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==History== [[File:1886rail-usgenweb-mapproject.jpg|thumb|Dakota Territory {{circa|1886}}, showing [[Burlington, North Dakota|Burlington]], at the time the county seat, and Minot, which was a smaller, unincorporated village.]] Minot came into existence in 1886, after the [[Great Northern Railway (U.S.)|Great Northern Railway]] laid track through the area. A tent town sprang up overnight, as if by "magic", giving Minot its first nickname, the Magic City; in the next five months, the population increased to over 5,000, further bolstering the nickname.<ref name="congress1970">{{cite journal|journal=[[United States Congressional Serial Set]] |volume=12900 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jP1PAQAAMAAJ |date=July 1969 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |title=US Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation Report on Minot Extension |access-date=March 19, 2023 |archive-date=April 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230424004756/https://books.google.com/books?id=jP1PAQAAMAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|39}}<ref name="gavett">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VCxZe9woe9UC |last=Gavett |first=Joseph L. |title=Minot: The Magic City |date=2006 |isbn=9781929148608 |publisher=Wexford College Press |chapter=1900 - A New Century Dawns}}</ref>{{rp|129}} The town site was chosen by the railroad to be placed on the land of homesteader [[Erik Ramstad]], who was convinced to relinquish his claim and became one of the city leaders. The town was named after [[Henry Davis Minot|Henry Minot]], a Great Northern investor, [[ornithologist]], and friend of Hill. Its [[Arikara language|Arikara]] name is ''niwaharít sahaáhkat'',<ref>{{Cite web|title=AISRI Dictionary Database Search – Arikara. Prototype version |access-date=July 8, 2012 |url=http://zia.aisri.indiana.edu/~dictsearch/cgi-bin/testengltoxsrchNP.pl?host=zia&pass=&hasfont=0&srchlang=English&srchstring=dakota&database=arika&srchtype=OR&sortlang=Indian&sndformat=mp3&maxhits=200&find=Run_Search |archive-date=July 2, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140702153549/http://zia.aisri.indiana.edu/~dictsearch/cgi-bin/testengltoxsrchNP.pl?host=zia&pass=&hasfont=0&srchlang=English&srchstring=dakota&database=arika&srchtype=OR&sortlang=Indian&sndformat=mp3&maxhits=200&find=Run_Search |url-status=live}}</ref> and its [[Hidatsa language|Hidatsa]] name is ''maagada'ashish'' ("Plum [[Coulee]]").<ref>{{Cite web|title=Hidatsa Lessons Vocab2 |work=Hidatsa Language Program |access-date=July 17, 2012 |url=http://www.neiu.edu/~linguist/hidatsa_lessons_vocab2.html#villages_dwellings_and_towns_i |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130606135144/http://www.neiu.edu/~linguist/hidatsa_lessons_vocab2.html |archive-date=June 6, 2013}}</ref> The city was incorporated on July 16, 1887. The [[Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad]] (Soo Line) later built a line from [[Valley City, North Dakota|Valley City]] to Canada. While initially their plan was to cross the [[Souris River]] at [[Burlington, North Dakota|Burlington]], local interests and arguments convinced them otherwise; landholders along the new route donated the right-of-way, and the Soo Line reached Minot in 1893. In 1898, a tornado destroyed the timber Gassman Coulee Bridge near Minot.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Jackson |first=William |title=North Dakota Tornadoes Twisters & Cyclones |publisher=Valley Star Publications |year=2024 |isbn=979-8-89480-378-4 |location=Dickinson, ND |publication-date=2024 |pages=44–45}}</ref> A passenger train, just three minutes away from crossing the bridge when it collapsed, was able to stop just in time to avoid disaster.<ref name=":1" /> Until a new trestle, this time made of steel, was built in 1899, the railroad ferried passengers across the coulee using wagons and buggies that transported them to another train parked on the other side of the coulee.<ref name=":1" /> On July 22, 1920, a [[tornado]] passed over Minot and bore down in a [[coulee]] {{convert|3|mi|0|spell=in}} southeast of town.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Almanac of North Dakota mysteries & oddities, 2009-2010 |last=Jackson |first=William |date=2008 |publisher=Valley Star Books |isbn=9780967734989 |pages=34 |oclc=259419005}}</ref> The tornado picked up Andy Botz's home and hurled it to the ground, killing his wife, breaking Botz's shoulder, and slightly injuring the two Botz children who were in the house.<ref name=":0" /> Minot and its surrounding area were wide open from 1905 to 1920. The population grew rapidly due to railroad construction and availability of unclaimed land. Nearly complete court records of Ward County and Minot document the prevalence and different types of criminal activity, and offer strong support for the epithet "crime capitol of North Dakota". State attorney general [[William Langer]] helped clean up the town in 1917–1920, but by the time [[Prohibition]] arrived in the 1920s, Minot had become a center of illegal activities associated with the [[Downtown Minot#High Third|High Third]] district, exacerbated because the city was a supply hub of [[Al Capone]]'s liquor smuggling operations. The hotbed of alcohol [[Rum-running|bootlegging]], prostitution, and [[opium den]]s that sprang up in the [[Downtown Minot|downtown]] area soon led people to nickname Minot "Little Chicago". Smugglers used a network of tunnels (some previously built for heating or deliveries) to transport and conceal illicit cargo entering from Canada.