1883: Sheriff Harmon, traveling on a passenger train, was making his way to Dickinson in order to arrest George Mattox. Mattox had shot and killed a hunter in a camp near Dickinson.

1888: Bismarck’s aid not needed. Mayor Abram I. Hewitt, of New York city, responding to telegram received from the Bismarck chamber of commerce, said that “New York is grateful to your citizens for sympathy and offers of relief, but we are not in need of any outside assistance.”

1894: A North Dakota woman was killed by a hired man. Mrs. Myron R. Kent was shot and killed by a hired man, while her husband was away from home. The Kents lived two miles from Bismarck.

The hired man, and a little boy, sated that two burglars were trying to get into the house, so the hired man got the shotgun, and it accidentally went off, killing Mrs. Kent. The hired man was sent to jail.

1908: A manhunt begins for two dangerous convicts. Joe Bassanella, who was serving a life sentence for murder, and Alfred Woolen, escaped from the state penitentiary by tunneling under a prison wall.

Rumors quickly circulated; however the warden believed that the escaped men had traveled north on two stolen horses. It was later discovered that the men had doubled on their tracks, and instead made their way to the river, where they sought protection in the dense underbrush and timber.

It was thought that they would try to escape by hopping a ride on a Northern Pacific train, which was a common manner in which escaped convicts made their getaways.

1910: Steamer Expansion was wrecked in gorge of ice. After an ice gorge formed in the Missouri River, damage occurred along the levee, and wrecked the steamer Expansion. The west approach of the Northern Pacific bridge was also under five feet of water for a length of two miles.

1914: Homesteader met an awful death. George Piffer, who was temporarily employed on the farm of Magnus Nelson, which was 16 miles southeast of Mandan, was killed when he was crushed between a wagon and a door.

1920: A fairly heavy vote had been cast throughout the cities in the state’s presidential preference primary election, but in the rural areas, the turnout was much less because of a terrific blizzard.

1935: A Wells County resident, having received relief from the state, went into the county office to repay what he had received. Not expecting any charity, the man repaid the $54.28 that he had been given in relief.

1953: Candies packaged to resemble cigarettes are forbidden in North Dakota. Gov. Norman Brunsdale signed a law that outlawed cigarette looking candies, believing that they encouraged “young folks” to smoke. The law went into effect on July 1.