Mandan, a railroad town from the start, continues its proud tradition as "Where the West Begins." Now with more commercial and industrial diversity, our hometown continues to add to its legacy. You are welcome to explore our website and share in our history.
The image to the right is reproduced from a car window decal donated to the Society by Cedar, Minnesota resident Junelle Bernard. It is an excellent example of a souvenir popular in the 1950s and 1960s. These decals were typically applied to a family's car windshield on automobile vacations, boasting of destinations visited. The practice was similiar to the application of decals on steamer trunks in the heyday of trans-Atlantic sailing in the 1920s and 1930s.
The sketch of the bronco rider is a variation of Alexander Phimister Proctor's 1893 plaster cast statue of "Bronco Buster" which was originally known as "The Buckaroo." Its most famous example is the bronze statue located in the city of Denver's Civic Center Park. However this variation does not have the whip in the cowboy's free hand; nor does he have a hat. The Mandan Rodeo is currently using a variation of this bronco buster as the centerpiece of its logo.
1956 Car Window Decal Courtesy of Junelle Bernard
The slogan continued to by used by the City even after its use by the Northern Pacific Railway stopped. The phase was taken from promotional material produced by NP designating the Mandan Division as the western edge of its service territory in the 1890s. The city of Fort Worth, Texas also claims the phase as its own. A native of Hurst, Texas has the tagline registered with the US Patent and Trademark Office since 1974 as a service mark associated with his western art business.
Operation of our Mandan Museum, this website and online record database, and preservation of relevant artifacts needs more than the time and effort our volunteers provide. Please consider a monetary contribution to the Mandan Historical Society. Donations to our IRS part 501(c) organization may be tax-deductable.
While the city of Mandan is defined by its legal boundaries, the community and historical impact of Mandan knows no limits. Please feel free to express your comments and offer suggestions to our programs, activities and content of our website.
"Those who are alive receive a mandate from those who are silent forever. They can fulfill their duties only by trying to reconstruct precisely things as they were and by wresting the past from fictions & legends." -Czeslaw Milosz
The MHSoc's museum and office is located at 3102 37th St; PO Box 1001; Mandan, ND 58554 Contact us at info@mandanhistory.org or leave message at (701) 663-5200
