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THEMES
OVERVIEW
INVENTIONS: Edwin Staude held nearly 150 patents. He invented a machine to mass produce envelopes and cardboard cereal boxes, a garage door opener, farm machinery, a coin-operated vending machine, a phonograph, an adding machine, and many automobile accessories. His “Mak-a-Tractor” allowed farmers to turn their Model-A into a tractor. Edmund Rice invented a trowel and entrenching bayonet that allowed soldiers to dig trenches and foxholes with their rifles without carrying along extra equipment. Charles Weigel held patents for several types of bricks.
INNOVATIONS & DISCOVERIES: John Hutcheson was the “key man in designing and engineering Westinghouse’s vast radar program” during World War II. He designed the most powerful radio transmitter in the world. He also helped develop equipment for the second atomic bomb test at the Bikini Atoll. Horace Stockbridge developed a method to obtain petroleum from bituminous shale, discovered muscarine, introduced hops to Japan for saké, developed techniques for determining sugar content in beets, and discovered the cause and treatment of potato scab.
FIRSTS -- NATIONAL: Enos Stutsman was the first legislator in the U.S. to introduce a bill authorizing women the right to vote. Andrew Bruce established the first juvenile court in the U.S. Floyd Roberts was the first Indy 500 racer to be killed trying to retain his title. Truck Hannah was the first major league baseball player with a palindromic last name of six or more letters. Tom Abercrombie was the first person awarded both the Newspaper Photographer of the Year and the Magazine Photographer of the Year awards and was also the first journalist to go to the South Pole. On July 1, 1965, John Hutcheson became the first full-time chair of the engineering and industrial research division of the National Academy of Science.
BIGGEST & OLDEST -- NATIONAL: Clifford Thompson, at 8’6” tall, was the tallest lawyer, salesman, and teacher in the country. Dick Grace, at 46, was the oldest commissioned pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corps in Europe during World War II.
REGIONAL RECORDS: Enos Stutsman, in September 1861, at the first legislative assembly in Yankton, South Dakota, became the first legislator to introduce a bill in Dakota Territory. Dr. Edward Darrow, in 1885, was appointed as the first Superintendent of Public Health for Dakota Territory. Truck Hannah holds the Pacific Coast League career records for putouts, assists, and chances accepted by a catcher. When Rube Schauer signed a contract with the New York Giants in 1913, he became the highest paid player to sign a baseball contract out of Class C in the minor leagues. On May 22, 1952, Pete Retzlaff established the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics records for tossing the discus and shot put.
FIRSTS -- NORTH DAKOTA: Isabel Gunn gave birth to the first white child in what is now North Dakota. Nehemiah Ordway was the first governor to serve in the capitol at Bismarck, and Eli Shortridge became the first Independent elected governor of the state. William Roach became the first Democrat elected to the U. S. Senate. Clement Lounsberry became the owner and editor of the first major newspaper. He also served as the first president of the State Historical Society of North Dakota. William Blackburn became the first college president and Emma Mott became the first female college instructor when they were both hired by the University of North Dakota. John Shanley became the first Catholic bishop, and Horace Stockbridge established the first experiment station. Orin Libby, called the “father of the history of North Dakota,” established the state library and state museum, created the state park system and the North Dakota Audubon Society, and founded and edited the first state historical periodical. Andrew Bruce implemented the first North Dakota State Bar exam. Mary Darrow, the daughter of Dr. Edward Darrow, established the first kindergarten in the state.
STATE RECORDS: Charles Weigel established the oldest existing manufacturing company in North Dakota. Max Bass was the only person in the state to have a town named after him containing both his first and last name. Floyd Roberts was the only person born in North Dakota to have won the Indianapolis 500 race. On May 18, 1949, Pete Retzlaff heaved the discus 162’5”, breaking the existing North Dakota record by over 25’.
FIRSTS -- NORTH DAKOTA REGIONAL: William Thompson, called the “father of farming in Burleigh County,” was the first person to plant wheat there. Horace Stockbridge was the first president of the North Dakota Agricultural College (now NDSU), and Emma Mott was the first teacher in Grafton. Dr. Edward Darrow established Fargo’s first hospital.
