On January 30, 1959, the Laramar Ballroom was jumping when the Winter Dance Party and its headliners – Buddy Holly and the Crickets, the Big Bopper, Ritchie Valens, and Dion and the Belmonts - performed on its stage on a cold, snowy night in Fort Dodge. The Laramar Ballroom, and some 1,000 fans crowded into the downtown building at 710 First Avenue North to watch, dance and sing along as the musicians played their hit songs - never imagining that a few days later, in the early hours of Feb. 3, 1959, three of them – Holly, J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson Jr. and Valens — would die in a plane crash after performing at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake.  "The whole show was great. Little did we know that this was the last time we would see them,” said Wes Trickel, of Fort Dodge, who was at the Laramar with his wife, Bertha, that night and got to meet Richardson and Valens. “We were so sad when we heard the news that we all never wanted to believe what had happened.”That tragic moment on a wintry night in a cornfield north of Clear Lake was “the day the music died” as Don McLean would sing in his 1971 classic "American Pie.” That moment in history has become known as the “day the music died.” At the time, Holly and his band, The Crickets, were playing on the Winter Dance Party tour across the Midwest. At the Laramar, rising artists Valens and Richardson had joined the tour as well. The live concert performance included two hours of unbridled, high-voltage entertainment featuring hit songs of the ’50s era. This picture of Buddy Holly taken backstage at the Laramar Ballroom in Fort Dodge, Iowa on January 30, 1959 during the Winter Dance Party tour. He is ready to leave, has on his yellow leather coat with the fur collar, and is holding his overnight bag.

1869The Cardiff Giant is known as one of the biggest hoaxes of all time in the United States. Fort Dodge and its gypsum deposits gained a world-wide notoriety from the "Cardiff Giant." because it was developed from the gypsum ledges in the Fort Dodge area.New York tobacconist George Hull was engaged in a friendly discussion with a clergyman regarding the Biblical story about the Sons of Anak. These were biblical giants who were part of a tribe that was referenced in a number of locations in the Bible. Hull and the clergyman were debating whether there ever had been, in fact, giants living on earth.After considering this possibility, Hull hatched a scheme to manufacture a “giant” that could be buried and later “discovered” and be passed off as a petrified man. It is safe to assume that Hull’s fraudulent hoax was probably founded on a scheme to make a great deal of money.About a year later, Hull travelled to Fort Dodge in order to by a large block of gypsum. Gypsum was chosen because of the various colored veins that ran through the rock. Hull thought these colors would look like the veins in a human body. Hull and a friend visited Fort Dodge and soon appeared to be suspicious in character, so many local residents wanted nothing to do with them.Hull supposedly bought an acre of land in Gypsum Hollow in Webster County, although no record of this transaction has been found in the Webster County Courthouse. He recruited local miners to facture out a large block of gypsum of this land, telling them he wanted it so that it could be used to create a monument to Abraham Lincoln in Washington, D.C. Hull had difficulty convincing miners to excavate such a large block of gypsum (12’long, 4’wide and 22 inches thick) because the miners told Hull that size would be too heavy to ship. He eventually succeeded in convincing them to excavate the gypsum and after three weeks, it was loaded on a wagon and then a train and shipped to Chicago. Along the trip to the train station, some of the gypsum was shaved off the block of gypsum to reduce its weight and make it easier to transport. A sculptor in Chicago, Edward Burkhardt, was commissioned to carve a large human form from the block of gypsum. Burkhardt was sworn to secrecy. Various stains and acids were used to make the figure look old and weathered. Hull also rubbed the figure with a wet sponge filled with sand to get rid of any traces of chisel marks on the sculpture. The finished figure weighed approximately three tons. Hull then transported the giant by railroad to his cousin William Newell’s farm in near Cardiff, New York, a town near Syracuse, New York, where he had it buried on Newell’s land. Nearly a year later, in October of 1869, Newell hired some men to dig a well. As the men began digging, their shovels came in contact with something that seemed to be a very large rock. As they continued digging, the “discovered” what appeared to be a very large petrified man. Word of the unearthing of a petrified man spread quickly around the countryside. People came from miles around to see the Giant, which was identified as an example of an ancient race mentioned in Genesis by some believers. “Found” in the heart of New York’s Burnt Over District, the Giant benefited from the religious fervor sweeping the area. News of this discovery spread quickly, and people began coming to Newell’s farm from miles around to see the giant. A tent was set up over the giant, and Newell charged 25 cents per person to see the figure. It rapidly became so popular that Newell raised the price to 50 cents per person. Hundreds came to see the figure and receipts often reached $1,000 per day.It was soon raised from its “grave” and exhibited in various cities. P.T. Barnum found that it was competing with his museum and purportedly offered to buy it for $40,000. This offer was refused. A local syndicate was soon organized and became owners, with Newell retaining 25% ownership in the giant.There was skepticism as to the veracity of the claim that this was indeed a petrified human giant. Scientific experts offered another theory on the Giant’s origin. Dr. John F. Boynton, scientific lecturer, declared that the Giant was a statue created by a Jesuit priest during the early 17th century to awe local Indian tribes. Noted geologist Dr. James Hall (who was the first State Geologist of Iowa and later in Wisconsin) examined the giant and made a lengthy report, stating that the figures was indeed an ancient statue and not an actual human being. But by Hall’s observation of the soil erosion and water flow around the figure, he stated that the statue “was an ancient statue and had not been buried in recent times.” The public wasn’t quite convinced, and continued to view the figure under the understanding that it could quite possibly be a mummified human form.After the figure had been exhibited in a number of cities, another noted paleontologist, a Professor March, stated that it was a hoax, a “humbug”. Farmers were found who remembered having seen Hull hauling an immense box on the road between Binghamton, New York and Cardiff, and with affidavits from men of good character in Iowa, the scheme started to unravel.When the evidence became too strong to be successfully combated, and Hull disposed of his interest in his "invention" for $23,000. He was elated over the fame he had acquired and admitted that he was the originator of the "Petrified Giant" and enjoyed greatly the discomfiture of the scientists whom he had deceived. Finally he made a full confession confirming every important aspect of the history of the deception and published it in the Fort Dodge pamphlet in 1870. This confession should forever have settled the thirty year controversy, but thousands of people continued to believe in the "petrified giant" to the end of their lives.The original Cardiff Giant was put on exhibition at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York in 1901. In 1947, the Giant was sold to The Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown, New York, where it remains on display inside the main barn of the museum. A replica of the Giant is on display at the Fort Museum and Frontier Village in Fort Dodge, Iowa, from where one of the greatest American hoaxes originated. Sources:*The Des Moines Register*Fort Dodge: America’s Frontier Town, by Alan Foster Nelson*Roadsideamerica.com*farmersmuseum.org*National Gypsum: www.ngc-heritage.com

