Front Porch Chat will feature Cook

The Front Porch Chat presentation at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Stutsman County Memorial Museum, Jamestown, will be led by Maureen Cook on Redwork, a form of embroidery that was popular in the past and is still done today. She will show several examples from the museum collection and some modern examples done in that style.

Tim Randall presented many details last week of the life of Dana Wright, one of Stutsman County’s first historians. Throughout his life, Wright had an insatiable curiosity about the lives of the early pioneers and the Native Americans that lived in this region. He grew up on a farm in Homer Township near the James River south of Jamestown. Even in his youth he had a passion for exploration, finding some human remains on a remote hilltop near the farm. He spent at least one term as Stutsman County sheriff. Randall recounted several stories of Wright’s exploits in this capacity.

Wright is probably most remembered for his documentation of the early history of the county, including the early troop movements during the time when Fort Seward was an active military post. In addition to his roles as historian and amateur archeologist, Wright was a military man, having served in the Spanish-American War, the Mexican Insurrection and World War I. After his return to North Dakota after World War I he served as a member of the Border Patrol in the northern part of the state near the small town of St. John. He served for many years as a director of the North Dakota State Historical Society and wrote many historical articles for its journal, including a history of Ransom County and was considered an authority on the Standing Rock monument. Until his death in 1964, he strove to discover and record the history and culture of the pioneers, soldiers and native peoples who lived and prospered in this area.

Tags: front porch, diversions, performances, chat, randall, cook