As statehood drew near 125 years ago, life went on in a somewhat jolly fashion here in Grand Forks.
For example, one item in the Herald after Halloween in 1889 ran under the heading, “The mind has lost its elasticity.”
The short Nov. 1 city brief said: “Two drunks and disorderlies came before Justice Cutts this a.m. The effects of Halloween are everywhere visible throughout the city.”
George B. Winship was proprietor of the Herald, and it was the official paper of the city when North Dakota became a state.
Following are some news items as statehood drew near:
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- “The magnificent Hotel Dacotah has passed into new management. Mr. Frank Viets, who is taking charge, is known to citizens of Grand Forks as well as the traveling public.
“Mr. J.J. Dow continues in his present position, and management by these gentlemen is ample guarantee that the public will be furnished entertainment not excelled in any other hotel in the Northwest.
“Grand Forks takes pride in its superb hotel - the hotel will induce tourists to take trips to Grand Forks, where they are assured of thoroughly first-class entertainment.”
- “The Halls military band wagon was hauled in front of the Central School building and left there. Halloween, no doubt.”
One of the major stories in the Herald at the time of statehood told of the contract awarded for the first story of the opera house. Deming and Callender were to begin construction immediately with the contract price of $1,000.
The partners had secured carpenters to work on the building the first year. “They are good workmen, and they have a way of making bids eminently satisfactory for buildings,” the Herald commented.
Pages of the Herald 125 years ago reflected the social life in Grand Forks. The newspaper told of a grand masquerade ball at the Dacotah. There was a Catholic fair in the Gotzian Hall, and the Episcopalians held a social.
There was a reorganization at the Baptist Church. And Rev. A. McGregor was welcomed as pastor of the Methodist Church.
Along with the good news, the Herald carried the bad. It told of a robbery reported at the home of prominent citizens, S.S. Titus and J.B. Wineman.
“To say that Mr. Wineman is hot over the incident is expressing it mildly,” the newspaper reported.
“It is hoped a severe lesson awaits the parties who seem to be plying their nefarious calling in this and other adjoining cities.”
The ads also reflected the times:
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- There was an ad for Mrs. Winslow’s soothing syrup for children teething. “It relieves children from pain, cures diarrhea, gripping in the bowels and wind colic. Price is 25 cents a bottle.”
Another of the ads said, “Scott’s Emulsion cures colds - palatable as milk and sold by all druggists.”
The railways were advertising winter getaways for families.
As statehood drew near, there was a sense of celebration all over the Dakotas. Here’s a story from Pierre, S.D., on Nov. 5:
“Flags adorned every business house in the new state of South Dakota. Throngs of people gathered on principal streets while bands played, cannons thundered. An immense bonfire blazed from Snake Butte north of Pierre and lighting up the country around.”
As life went on, there was a proclamation from President Benjamin Harrison earnestly recommending that Thursday, Nov. 28, 1889, should be set aside as a national Thanksgiving day, with all the people of the country ceasing from cares and labor and giving thanks to God.