TRIBUTES
COUNTIES & CITIES: Stutsman County, when it was created by the 1872-73 Territorial Legislature, was named for Enos Stutsman. In North Dakota, the city of Kindred, founded in 1880, was named for William Kindred, and the city of Maxbass, founded in 1905, was named for Max Bass. In 1907, the city McLaughlin, South Dakota, was named after James McLaughlin, and the city of Stockbridge, Georgia, was named after Horace Stockbridge’s father, Levi, in 1847.
BUILDING AND FACILITIES HONORING NORTH DAKOTANS: At North Dakota State University, Stockbridge Hall is named after Horace Stockbridge, and Weible Hall is named after Mary Darrow Weible, the daughter of Edward Darrow. At the University of North Dakota, Hancock Hall is named after John Hancock. Shanley High School in Fargo is named after Bishop John Shanley, and the McLaughlin Heritage Center in McLaughlin, South Dakota, is named after Major James McLaughlin. The Kindred Hotel in Valley City is named after William Kindred’s brother Charles.
COMMEMORATIONS AND AWARDS: Edmund Rice received the Medal of Honor for his action and bravery at the Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War. He was also named Grand Marshal of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904 and was given a State Funeral in his home state of Massachusetts following his death in 1906.
Hall of Fame recipients include Billy Petrolle, who was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1962 and the World Boxing Association Hall of Fame in 2000; Truck Hannah, who was inducted into baseball’s Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame in 1943; and Pete Retzlaff, who was inducted into the National Association of Intercollegiate Athlete’s Hall of Fame, as well as the North Dakota Sports Hall of Fame and the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame. In 1965, Retzlaff was selected as the Bert Bell Player of the Year in the National Football League.
Skitch Henderson received the Grammy Award in 1963 for best classical performance for his recording of Porgy and Bess. Tom Abercrombie was awarded Newspaper Photographer of the Year in 1954, Magazine Photographer of the Year in 1959, and Best Overseas Reporting Award in 1974.
In 1926, the University of North Dakota dedicated its school annual to Orin G. Libby and also granted an honorary doctorate to John Hancock in 1932.
The song The Ballad of Isabel Gunn was composed in 1987, which Jean Ethridge turned into an opera in 1996. Chuck Suchy composed The Story of Hazel Miner in the 1980s. A granite monument dedicated to Miner stands in front of the Oliver County Courthouse.
PIONEERS
EXPLORERS: Although not an explorer, Tom Abercrombie became the first journalist to go to the South Pole. His memorable photographs appeared in the April 1958 issue of National Geographic and earned him the Magazine Photographer of the Year award in 1959.
FUR COMPANY EMPLOYEES: In the summer of 1806, Isabel Gunn, dressed as a boy, took on the name John Fubbister and began working for the Hudson Bay Company. Her secret remained until December 29, 1807, when she gave birth to a baby boy.
NATIVE AMERICAN WIVES: Marie McLaughlin, the wife of James McLaughlin, was one-quarter Sioux. She was extremely helpful to her husband while he was agent at the Devils Lake Indian Agency and the Standing Rock Agency.
TOWN FOUNDERS: William Kindred founded the town of Hunter, North Dakota, in 1880.
MILITARY INVOLVEMENT
PEACE BROKERS: James McLaughlin was active in working on peace agreements while serving as Indian agent at both the Devils Lake Agency and at Standing Rock. In 1897-98, Edmund Rice served as the military attaché in Tokyo, Japan.
MILITARY FORT INVOLVEMENT: The officers who served at Fort Abraham Lincoln were William Thompson, Charles DeRudio, Marcus Reno, and Edmund Rice. Reno served as second in command to Custer in 1875-76. Charlie Reynolds provided game for the fort and also served as Custer’s chief scout from 1874 to 1876. DeRudio also served at Fort Rice, another fort for which Reynolds provided food. Reno was the commander of Fort Totten from 1872 to 1875, and Captain Rice served there in 1886-87. Yellowstone Kelly and William Roach both provided mail to the fort -- Kelly in the early 1870s and Roach from 1879 to 1881. Reno was the commander of Fort Abercrombie in 1876-77. Besides Fort Totten, Kelly was a pony express rider for Fort Buford, Fort Stevenson, Fort Berthold, and Fort Union.
