries, according to historical accounts. They became heavily involved in the fur trade late in the 17th century and started moving west to Wisconsin, Minnesota, the Red River and beyond. Failing in 1868 an attempt to establish a native state in Manitoba, Canada, in 1882, the Turtle Mountain Band requested official recognition from the U.S. government. The band received the 10 million-acre Turtle Mountain Reservation in 1882. Two years later, the federal government decided most of the population was from Canada and reduced the size of the reservation. The federal government finally agreed in 1904 to compensate the tribe for the confiscated land. The Turtle Mountain Chippewa received $1 million, or 10 cents per acre, for their land. The Burke Act of 1906 allotted land back to the tribe, according to historical accounts. Because there was not enough land inside the reservation, the allotments came from the public domain in South Dakota and Montana, far away from the Turtle Mountain Reservation. Many of the Chippewas who moved to the allotments never returned to the Turtle Mountain Reservation. Belcourt, tribal headquarters, is on the reservation. Many tribal members also live in communities off the reservation. The Trenton Indian Service Area, an agency of the Turtle Mountain Reservation, was established in the 1970s to manage the Chippewa land allotments in northeastern Montana and northwestern North Dakota. Jamie Azure is the current chairman of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. Today, the Three Affiliated Tribes and Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and other tribes in North Dakota are active in economic development and other ways to benefit tribal members. Strong efforts are also made to carry on traditions including culture and history for future generations.
of the community’s part in a three-phase project for new lion, tiger and leopard habitats for the zoo. It was the first large-scale capital campaign leading up to the zoo’s centennial year celebration in 2021. “We’re asking for our community to come together and help us to get these exhibits these major renovations we’re talking about at the zoo,” Merritt said. He said the Minot Park District was 100 percent behind the project. “Roosevelt Park Zoo is a gem in our community and we’re very proud of it,” he said. Subsequently, ground was broken for two of the habitats: the Amur Tiger River Valley, a new habitat for the tigers to roam at the site of the existing duck pond near the Visitor Center’s entrance, and the African Lion Savannah, a new habitat to allow visitors to see lions in natural surroundings. Renovation of the existing cat complex for the leopards would be the final portion of the project. The $2.8 million Severson Ahart African Lion Savanna, the new home for the zoo’s African lions, opened in September 2019. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held in June 2020 for the completion and official opening of the $3.4 million Amur
Tiger River Valley. The African lion and Amur tiger habitats total $6.2 million. Of that amount, $2.2 million was a revenue bond from the Minot Park District and the rest was community donations. Jennifer Kleen, executive director of the Greater Minot Zoological Society, said the renovation of the former cat habitat for the leopard habitat is estimated to cost $2.8 million. Construction of the leopard habitat will be done in 2022. Financing the leopard habitat includes $1.3 million left over from the African lion and Amur tiger habitats and a cash reserve match of $800,000 from the Minot Park District. As of Feb. 12, $480,627.59 was still needed for the cash reserve match. Despite going through two major floods in the past 52 years – the flood of 1969 and the flood of 2011 – the zoo has bounced back each time into a fully viable facility for visitors with a wide variety of zoo inhabitants plus providing special programs including conservation experiences and other activities for visitors from kids to adults to have a total zoo experience. Today’s zoo has about 159 animals and about 68 species. In 2020, more than 95,000 people visited the zoo.
Saturday, April 3, 2021
Minot Daily News • PROGRESS: History
M INOT A F B
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President John F. Kennedy congratulates the crew of 60-0040 for their record world flight in 1962, shown in this U.S. Air Force photo. A different plane is shown in the background.
