The wildest of North Dakota's Wild West towns
"Did You Know That" columnist Curt Eriksmoen shares the history of Winona, North Dakota, and the brutal murder of a local family that made national headlines in 1897.
Written By:
Curt Eriksmoen |
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Curt Eriksmoen, "Did You Know That" columnist.
The wildest of the Wild West towns of northern Dakota Territory and early North Dakota had to be Winona, located directly across the Missouri River from Fort Yates. This former town, on the extreme western edge of present-day Emmons County, was originally named Devil's Colony, and it certainly lived up to its name.
According to North Dakota historian, Douglas Wick, Winona was "founded primarily to cater to the off-duty wants of soldiers stationed at Fort Yates." Those wants often included things that were illegal or too immoral to be sanctioned or condoned at the fort.