MILITARY CONFLICTS: Those who were directly involved in the Civil War, all on the Union side, were William Thompson, Nehemiah Ordway, Charles DeRudio, Marcus Reno, Charlie Reynolds, Edmund Rice, Clement Lounsberry, and Yellowstone Kelly. Eli Shortridge was a member of the Missouri Guard but did not see combat action. Thompson, DeRudio, Reno, Reynolds, Rice, and Kelly were also involved in the Indian campaigns.
During the Spanish-American War, Rice was named senior colonel of all U.S. volunteers in the Philippines, and Kelly also served as captain of a volunteer regiment there.
During World War I, John Hancock and Dick Grace were members of the U. S. Navy. Hancock was placed in charge of the purchasing division of the Navy’s Bureau of Supplies and Accounts, and Grace was a decorated pilot. Jack Hurley was a member of the National Guard, working as a shipping clerk.
Dick Grace and Skitch Henderson were pilots with the U. S. Air Force during World War II. Henderson had been a member of the Canadian Air Force until the U.S. entered the war. Red Hardy spent much of the war guarding merchant ships in the Aleutian Islands. Hancock was appointed by President Franklin Roosevelt to be co-director of the Office of War Mobilization during the war. Eugene McCarthy was exempt from combat because of a severe case of bursitis in his feet and was sent by the War Department to decipher Japanese codes. Tom Abercrombie tried to enlist but was rejected because of a foot fungus. As a civilian, John Hutcheson built radar facilities. Pete Retzlaff served in the Army during the Korean conflict.
TRANSPORTATION AND MAIL
RAILROADS: William Kindred was a founder and president of the Fargo Southern Railroad. Earlier he had been a land examiner and deputy U.S. land surveyor for the Northern Pacific. Andrew Bruce was a law clerk for the Wisconsin Railway Company, and Nehemiah Ordway was the chief Washington, D.C., lobbyist for the Northern Pacific. James J. Hill hired Max Bass as the immigration agent for the Great Northern Railroad. Bass promoted the land through which the Great Northern passed and assisted settlers in acquiring land. While a young teenager, Billy Petrolle did odd jobs for the Northern Pacific.
AIRPLANES: In 1946, Dick Grace began a freight and passenger airline service to South America.
MAIL: Yellowstone Kelly was a pony express rider for a circuit that included Fort Buford, Fort Stevenson, Fort Berthold, Fort Totten, and Fort Union. In 1879, William Roach received a contract with the federal government to transport mail between Grand Forks and Fort Totten.
POLITICS
TERRITORIAL POLITICS: Nehemiah Ordway served as governor of Dakota Territory from 1880 to 1884. He was the first governor of Dakota Territory to serve at the relocated capital in Bismarck. Enos Stutsman served eight terms in the Dakota Territory legislature. From 1862 to 1866, he represented Yankton, and from 1872-73, he represented Pembina. Stutsman served as both president of the council (senate) and speaker of the house. William Roach was a member of the territorial house from Larimore in 1885, the only Democrat of the 72 members. Max Bass served as deputy commissioner of immigration from 1885 to 1890.
NORTH DAKOTA POLITICS: Eli Shortridge was a Populist governor of North Dakota in 1893-94. William Roach ran for governor in 1889 and was the first Democrat to be elected to the U.S. Senate, serving from 1893 to 1899. Reuben Stevens served in the state house from Lisbon in 1890, and Bismarck from 1899-1900, and Charles Weigel, from Hebron, served in the house from 1903 to 1906. Stevens was also a member of 1889 Constitutional Convention and later served as assistant attorney general. Andrew Bruce was a member of the North Dakota Supreme Court from 1911 to 1918. Ben Meier was North Dakota Secretary of State from 1953 to 1989. Max Bass, who had been deputy commissioner of immigration during territorial days, remained in that position until 1890. Walter Liggett served in that capacity during the later part of the second decade of the 20th century. Clement Lounsberry became the first president of the North Dakota Historical Society.
LOCAL POLITICS IN NORTH DAKOTA: William Roach, the first mayor of Larimore, served three terms beginning in 1883. William Kindred was mayor of Fargo from 1882-83. Reuben Stevens was Ransom County auditor, and Charles Weigel was postmaster of Hebron.
