July 20, 1907

Two persons were fatally injured and 20 homes were destroyed in Williston in a violent wind storm.

July 20, 1967

The Mandan-Mott branch of the Northern Pacific Railway, re-routed because of the Oahe Reservoir, was dedicated.

July 21, 1895

The Grand Forks Trades and Labor Assembly was formally organized by representatives of the city's various labor unions.

July 21, 1919

Grand Forks Post No. 6 of the American Legion was officially chartered by the state and national organizations.

July 21, 1941

A U.S. Highway 2 Association was organized at Devils Lake, with Dr. W. E. Hocking of that city as its first president, by boosters from Minnesota, North Dakota and Montana.

July 21, 1961

John C. West, president of the University of North Dakota from 1933-54, died in Grand Forks.

July 21, 1965

Financier Chester Fritz, who earlier gave the University of North Dakota $1 million to finance a library named for him, announced a second $1 million gift for a new auditorium at UND.

July 22, 1869

Morgan T. Rich, for whom Richland County is named, made the first settlement at Wahpeton.

July 22, 1891

Fort Abraham Lincoln, south of present-day Mandan, was abandoned as a military post.

July 22, 1965

The U.S. Senate passed and sent to President Lyndon Johnson the law authorizing the Garrison Diversion Reclamation Project in North Dakota.

July 21, 1916

North Dakota National Guardsmen entrained at Bismarck for Mercedes, Texas, and duty in the Mexican Border Campaign.

July 21, 1928

Carl Ben Eielson was given a jubilant homecoming at Hatton following his air trip with Sir Hubert Wilkins over the top of the world to Norway.

July 21, 1932

Prohibition agents raided and seized the biggest illegal still west of Chicago near Jamestown Equipment, costing between $15,000 and $25,000 and capable of producing 1,000 gallons of moonshine a day, which was found on a farm, now inundated by the Jamestown Reservoir.

July 22, 1884

Bottineau County was organized. It was named for Pierre Bottineau, an early French-Canadian voyageur who was born in what now is North Dakota.

July 22, 1884

The Fort Rice Military Reservation, south of present day Mandan, was transferred from the War Department to the Department of the Interior.

July 22, 1896

A Republican state nominating convention in Grand Forks nominated Frank A. Briggs of Morton County for governor and re-nominated M.N. Johnson of Nelson County for Congress.

July 23, 1930

Rolette, in the North Dakota county of the same name, was incorporated.

July 22, 1808

A Sioux attack on Fort Pembina was fought off.

July 24, 1863

In retaliation for the Minnesota Massacre of 1862, an avenging Army under Gen. Henry H. Sibley met and fought the Sioux in the Battle of Big Mound, near present-day Tappen.

July 24, 1874

The Richland County community of Chahinkapa was renamed Wahpeton. The original name now designates one of North Dakota's largest municipal parks.

July 24, 1935

A rock cairn topped by a granite cross was dedicated atop Butte St. Paul, close to Bottineau, near the spot where Father George A. Belcourt had erected a wooden cross in 1850 to thank God for deliverance from a severe storm. A 50-acre state historic site has been established on the butte.

July 24, 1946

John H. Longwell was appointed seventh president of North Dakota Agricultural College, now North Dakota State University.

July 25, 1901

Cando, the seat of Towner County, was incorporated as a city.

July 25, 1940

A new Walsh County Courthouse was dedicated at Grafton.

July 26, 1895

Pierre Bottineau, famed pioneer scout for whom Bottineau County was named, died at Red Lake Falls, Minnesota. He was born near the present site of Manvel, son of a French voyageur and Indian woman, and is reputed to have been the first son of a white man born in what now is North Dakota.

July 26, 1907

A post office was established at Bowman.

July 27, 1901

Elmer Ellis, who was to become president of the University of Missouri, was born in McHenry County.

July 27, 1902

North Dakota's first permanent white settler, Charles T. Cavileer, died.

July 27, 1913

The site of old Fort Rice was dedicated as a North Dakota state park.

July 27, 1942

A World War II Army Signal Corps training program for enlisted men was established at the University of North Dakota. In the next 14 months, some 1,000 men were trained.

July 27, 1954

President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation authorizing establishment of Grand Forks and Minot Air Force bases.

July 27, 1885

Thirty five convicts were transferred from the Dakota Territory Prison at Sioux Falls to the prison at Bismarck, which later became the North Dakota State Penitentiary. They were the first inmates at the new prison.

July 27, 1920

The first contract for construction of the Liberty Memorial Building, on the Capitol grounds in Bismarck, was let.

July 27, 1864

General Sully's forces attacked the Sioux in the Battle of the Killdeer Mountains. The battle ended two days later with the complete rout of the Indians, 150 of whom were killed, and the destruction of all the Indian equipment, including 200 tons of food and shooting of 300 dogs.

July 28, 1919

The Bank of North Dakota opened for business at Bismarck.

July 28, 1864

About 150 Indians and five soldiers were killed in the Battle of the Killdeer Mountains. The Army force was led by Brigadier General Alfred H. Sully.

July 28, 1884

Nearly half of the infant city of Devils Lake was destroyed by fire.

July 29, 1886

The North Dakota Press Association was formed by a group of editors on an outing at Detroit Lakes, Minnesota.

July 28, 1888

Lee S. Elmer was lynched at Wahpeton.

July 29, 1839

The Jean Nicollet Survey Party reached the Devils Lake area, after coming overland from Fort Pierre and up the James and Sheyenne River valleys. The escort was headed by John C. Fremont.

July 29, 1919

Eight people were killed and about 40 injured and property damage estimated at $300,000 was caused by a severe windstorm that hit Williams and Divide counties.

July 29, 1937

The North Dakota Board of Administration fired four faculty members and three administrators at North Dakota Agricultural College, leading to the loss of its accreditation for political meddling and eventually to the establishment of the North Dakota Board of Higher Education.

July 30, 1919

The Grand Forks post of the American Legion was organized.

July 30, 1898

The First North Dakota Infantry reached Manila Bay aboard the transport Valencia during the Spanish-American War.

July 31, 1906

The Nelson County city of Michigan was incorporated.

July 31, 1959

The Maltese Cross cabin of Theodore Roosevelt was acquired from the State of North Dakota and moved from Bismarck to Medora as an attraction at the Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park.

July 31, 1955

Monthly oil production in North Dakota topped the one million barrel mark for the first time with 1,000,154 barrels produced.

July 31, 1899

The First North Dakota Volunteers sailed from the Philippines for the United States, a year and a day after their arrival at Manila Bay.

July 31, 1916

Linton, the seat of Emmons County, was incorporated.

August 1, 1894

The Grand Forks City Council approved purchase of a half block of land for the city's first water filtration plant, the first such plant in North Dakota. It was established after the city's drinking water had been blamed for a large number of deaths the same year.