Exhibition Game at Dodger Stadium Baseball FieldApril 9th, 1942 was a thrilling day for the estimated 8,000 people who filled the Dodger Stadium baseball field to watch an exhibition game between the Chicago White Sox play the Chicago Cubs.After the game, Bob Lewis, traveling secretary for the Chicago Cubs, said this was one of the largest crowds he has witnessed for a Cubs exhibition game. Both White Sox and Cub officials were amazed at the way the Fort Dodge handled the game, the crowd and the entire affair.The legendary sports editor and writer for the Des Moines Register, Sec Taylor, attended this game. In his column for the Sunday Register, he wrote “Fort Dodge promoted the recent Chicago Cubs – White Sox game in a big way and in major league style. The results were so satisfactory that those in charge of the promotion hope to make the contest an annual affair.” Taylor went on to say “the Chamber of Commerce committee in charge of the game, headed by O. C. Pfaff, its chairman, did such a good job that I heard only two complaints, neither of which is serious – one was because the ball park gates were not opened before 1:30 p.m. The other was from two women who had come to Fort Dodge with their men folk. They had planned to do some shopping while their husbands attended the game, only to discover that the town had not arranged the contest to bring shoppers to it. The stores were closed.”It was noted that fans from five different states and 75 Iowa counties came to Fort Dodge to watch this game.Most of the fans arrived at the ballpark when the gates opened at 1:30 p.m. hoping to get a good seat and watch the teams go through their pre-game drills and batting practice. However, the train that brought the Cubs and White Sox to Fort Dodge from their previous game in Tulsa, Oklahoma, did not arrive until almost 3:00 p. m., which was the scheduled start time for this contest. After very brief warm-ups, the game got underway- and it did not disappoint. In the bottom of the ninth inning with the Cubs up to bat and trailing the White Sox, Babe Dahlgren, the Cubs’ first baseman, blasted a 2-run home run to beat the White Sox, 16 – 14. The teams combined for 30 runs scored, 38 hits, five of which were home runs.Below are the players who played in that game:Chicago White Sox Chicago CubsDon Kolloway Stan HackWally Moses Charlie GilbertJoe Kuhel Bill NicholsonLuke Appling (Hall of Fame) Dom DallessandroTaffy Wright Phil CavarrettaMyril Hoag Babe DahlgrenBob Kennedy Clyde McCulloughMike Tresh Bob ScheffingThurman Tucker Lou StringerTom Turner Bobby SturgeonBuck Ross Lennie MerulloJoe Haynes Jake MootyOrval Grove Paul EricksonJake Jones Bill NovikoffPete Appleton Johnny Schmitz Bill FlemingSources:*The Des Moines Register. April 10, 1942*The Des Moines Register. April 12, 1942

