Tales of the Ranch
This article is dedicated to the memory of Dora Jane Martell Brockway (1939-2026). Dora served as a District 13 trustee beginning during the tenure of the NDCHF’s first Executive Director, Darrell Dorgan until her death. She was a summer volunteer at the Hall and a contributor to the Cowboy Chronicle. Throughout her life, Dora was a steadfast advocate for preserving and sharing the heritage of…
Fourth in the Pioneer Lawman Series Published in the Cowboy Chronicle, Publication of the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame, June 2026 Richard “Two- Gun” Hart walked into a Chicago courtroom in late 1951. He looked older than his 59 years and was almost blind. He arrived wearing a ten-gallon cowboy hat he asked to keep on even while testifying. Hart, a frontier lawman during prohibition, was an…
Third in the Frontier Lawman Series Published in the April 2026 issue of The Cowboy Chronicle, official publication of the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame Katie Kalinchenko was afraid of this moment. Her 16-year-old son Matt went missing on March 6,1927. For four months she had been waiting for her son to return not wanting to face what was increasingly likely; Matt would never be coming home.…
Americans were fighting for independence from colonial England over a year before the Declaration of Independence was written. The fighting began on April 19, 1775, with the Battles of Lexington and Concord. George Washington, understanding the importance of naval power, urged the Second Continental Congress to create a Continental Navy. On October 13, 1775, a resolution was passed to establish a…
Published in The Cowboy Chronicle, August 2025 The second in a series about frontier lawmen Late afternoon on November 8, 1878, with the sun’s warmth still lingering, two men lay dead in the Pembina, North Dakota post office. This was the tragic end to a once close friendship. William Collins and William Anderson had gone to school together in Texas. They became the kind of good friends that had…
This is the first in a series of stories in the Cowboy Chronicle about pioneer lawmen and law enforcement He fell from grace almost as far as any lawman could. Alexander McKenzie was arrested in 1901 for fraud and contempt of court and sentenced to a year in jail. Newspapers said that he was “high handed and greedy”, yet even though the “Boss of North Dakota” was left with a tarnished reputation…
2025 Great Westerner Inductee North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame Dr. Victor Hugo Stickney, “The Cowboy Doctor” October 1, 1858 – July 26, 1927 See also North Dakota Horizons Magazine article and Cowboy Chronicle article posted on this website Dr. Victor Hugo Stickney was inducted into The Hall of Great Westerners at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center in Oklahoma City in…
North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame Andrew Nohle Inductee 2025 Pre- 1940’s Ranching October 1, 1858 – August 20, 1925 See also: Biography of Andrew Nohle: posted February 28, 2018 Arriving in North Dakota in 1881, Nohle first worked at a Grand Forks hotel. In 1882 Nohle began working for R.M. Prouty, L.B. Richardson and Charly Sprout. They sent him west with a small herd of cattle and the authority…
Life was rugged and the day’s work was never ending for the pioneer families that homesteaded a century or more ago. Christmas though, was always a day to find a way to take the time to make merry in even some small way. Celebrations were simple then, but families had their traditions and the day was special. There were decorations, visiting, special meals, an extra kindness for a neighbor, or…
Published in the October 2024 edition of the Cowboy Chronicle: For Love of Country with a special dedication to Chief Warrant Officer 2, Shane Barnes Update: On April 26, 2025, Bill Johnson’s name was added to the memorial wall at the Veteran’s Park in Watford City. “A man who is good enough to shed his blood for his country is good enough to be given a square deal afterwards.” – Theodore…