POLITICS OF OTHER STATES: William Thompson was very active in politics in Iowa. He served in the territorial legislature and was chief clerk of the legislature. He was secretary of the Constitutional Convention, ran for governor, and in 1847, was elected to the U.S. Congress. In New Hampshire, Nehemiah Ordway was city marshal, served in the state legislature, and was sergeant-of-arms for the legislature. In Illinois, Enos Stutsman was Coles County Recorder and clerk of the county court. Eli Shortridge was clerk of district court in Missouri.
NATIONAL POLITICS: William Thompson was chief clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. Nehemiah Ordway served six terms as sergeant-of-arms of the U. S House of Representatives and later was the chief lobbyist in Washington, D. C., for the Northern Pacific Railroad. John Hancock was a U. S. delegate to the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission from 1946-47. Eli Shortridge was clerk of the U.S. Land Office in Devils Lake, and Edmund Rice was military governor of Panay in the Philippines.
DIRECT PRESIDENTIAL INVOLVEMENT: Yellowstone Kelly was a good friend of Theodore Roosevelt while they both lived in western Dakota Territory. John Hancock began his long relationship with Franklin Roosevelt in 1919 when the would-be President was Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Roosevelt put Hancock in charge of disposing of the accumulated naval equipment left over from World War I. When Roosevelt created the National Recovery Administration in 1933, he appointed Hancock as the executive officer. When it appeared that the U.S. might be drawn into a war against Germany in 1939, Roosevelt established the War Resources Board and appointed Hancock as a member. After war was declared in 1941, Roosevelt appointed Hancock and Bernard Baruch to head up the Office of War Mobilization. When it appeared that the U.S. would become victorious in the War, Roosevelt ordered Hancock and Baruch to prepare a report offering recommendations to stave off a depression.
POLITICAL ISSUES: Those who actively pushed for Prohibition were Governor Eli Shortridge, Bishop John Shanley, and Emma Mott. Mott helped establish the Women’s Christian Temperance Union in Grafton and was directly responsible for closing down 27 establishments that sold alcoholic beverages in that city. Two of the leading figures fighting for women’s suffrage in North Dakota were Emma Mott and Clara Darrow, wife of Dr. Edward Darrow. In 1912, Clara and Emmeline Pankhurst established the Votes for Women League of North Dakota, with Clara serving as its first president. One of Shanley’s biggest issues was the quick divorce procedure that made Fargo the divorce capital of the U.S. He testified before the legislature in 1897 and 1899, requesting that the waiting period be extended to one year. The 1899 session acted on his recommendations and made it law. In 1919, some North Dakota communities were involved in banning books by various authors. This was an issue that was strongly opposed by Reverend John Flint, which got him in trouble with some of the more conservative members of his congregation.
THE LAW
LAWYERS AND JUDGES: Those who were licensed to practice law were: William Thompson, Nehemiah Ordway, Eli Shortridge, Andrew Bruce, and Cliff Thompson. At 8’6” tall, Cliff Thompson had the distinction of being the world’s tallest lawyer. Both Andrew Bruce and Dick Grace’s fathers were members of the North Dakota Supreme Court, Bruce from 1911 to 1918, and Richard Grace Sr. from 1917 to 1922.
CRIME FIGHTERS: Nehemiah Ordway was the city marshal at Concord, New Hampshire. The only badge that he, the most persistent crime fighter, possessed was one of courage. As a newspaper reporter and editor, Walter Liggett fearlessly exposed organized crime and corrupt politicians in the 1930s. His relentless pursuit led to intimidation, threats, beatings, and eventually his murder.
NOTED TRIALS & HEARINGS: Charles DeRudio was convicted of killing and wounding over 100 people, and of attempting to assassinate Napoleon III and his wife, Princess Eugenie. Just as he was to be executed, he was granted a reprieve and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devils’ Island, where he made his escape. He eventually settled in the U.S., serving with Colonel Custer and the 7th Cavalry.
After the Battle of the Little Bighorn, charges began to surface that Marcus Reno demonstrated cowardice and drunkenness at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Reno demanded that a Court of Inquiry be called to clear his name. The inquiry convened in Chicago early in 1879, and Reno was cleared of all charges. One of those who testified at the inquiry was DeRudio. In 1880, Reno was again court-martialed because of his drinking. He was convicted, and dismissed from the Army.
David Swing, a Chicago Presbyterian minister, was acquitted of heresy at an 1874 hearing, largely through the testimony of William Blackburn. Because of his courageous testimony, Blackburn’s contract as chair of history at the Seminary of the Northwest in Chicago was terminated.
