Submitted Photo The Makoti Thresher’s Association donated this vintage print press to the Ward County Historical Society at Burlington. Photo by Hunter L. Andes.

Late last fall a very heavy piece of western North Dakota history was moved from Makoti to Burlington. The Makoti Thresher’s Association (MTA) donated a vintage print press to the Ward County Historical Society (WCHS) for future display in the Pioneer Village.

Darin Vangsness, now vice president of the MTA, was president at the time the ink dried for the transaction. He said the print press has been in Makoti for a few decades and, unfortunately, not much is known about it.

“What we do know is that a former editor of the New Town News donated it to the MTA to be displayed,” Vangsness said. “Well, over the years, it became disregarded, and we felt it should be given a new home.”

Dave Lebrun, treasurer of the WCHS, said he really appreciates the Makoti Threshers approaching WCHS to help save an important piece of local history.

“It takes more than one organization to effectively preserve history, and the collaboration between the different historical societies like Ward County and Makoti helps do that,” Lebrun said. “Different people have different passions and strengths when it comes to preserving history, and when these people work together, more history is saved.”

Vangsness echoed Lebrun’s sentiment.

“I feel we should preserve history as long as we can – and preserve it well,” he said. “We’re trying to keep it as local as we can, so gifting the press to the Pioneer Village at Burlington only made sense in my opinion.”

Presumed history

Although there is not concrete evidence of where the press came from before New Town, it is probably safe to assume it came from Sanish prior to 1953. If the print press was, in fact, moved from Sanish to New Town, which it likely was, its original home was at the Sanish Sentinel.

The history of Sanish is much too long for a single newspaper article; however, according to Maxfield (1986) and Andes (2019), the Sanish Sentinel played an important role in keeping locals aware about the Garrison Dam during its construction.

Maxfield (1986) describes how Rev. Harold Case, who was the minister at the Fort Berthold Congregational Mission at the time, fought on behalf of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara’s best interests — keeping the tribal council “in the know” as the federal government had a tendency of not doing so. Maxfield also described how Case kept the public informed with help from the Sanish Sentinel.

Case was a critical figure at the time because he helped advocate for the Three Affiliated Tribes heavily on the national stage. Case spent countless hours on his typewriter during those years. According to the late Ed Hall of Parshall, “Most nights a continuous clicking could be heard from Case’s home office.”

“This print press is an important artifact to North Dakota history,” Lebrun said. “And we are very glad we are able to preserve such a significant part of our state’s history.”