GETTING SET FOR THE FUTURE By ELOISE OGDEN
Regional Editor eogden@minotdailynews.com MINOT AIR FORCE BASE – Minot Air Force Base has come a long way since July 14, 1955, when people gathered north of Minot for a groundbreaking ceremony for the nation’s newest military installation. Sixty-five years later, the Minot base is the Department of Defense’s only dual-wing, nuclear-capable installation, with the 5th Bomb Wing and its B-52 bombers and the 91st Missile Wing and its Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles in underground facilities in several counties. Sixty-four years ago on Feb. 16, 1957, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers turned the “key” to Minot Air Force Base over to Maj. Joe Roberts, the first base commander. “It wasn’t much of a ceremony when Maj. Joe E. Robert, acting base commander, started moving his operations from temporary quarters in the Chamber of Commerce (in
Minot) to the base but to commemorate the occasion Lt. Col. T.W. Roe, area engineer for the Corps of Engineers, presented Maj. Roberts a large cardboard “key” to the base,” The Minot Daily News reported in its Feb. 16, 1957, edition. Roberts and a noncommissioned officer were the first two Air Force members to arrive at the base. Initially, Minot AFB was developed as an air defense command. In 1957, the first unit at Minot AFB, the 32nd Fighter Group, 32nd Materiel Squadron and 32nd Air Base Squadron were activated. Two years earlier on July 12, 1955, an official groundbreaking ceremony was held for the new base and later that year, the first portions of land for the base were purchased. Minot AFB was on its way. By September 1956, some of the basics for the new base were completed or being constructed. The construction projects included dormitories, mess hall (dining hall), hangars, noncommissioned officers
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club, chapel, gymnasium, heating plant and six-story control operations tower, concrete parking aprons, taxi strips and a major runway being enlarged from 8,100 to 13,200 feet in length. Not long after the base was activated the aircraft began to arrive. Before any other aircraft was assigned to the base the famous U-2 “spy planes” arrived. The U-2s and personnel came to the base in the late 1950s for a special project called “Operation Crowflight.” The Minot Crowflight unit was based out of Laughlin AFB near Del Rio, Texas, and temporarily assigned to Minot AFB. The Minot Daily News files show the U-2s were at the base from September 1958 to May 1960 but Operation Crowflight went on until the late 1990s. About four years after Minot AFB “opened for business,” the first plane to be permanently assigned to the base arrived on Sept. 23, 1959 – See BASE — Page 6
FIRST LEFT: Maj. Gen. Mike Lutton, 20th Air Force commander, presents a bronze star to Capt. Bryan Ashton, 54th Helicopter Squadron pilot at Minot Air Force Base, on Sept. 30, 2020, shown in this photo by Airman 1st Class Jan K. Valle. SECOND LEFT: Airmen practice entry procedures and close quarters combat June 15, 2020, at Minot Air Force Base, shown in this photo by Airman 1st Class Caleb S. Kimmell. The airmen can use tools like flashbangs and breaching hammers to enter a room. THIRD LEFT: An airman just arriving at Minot Air Force Base makes use of the new Welcome Center Facility, shown in this photo by Tech. Sgt. Benjamin Smith. The 5th Bomb Wing held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to introduce the new Welcome Center facility Aug. 21, 2020. FOURTH LEFT: One of five B-52H Stratofortresses aircraft assigned to the 5th Bomb Wing is shown in this photo on return to Minot Air Force Base from RAF Fairford, England, on Sept. 26, 2020, after the conclusion of Bomber Task Force 20-4. Photo by Airman 1st Class Jan K. Valle.
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Minot Daily News • PROGRESS: History
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the Boeing KC-135 stratotanker called “Miss Minot.” The first F-106 Delta Dart followed a few months later on Feb. 4, 1960. The 5th Fighter Interceptor Squadron was assigned to the base and Minot became a true fighter base. On July 16, 1961, the first B-52H bomber arrived. Maj. Clyde Evely was the commander of the crew flying the first B-52 to Minot AFB that day. North Dakota Gov. William L. Guy and Air Force Col. Harold Radetsky, then commander of the 4136th Strategic Wing at Minot AFB, accompanied Evely and the aircrew on the last leg of the flight to the Minot base where an open house called “Peace Persuader Day” was held. The plane was christened “Peace Persuader.” Evely’s son, Clyde P. Evely Jr. of Catawba, Va., told The Minot Daily News in an interview in 2011, it was an honor for his father to bring the first B-52 to Minot AFB. Brad Foote, now of Annapolis, Md., and Bill Sims, now of Yuba City, Calif., also made history in 1961 when they were aircrew members of one of the first new B-52H bombers to arrive at the Minot base. They were crewmembers of the other plane, a backup plane, in case “Peace Persuader” could not get here or land. “There were two aircrafts that day, one of which landed ahead of us – the ‘Peace Persuader,’” recalled Foote. Foote and Sims, both retired Air Force lieutenants, and their wives attended the 2018 Northern Neighbors Day at Minot AFB. ”That’s really where we started our military careers – at Minot,” said Sims. Two Kaman HH-43B Huskie helicopters arrived in August 1960 for permanent assignment at the base. Besides auxiliary planes, the base now had in active operation four types of planes which rank as the best in their category in the U.S. Air Force, according to the The Minot Daily News in August 1960. These aircraft included the B-52 bombers, F-106 interceptor, and holder of the military speed record, KC-135 tanker and the helicopters. About a year after bringing the first B-52 to Minot, in 1962, Evely headed a crew in another B-52 for Operation Persian Rug, a B-52 flight halfway around the world from Okinawa, Japan, to Madrid, Spain – 12,219 miles – without refueling. They set a