In 1893, Republicans tried to deny seating of the newly elected U.S. Senator from North Dakota, William Roach, who was a Democrat. On April 11, the U.S. Senate held hearings to determine if Roach had been guilty of embezzlement in the 1860s while working at a Washington, D. C., bank. The hearing lasted over three hours, and at the conclusion, all charges were dismissed.
In 1901, Reuben Stevens, Alexander McKenzie, and Arthur H. Noyes were accused of defrauding Alaskan gold miners of their claims and supplies. McKenzie and Noyes were tried, convicted, and sent to prison, but no incriminating evidence was ever presented against Stevens.
On December 9, 1934, Walter Liggett was murdered gangland style in a Minneapolis alley with his wife as a witness. At the January 31, 1936, murder trial, Edith Liggett, the wife of Walter, positively identified the murderer as Kid Cann, and her testimony was collaborated by another eyewitness. Because of Cann’s powerful connections, he was found “not guilty.”
AGRICULTURE
FARMERS: William Thompson was called the “Father of farming in Burleigh County.” He established a homestead two-and-a-half miles northeast of Bismarck where he grew abundant crops of hay and was the first person in the area to plant crops of wheat. Eli Shortridge, in 1882, purchased land eight miles north of Larimore near a wooded area called “Bachelor’s Grove.” William Roach worked as a bookkeeper for the Elk Valley Farm, the largest farm in Grand Forks County. In 1915, Reuben Stevens began buying up land in Benson County, near Minnewaukan, where he and his son-in-law, Ralph Ward, would later operate a large horse farm. Nearly 50% of the individuals covered in Volume 4 grew up on farms in the U.S.
AGRICULTURE FACILITATORS: William Thompson not only introduced wheat to western North Dakota, but also many other cereal grains, fruits, and vegetables to the area. He was also instrumental in planting many trees in Burleigh County. While serving as the first president of the North Dakota Agricultural College (now NDSU), Horace Stockbridge established the first experiment stations, promoted the growing of sugar beets in the Red River Valley, and hired instructors who were pioneers in the development of better grain varieties, plant diseases and cures, and improved farming techniques. Stockbridge also found the cause and treatment of potato scab.
EDUCATION
PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Emma Mott was the first school teacher in Grafton, and Eugene McCarthy was a high school instructor in Mandan. John Hancock was high school principal at Tower City. At 8’6” tall, Cliff Thompson was the country’s tallest teacher.
COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES: At the University of North Dakota, William Blackburn was the first president, Emma Mott was the first female instructor, Orin Libby was an acclaimed history instructor, and Andrew Bruce was dean of the law school. Horace Stockbridge was the first president of the North Dakota Agricultural College (now NDSU). Eugene McCarthy taught sociology and economics at the Minnesota colleges St. Johns and St. Thomas. Tom Abercrombie taught geography at George Washington University.
OTHER PROFESSIONS
MEDICINE: Edward Darrow was a pioneer doctor in Dakota Territory. He was the territory’s first superintendent of public health and founder of Fargo’s first hospital. In 1926, two of his sons and his son-in-law founded Dakota Clinic in Fargo. Although never becoming a nurse, Polly Hamilton studied nursing in Chicago.
CLERGY: William Blackburn was an ordained Presbyterian minister who served as chair of the history department at the Seminary of the Northwest in Chicago before becoming president of the University of North Dakota. John Shanley was head priest at the Cathedral of St. Paul for 14 years prior to being named the first bishop of North Dakota in 1889. After being ordained as a Lutheran minister in 1915, John Flint became a circuit preacher in rural Hettinger County. From 1918-20, he served as pastor of the Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bismarck. He later was a Lutheran minister in Alaska and a Unitarian pastor in Minnesota and Ohio.
