MANDAN Historical Society

Working to Preserve & Promote Mandan's Heritage since 2004

Welcome

Membership

Activities

Ag Stn Centennial

History Harvest

TR-Coe Exhibit

WWII Exhibit

Museum & Office

Area History

Book: "Mantani"

The 1880s

Mandan Rodeo / Fair

School System History

The 1890s

The 1900s

1901 Pan Am Expo

1903 TR Visit to NDak

The 1910s

1910 Spring Flood

1911 Fair & Airplane Demo

1912 TR Whistle-Stop

The 1920s

Prohibition in Mandan

Mail Order Kit Homes

The 1930s

FDR Visit August 1936

The 1940s

The 1950s

1958 Lincoln Stamp FDC

Custer Drama / Trail West

The 1960s

The 1970s

The 1980s

The 1990s

1st of the 21st

2010-Present

Area Landmarks

Cary Bldg - Mandan Drug

CCC Camp Chimney

Christ the King Church

Collins Av Civic Bldg

First Lutheran Church

First National Bank Bldg

First Presbyterian Church

Great Plains Academy

Great Plains Expermt Stn

Lewis & Clark Hotel

Mandan Hill

Mandan Theatre

MV Produce Warehouse

Methodist Church

NP Beanery

NP "Colonial" RR Depot

NPRR Freighthouse

NP Rail High Bridge

Roughrider Statue

St Joseph Church

WWar Memorial Bldg

Youth Correctional Center

Gone Forever

Central School

Collins Ave Courthouse

Cummins Building

Deaconess Hospital

Eielson Field

Emerson Inst/Opera House

First St Federal Building

Havana Club

Hotel Nigey

InterOcean Hotel

Liberty Memorial Bridge

Mandan Creamery & Produce

Mandan Flour Mill

Merchants Hotel

NP "Queen Anne" Depot

Original Passenger Depot

Palace Theatre

Peoples' Hotel

Rock Haven

Topic Theatre

Young's Tavern

Heritage Homes

Altnow-Smith Home

Dunlap-Harris Home

Ellis-Uden Home

Freeburg-Esser Home

Lyon-Weigel Home

McGillic Home

Olson-Brick Home

Parkins-Cooley Home

Stutsman-Wyatt Home

Swanson-Reichman Home

Welch-Ness Home

Endowment Fund

Genealogy Links

Biographies A-C

J D Allen

Franklin Anders

Richard Baron

James Bellows

George Bingenheimer

Margaret Bingenheimer

Philip Blumenthal

Elijah Boley

Frank Briggs

Leo Broderick

William Broderick

Frank Bunting

Lyman Cary

James Clark

Henry Coe

Viola Boley Coe

Daniel Collins

Elizabeth Custer

George Custer

Biographies D-L

Alice Dahners

Henry Dahners

C E V (Charles) Draper

Esther Davis

Tony Dean

Joseph Devine

Ronald Erhardt

John Forbes

Palma Fristad

Gilbert Furness

Aloysius Galowitsch

Frederic Gerard

Zalmon Gilbert

Charles Grantier

James Hanley Jr

James Hanley Sr

Mary Harris

C Edgar Haupt

Michael Lang

William Langer

Albert Lanterman

William Lanterman

Richard Longfellow

Rolland Lutz

Hiram Lyon

Biographies M-R

George Marback

Gary Miller

Lee Mohr

Margaret Naylor

John Newton

Anton Ness

John Osterhouse

George Peoples

Arthur Peterson

Nels Romer

Hoy Russell

Walton Russell

Antonie Rybnicek

Ervin Rybnicek

Hynek Rybnicek

Biographies S-Z

Margaret Schaaf

George Shafer

Benjamin Shaw

William Simpson

Anna Knox Stark

Mary Stark

Benjamin Stephenson

J O Sullivan

John Sullivan

Era Bell Thompson

Andrew E Thorberg

Ida Thorberg

C L Timmerman

George Toman

Earle Tostevin

Edwin A Tostevin Sr

Edwin D Tostevin Jr

Walter Tostevin

Felix Vinatieri

A B Welch

Levon West

Frank Wetzstein

Harry Wheeler

Philomena Yunck

View Collections

Artifacts - Miscellanous

Newspapers

Pottery and Glass

Photos - Buildings

Photos - Downtown

Photos - Floods

Photos - People

Photos - Rail and Trains

What's New

Walton S. "Wally" Russell, Sr. 1910-2006
Walton S. "Wally" Russell was born on April 25, 1910 in Dickinson, ND to Hoy S. and Cora (Walton) Russell.  He moved to Mandan with his family in 1915 when his father began the Mandan Creamery and Produce Company.

After graduating from Mandan High School in 1928, Wally attended St Thomas University in St. Paul, Minnesota.  He transferred to the University of North Dakota  - Grand Forks to attend law school. While there, he was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and served as president of the intra-fraternity council. Upon his graduation from law school, he returned to Mandan where he went into private law practice.

At the urging of his father, Wally went into the dairy and food distribution business and served as president of the Mandan Creamery and Produce Company.

Walton Sr with children L to R Cory, Walton, Jr. and Becky
Wally met Mary Jane Phillips attending law school in Grand Forks.  The couple were married in October of 1934 and would raise their family of two daughters and a son, Cory, Walton, Jr. and Rebecca, in Mandan.

In
1944, Wally enlisted in the United States Navy and served until his discharge in 1946.  Upon his return to Mandan, resumed his service to the Mandan Creamery and Produce Company until his retirement in 1972.  Wally then returned to the private law practice and remained active in that profession until 2000.

Wally was co-owner and president of Mandan radio station KGCU from 1943 to 1956 as well as co-owner of the Blue Ribbon Hatchery.

Since public service was so important to him, he began as one of the original members of the city planning board and served as chairman for 25 years.  He was a 69 year member of the Mandan Rotary Club and was the last remaining founding member of that organization.  He was a member of the Mandan Chamber of Commerce, serving as one of the youngest presidents ever to be elected.  Wally was one of the orginal 10 men to charter the Mandan Rodeo Association, serving on their Board from 1940 to 1955.  For his service to the event, he was elected Grand Marshall of the Mandan Rodeo in 2005.  He was part of the Lower Heart River Water District and served as its chairman for many years.  Wally also served as chairman of the Memorial Mental Health and Retardation Center.  A long standing member of the Greater North Dakota Association, Wally was director and chairman of the Tax Council of the GNDA. He was a Special Assistant Attorney General assigned to the State Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors.

He was appointed by the governor for a five year term on the ND Merit System Council.  He also served on the Governor's Management Task Force in the early 1980s.  Wally was a member of the Regional Advisory Council for the West Central Human Services Center and served as a Director of the Dakota Foundation.  He was a member of Chapter 365 of the Mandan/Bismarck SCORE organization.

Wally was active in his faith based organizations as well, serving as a Trustee for St. Joseph's Parish, the building committee for Christ the King Catholic Church and its Board of Trustees.  He was also a Member of the Board of Regents at the University of Mary in Bismarck.

He enjoyed golf, fishing and traveling with his wife Mary Jane, and most certainly civic affairs. Wally's grandchildren thought their "papa" was a true example of what a man should be.

Walton Russell died on May 7, 2006 and is buried in Mandan beside his wife in Union Cemetery.

The MHSoc's museum and office is located at 3827 30th Avenue NW; PO Box 1001; Mandan, ND 58554
Contact us at info@mandanhistory.org


Last Updated 03/28
/23    ©  2007-2023  Mandan Historical Society   All rights reserved