1880: The blockade of Bismarck was finally raised. The Northern Pacific railroad was reopened after it had entirely ceased on February 15 because of excessive snow.

1885: Gov. Pierce vetoed the woman’s Dakota suffrage bill.

1886: Chestor Gilbert, who was charged with the murder of August Lenz, was acquitted. The people of Emmons County, where Lenz was killed, were enraged.

 1887: An ice gorge near Washburn broke, causing the river to rise rapidly. The ice carried everything down the river, and struck the immense warehouse of the Northern Pacific, which at the time was one of the largest in the world.

Less than two hours from the time the gorge broke, the water was in the second story of the river boarding houses, which were built on what was considered high ground. The warehouse, which is nearly 700 feet in length, was moved thirty feet, and sent crashing into a bluff.

Meadow land south of Bismarck was under a “vast sea,” which accounted for the river, at that point usually only being three-quarters of a mile wide, was now over six miles wide. The amount of water caused the Northern Pacific trains to be unable to cross the river.

Mandan was largely submerged under water. All of the small buildings on the banks of the river were swept away, and the steamboats at Rockhaven were in danger of being destroyed. The high trestle of the Northern Pacific was also damaged.

The worst was still predicted to be coming, as the ice at Fort Buford was moving out, and caused a rise of thirty feet. Bismarck and Mandan were preparing for the worse. Causing additional problems was that communication between the two cities had been wiped out.

1888: The Mandan roller mill company shipped a carload of flour to those who were suffering from a blizzard in the east.

1889: Curran, who had been arrested on the charge of smuggling opium from Canada, having changed his plea to guilty, had his case dismissed. Leonard, the man to who the opium was consigned, did not get off so easily. He was sentenced to seven months in the penitentiary.

It was believed that Curran would be furnish evidence which would lead to the arrest of an entire gang that had been engaged with smuggling of opium over the years.

1890: “The evil spirit of legalized gambling banished from Bismarck.” The lottery bill was killed in the senate, and it was believed it would remain dead.

1897: Thirty-five Lakota Indians, who had survived the Battle of the Little Big Horn, applied to homestead lands in Burleigh County. Having been confined on the reservation at Standing Rock since the battle, they were the first to take such action.

1913: Julius Tiffts, who was conducting a resort near the reform school, was arrested on charges of violating the prohibition law. Tiffts wife was said to have been “dispensing the stuff that cheers.”

1920: North Dakota is recognized as being in the corn belt. After their corn exhibit at the Mississippi Valley Exposition at St. Louis, showed visitors that North Dakota was part of the famous corn belt.

– North Dakota made the decision to uphold their dry amendment. The fight for prohibition, which began in 1889, when the state entered the union as a dry state, continued as North Dakota joined 30 other states in employing Charles Evans Hughes to help defend the federal prohibition amendment to the United States supreme court.