JOURNALISTS: Clement Lounsberry was the founder and editor of the Bismarck Tribune. He was also a writer for the Minneapolis Tribune, managing editor of the Fargo Argus, and had been the publisher of the Marin County Atlas and the Wells Atlas. Lounsberry had published a magazine, the Record. Reuben Stevens was editor of the Bismarck Tribune from 1894 to 1896 and, in 1898, established the paper Grand Forks Republican and Northwest News. William Thompson published the Iowa State Gazette in the mid-1850s. John Shanley edited a Catholic newspaper while at the Cathedral of St. Paul, and John Hancock edited the Dakota Student while attending the University of North Dakota. Horace Stockbridge became one of the founders and agriculture editor of the Southern Ruralist and was editor of the Southern Farmland and Dairy. Orin Libby was founder and editor of the Collections of the State Historical Society, a periodical that eventually became North Dakota History. Dick Grace wrote stories for Colliers, Liberty Magazine, and the Saturday Evening Post. Tom Abercrombie was an award-winning photo-journalist for the Fargo Forum, Milwaukee Journal, and National Geographic. Walter Liggett served as editor of Bismarck’s Capital Daily, the Austin American, the Mid-Western American, and the Pasco Progress. He was managing editor of the Fargo Courier-News and city editor of the New York Call. He was a reporter for the Fargo Forum, St. Paul Pioneer Press, Minneapolis Journal, Minneapolis Daily News, New York Post, New York News, New York Times, and Chicago News. Liggett also edited the magazine Plain Talk and wrote for Colliers, American Mercury, and Schribiners.
AUTHORS: Stunt pilot Dick Grace wrote several popular books, including Squadron of Death (1929), I Am Still Alive (1931), The Lost Squadron (1937), Visibility Unlimited (1950), and Give Us This Day (1952). In 1917, Clement Lounsberry published his three-volume work, North Dakota History and People. William Blackburn wrote History of the Christian Church and also History of Dakota, and Max Bass co-authored the 500-page book Resources of Dakota. Walter Liggett wrote the book The Rise of Herbert Hoover.
BANKERS: Nehemiah Ordway was president of the Capital National Bank of Bismarck, William Kindred was vice-president of the Red River Valley National Bank of Fargo, and William Roach was cashier of a bank in Washington, D. C. Ben Meier worked in banks in Napoleon and Gackle, and was part owner of banks in Hazelton and Forman. Billy Petrolle served as chairman of the board of directors of the Pioneer National Bank in Duluth.
SPORTS, ARTS, AND ENTERTAINMENT
SPORTS: Truck Hannah, Rube Schauer, and Red Hardy all played major league baseball. Hannah was a catcher for the New York Yankees, and Schauer and Hardy were both pitchers for the New York Giants. Schauer also pitched for the Philadelphia Athletics. Pete Retzlaff was an outstanding receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles. He was named an All-Pro five times, won the Player of the Year Award in 1965, and his Eagle jersey, number 44, was retired. He later served as vice-president and general manager of the Eagles. Besides being an outstanding football player, Pete Retzlaff established many records in track and field at Ellendale High School and South Dakota State University. Floyd Roberts was a champion auto racer who won the Indy-500 in 1938. Tragically, he was killed the next year trying to defend his title. Billy Petrolle was a hall-of-fame boxer who fought professionally from 1922 to 1934. Jack Hurley was Petrolle’s teacher, trainer, manager, and promoter. Sports Illustrated called Hurley “the best boxing teacher ever,” and he trained many of the top boxers in the nation. Besides promoting boxers, Hurley also promoted other sporting events including games played by the Harlem Globetrotters. Eugene McCarthy was an outstanding college baseball player who was scouted by the Chicago White Sox. Walter Liggett played football and boxed for the University of Minnesota, and John Hancock played football and lettered in track at the University of North Dakota.
RADIO AND TELEVISION: Skitch Henderson is best remembered as the orchestra leader of the Tonight Show from 1953 to 1966, but his presence on the airways began almost 20 years earlier. Henderson first appeared on radio over station KFYR in Bismarck while performing with the Harry Turner Orchestra. In 1939 and ’40, he began working at radio stations on the West Coast and, in 1945, was hired by Steve Allen to be the organist on his radio show, Smile Time. For the next two years, Henderson was in demand by all of the radio networks and became one of the busiest men on the airways. In 1947, one of the shows on which he frequently performed was Rhapsody in Rhythm, hosted by North Dakota’s Peggy Lee. Famed disc jockey Fred Robbins hired Henderson’s orchestra as a regular feature on his radio show, Let’s Dance America. On January 23, 1949, Henderson made his first television appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, and later that year, Frank Sinatra hired him as music director on his radio show, Light Up Time. In 1950, Henderson was hired by radio station WNBC to take over a two-hour time slot in the morning and an additional hour at noon. From 1953-54, he and his wife, Faye Emerson, hosted their own television show, Faye and Skitch. In 1952, Henderson became music director of NBC radio and television and, the following year, was reunited with Steve Allen as his musical director on the Tonight show. Henderson also made frequent guest appearances on the television game shows Password, To Tell the Truth, and Matchgame.