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A large number of people attended “Peace Persuader Day” marking the arrival of the first B-52 bomber at Minot Air Force Base in July 1961. Actually, two B-52s were the first here that day – the second plane would have replaced the first one if the first one could not have landed. Photo from The Boeing Company. distance flight and other records. Minot AFB had a variety of aircraft – fighters, bombers, tankers, jet trainers, C-47 cargo planes and helicopters. Now it would take another step into the intercontinental ballistic missile world. Construction started on Jan. 12, 1962, on the new Minuteman I intercontinental ballistic missile complex covering several counties in northwest and north central North Dakota. By April 1964 all 150 missiles were in place and ready to go, if needed. A few years later the Minuteman I ICBMs were replaced by the Minuteman III ICBMs, the current missiles in the Minot missile field. The 741st Strategic Missile Squadron became the first operational Minuteman III squadron. Other changes also occurred over the years. The 5th Fighter Interceptor Squadron converted from the F-106 to F-15s in the mid1980s. In 1988, the squadron was deactivated. Other changes at the base included the air-launched cruise missiles added to the 5th Bomb Wing’s arsenal in October 1989. In 1993 the bomb wing received advanced cruise missiles for the B-52. One of the base’s oldest units, the 906th Air Refueling Squadron and its KC-135s left the base in the early 1990s. Base units were activated, deactivated, names changed, etc., over the years.
The 91st Missile Wing in 2009 and the 5th Bomb Wing in 2010 became part of Air Force Global Strike Command. This was the Air Force’s newest major command to focus on the nation’s nuclear enterprise. Lt. Gen. Frank Klotz, a former Minot AFB missile wing commander, led the new command. Col. Michael Walters is the current commander of the 5th Bomb Wing. Col. Brian Vlaun is vice commander and Chief Master Sgt. Timothy Wieser, command chief. Col. Christopher Menuey is the current commander of the 91st Missile Wing. Col. Barry Little is vice commander and Chief Master Sgt. Garrett Langston is command chief. The base has a current total population of 12,405 people, as of Sept. 30, 2020 (end of fiscal year 2020). Of that number, 5,771 are military members, 5,558 military dependents or family members and 1,076 civilians work at the base. The base had an economic impact of $622.3 million on the local area in fiscal year 2020, the most recent figures available. From fiscal year 20102020, Minot AFB has had a $6.7 billion impact on the local area. The Air Force is looking ahead to the future for Minot AFB’s weapon systems. Progress is well on its way on the next generation intercontinental ballistic missile program to replace the existing
one at Minot AFB and two other Air Force bases – F.E. Warren AFB in Wyoming and Malmstrom AFB in Montana. On Sept. 8, 2020, the Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman Corp. with the $13.3 billion contract for the Engineering and Manufacturing Development phase of Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD). The effort will span eight and a half years and include weapon system design, quali-
fication, test and evaluation and nuclear certification. When the Engineering and Manufacturing Development phase is completed, the GBSD program office will award a contract for Low-Rate Initial Production, or LRIP. The Air Force projects GBSD deployment will begin in the late 2020s and be completed by the mid-2030s, said Leah Bryant, chief of Public Affairs and Legislative Liaison
for Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center at Kirtland AFB, New Mexico. In many ways, the B-52 bomber is a completely new aircraft due to extensive cutting edge upgrades that will take it well into the future. The land-based ICBMs and B-52 bombers are part of the nuclear triad. The other leg of the triad is the nuclear missile-armed submarines. Minot AFB is getting ready for the Air Force’s new MH139A Grey Wolf helicopters to replace the Vietnam-era UH1N Huey helicopters. The helicopters are used to guard the nation’s ICBM fields around Minot AFB, F.E. Warren AFB in Wyoming and Malmstrom AFB in Montana. An $80-90 million construction project is scheduled to start at the Minot base this summer where a nine-bay facility to house the 54th Helicopter Squadron’s MH-139As and 91st Security Force Group’s tactical response force. Sen. John Hoeven, a member of the Senate Defense Appropriations Committee, confirmed in November 2020 that Minot AFB will host the MH-139A Grey Wolf with an expected delivery date in 2026 and the new helicopter facility will take about two years to complete. Minot AFB is on its way into the future. – Sources include The Minot Daily News, Minot AFB, Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center at Kirtland AFB, New Mexico and Air Force Global Strike Command at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana.
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