Dakota Datebook: First two senators, Thanksgiving 1945 and Turkey show

First Two Senators

by Merry Helm

Nov. 21, 2018 — On this date in 1889, the N. D. State Legislature elected Gilbert Pierce and Lyman Casey as North Dakota’s first U.S. Senators. The McKenzie political gang was in power on one side, and on the other was the Farmer’s Alliance, whose slogan was “The Farmers Must Rule North Dakota.”

Pierce was the choice of the Northern Pacific Railroad and had been po...