MOVIES: In 1921, the Hollywood press considered Langdon’s Betty Ross Clarke, “one of the most successful women of the screen.” She had starred in the movies If I Were King, Traveling Salesman, Brewster’s Millions, and four other major movies. During the early 1930s, Clarke was able to find work as a major supporting actress in the movies The Age for Love and Murders in the Rue Morgue, but it was her role of Milly Forrest, the maiden schoolteacher who lived with the Hardys in the Andy Hardy series, that people most remember.
Considered “one of the greatest stunt pilots in movie history,” Dick Grace was also an actor and author of books adapted for movies. He first performed his aerial stunts in the 1920 Tom Mix movie Sky High. His stunt work in the 1927 movie Wings helped earn the film the first Academy Award for best picture. Sunset Pictures starred Grace in the silent aviation pictures The Flying Fool and Wide Open. Grace also wrote several popular books, two of which, The Squadron of Death and The Lost Squadron, were made into major motion pictures.
Baseball player Truck Hannah played himself in two popular comedies, Warming Up in 1928 and Fast Company in 1929. The 8’6” giant, Cliff Thompson, appeared in the movies Murder in the Private Car and Twentieth Century, both released in 1934. He also was in the movie short Seal Skins and reportedly appeared in a couple of the early Tarzan films starring Johnny Weissmuller.
Skitch Henderson starred in the movie short Thrills of Music and composed the musical score for the 1963 movie Act One.
Those who have been profiled in movies include Yellowstone Kelly, Isabel Gunn, Marcus Reno, James McLaughlin, and Polly Hamilton. Yellowstone Kelly was a 1959 film staring Clint Walker as the legendary Dakota frontiersman, and The Orkney Lad: The Story of Isabel Gunn was a 2001 Canadian television-movie starring Michelle Hart. Marcus Reno was played by Franklyn Farnum in Custer’s Last Stand (1936), Joseph Cotten in The Great Sioux Massacre (1965), Ty Hardin in Custer of the West (1967), Alexander Davion in The Legend of Custer (1968), and Daniel O’Haco in Crazy Horse (1996). James McLaughlin was played by Denver Pyle in Buffalo Bill and the Indians (1976), Dean Stockwell in Kenny Rogers as the Gambler, Part III (1987), and J. K. Simmons in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007). Polly Hamilton was played by Pamela Sue Martin in Lady in Red (1979) and Leelee Sobieski in Public Enemies (2009).
In 2004, National Geographic documented Tom Abercrombie’s career in the film White Tiger: The Adventures of Thomas J. Abercrombie. In the early 1930s, Cliff Thompson was featured in the newsreel A Day in the Life of a Giant.
THEATER: Betty Ross Clarke began her career on Broadway in 1917 and was a popular stage actress in the U.S., England, and Australia.
MUSIC: Skitch Henderson began his professional career, at the age of 16, in Moorhead, Minnesota. The next year, he was playing with popular bands in North Dakota. Before forming his own popular orchestra, Henderson was a member of big bands fronted by Ted Weems, Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw, and Glen Gray. Besides being a popular mainstay on radio and television, Henderson received the Grammy Award for best classical performance in 1963 for his recording of Porgy and Bess.
Two of the females featured in Volume 4 were immortalized in music. In the 1980s, Chuck Suchy composed the ballad The Story of Hazel Miner, and in 1996, Jean Ethridge wrote the opera The Ballad of Isabel Gunn.
THE CIRCUS: Vernon Liedtke, billed as the “Sensational Orton,” was the most famous acrobat to use the “sway pole.” He was a featured performer with the Orton Brother Circus, the Shrine Circus, and the Bertram Mills Circus in England. Cliff Thompson, known as “Count Olaf, the Norwegian Viking Giant,” toured the country with the Al G. Barnes Circus, Ringling Brothers, and the Cole Brothers.
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