Bicentennial Story #82-Railroad reaches Montana

Bicentennial Story #82-Railroad reaches Montana

Account of the railroad mistaking Sentinel Butte, ND as the Montana state line in 1880.

8/22/1975

Father Louis Pfaller

This recording cannot be copied or reproduced without the written permission of the Dickinson Museum Center. This recording may be freely used for education uses, so long as it is not altered in any way. No commercial reproduction or distribution of this recording file is permitted without written permission of the Dickinson Museum Center.

mp3

audio reel, analog, 1/4 inch polyester tape

English

BS-082

Sentinel Butte, ND

Copyright Stark County Historical Society and Dickinson Museum Center

In the fall of 1880 the Northern Pacific construction crews set as their goal the laying of the tracks to the Montana border, before cold weather would halt the work. On November 10 they reached a point near present Sentinel Butte, and thinking that they were in Montana, held a celebration. Only later did they discover that the point was actually 10 miles from Montana, but the railway did not recognize the error, and records show that from 1882 to 1885 the railroad designated this point as the dividing line.

This is Bicentennial Story No. 82, prepared by Father Louis Pfaller, for the Stark County Historical Society.

Belfield News, April 12, 1962.

Sound recordings

1:11

128kbps

1970 1979

Bicentennial tape #5, Bicentennial stories 67-86