<ref>Michael J. Martin and Glenn H. Smith, "Vice and Violence in Ward County, North Dakota, 1905–1920", ''North Dakota History,'' 1980, Vol. 47, Issue 2, pp. 10–21</ref> The 1950s saw a large influx of [[Federal government of the United States|federal funding]] into the region, with the construction of [[Minot Air Force Base]] (1956–1957) {{convert|13|mi|spell=in}} north of the city, and [[Garrison Dam]] (1947–1953) on the [[Missouri River]], about {{convert|50|mi|spell=in}} south. In 1969, a severe flood on the [[Souris River]] devastated Minot in April.<ref name=scsn>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=WZJYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SPgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6670%2C3690715 |work=Spokane Daily Chronicle |location=(Washington) |agency=Associated Press |title=$5 million damage tallied for flooding |date=April 12, 1969 |page=1 |access-date=June 4, 2023 |archive-date=June 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230604113225/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=WZJYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SPgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6670,3690715 |url-status=live}}</ref> Afterward, the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers|Army Corps of Engineers]] straightened the river's path through the city and built several flood control structures. [[File:Former Soo Line Passenger Depot in Minot, North Dakota (2021).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The Old Soo Depot Transportation Museum is housed in the historic [[Minot station (Soo Line)|Soo Line Depot]] (built 1912) in downtown Minot.]] On January 18, 2002, a [[Minot Train Derailment|severe train derailment]] west of the city sent a gigantic cloud of [[anhydrous ammonia]] toward Minot and [[Burlington, North Dakota|Burlington]]. One man died and many of Minot's citizens were sickened and severely injured by the gas, causing one of the worst major chemical accidents of the country.<ref name=CBC>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/minot-train-derailment-kills-one-injures-dozens-1.342396 |website=CBC News |title=Minot train derailment kills one, injures dozens |date=January 18, 2002 |access-date=November 29, 2020 |archive-date=August 17, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070817204119/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/minot-train-derailment-kills-one-injures-dozens-1.342396 |url-status=live}}</ref> In early 2006, court cases were heard in [[Minneapolis]], [[Minnesota]], against [[Canadian Pacific Railway]], the owner of the derailed train. The anhydrous ammonia spill was the largest such spill in U.S. history. [[Eric Klinenberg]] used the incident in his book ''Fighting for Air: The Battle to Control America's Media'' as an example of the failure of mass media, specifically local radio stations, to disseminate information in an emergency.<ref>{{cite book|last=Klinenberg |first=Eric. |title=Fighting for Air: The Battle to Control America's Media |isbn=9781429923606 |publisher=Henry Holt and Company |location=New York |date=2007 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dR4xhtp0l2MC |chapter=Introduction: The Empty Studio}}</ref>{{rp|1–14}} [[File:Flooding - Minot, N. D. , July 6, 2011 -- Parts of Minot, ND are stil under water after the Souris River overflowed its banks. Photo by Patsy Lynch-FEMA - DPLA - e860ae6ae4f98dfb3c3ee8b9f66e1daa.jpg|thumb|right|2011 Souris River flood in Minot]] The [[2011 Souris River flood]] caused extensive damage throughout the Souris River Valley. On June 21, 2011, [[KXMC-TV]] reported that a flood of historic proportions was imminent in the valley, largely due to large dam releases upstream. Around 12,000 people were evacuated. On June 26, flooding exceeded previous records when the river crested at {{convert|1561.7|ft|m}} above [[sea level]], {{convert|3|ft|1|spell=in}} above the previous record set in 1881. It is estimated that 20% of Minot sustained damage from the flood; this figure includes over 4,100 homes that were in some way affected, 2,376 extensively damaged, and 805 damaged beyond repair. Burlington was also severely damaged during this time.<ref>{{cite news|title='It's a sad day' — Crest could be 10 feet higher than June 1 |first=Kim |last=Fundingsland |url=http://www.minotdailynews.com/page/content.detail/id/555952/-It-s-a-sad-day----Crest-could-be-10-feet-higher-than-June-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110624211855/http://minotdailynews.com/page/content.detail/id/555952/-It-s-a-sad-day----Crest-could-be-10-feet-higher-than-June-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 24, 2011 |newspaper=[[Minot Daily News]] |date=June 21, 2011 |access-date=April 6, 2012}}</ref><ref>The Minot Convention and Visitor's Bureau. {{cite web|url=https://visitminot.org/travel-info/|access-date=March 6, 2022|title=Travel Info}}</ref>
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