August 1946-August 1959From 1946 to 1959, the Harvest Festival was a major celebration each August held in Dodger Stadium. Sponsored by local businesses, free tickets were given away to people in surrounding communities as a thank you for their patronage. The three-day festival contained performances by the Karl King Band and featured a vaudeville-type format ranging from acrobats and other circus-like acts, motorcycle racing around in a cage, horses diving into a small pool of water and fireworks. Every year, the Harvest Festival would attract thousands of spectators. In 1947, an estimated 35,000 people attended the festival over the course of three days.

September 22, 1960John F. Kennedy arrived at the Fort Dodge Municipal Airport to a crowd of thousands on hand to welcome him. On Thursday, September 22, 1960, democratic presidential candidate Senator John F. Kennedy visited Fort Dodge. He arrived at the Fort Dodge Municipal Airport to a crowd of thousands on hand to welcome him. Senator Kennedy was accompanied by Mrs. Eunice Shriver (Mrs. Sargent Shriver, sister of Senator Kennedy) of Chicago and 6th District Iowa Congressman Merwin Coad. Fort Dodge Democratic national committeeman Donald Mitchell was also with Senator Kennedy. Senator Kennedy was greeted in Fort Dodge by Mayor Albert Habhab. Iowa Governor Herschel Loveless was forced to circle the Fort Dodge Airport due to poor landing conditions, which prevented him from being on hand to greet Senator Kennedy. More than 80 news, radio and television reporters and photographers had landed earlier and were able to provide national coverage of this visit. Senator Kennedy’s plane had been delayed due to a low ceiling; however, he was able to visit Fort Dodge for ninety minutes, using the occasion to outline a 6-Point Farm Program of “Work and Sacrifice and Discipline”, a program he said aimed at “Bringing good incomes and a decent standard of living to all our farmers”. Following a lively parade on Central Avenue, which featured twenty one bands, dignitaries, local businesses, floats, beauty queens, covered wagons and mules, Senator Kennedy gave a speech on the City Square to an estimated crowd of 15,000. He addressed mainly agricultural issues.The basic points of his speech were:Full parity of income for farmersAchievement of parity of income primarily through supply management of crops. This would include government purchases and loans in order to manage the crop suppliesUse of farmer’s excessive productive capacity to feed the hungry and undernourished both here and abroadUse of a sound system of soil conservation which does not destroy entire farms and which is administered at the local level by farmersModernization of the governments specialized farm agencies to meet the farm revolution – by revitalizing agricultural credit agencies so farmers could get the credit they need at interest rates they can afford so they could modernize and expandInitiation of a special program for low production farmers, those who must work with inadequate resources, and who live in rural povertySenator Kennedy stated that “America’s ability to grow quantities of food with a small percentage of her people is an asset “greater than the Sputnik” and one which the Soviet Union envies.(It was anticipated that Republican presidential nominee Richard Nixon would also address farm issues on his visit to Iowa the following day).During a five minute speech at the airport prior to his departure, Senator Kennedy spoke on the theme that “we can and should do more; conditions are not as they should be”. Kennedy contended that a Democratic president would be better able to improve the nation’s position in the world, especially in regards to the threats posed by Khrushchev and Russia, and Castro in Cuba.It was estimated that between 15,000 and 20,000 people gathered to see Senator Kennedy during his visit to Fort Dodge. School children were given a holiday from school in order to see the presidential nominee.

June 2, 1903President Theodore Roosevelt spent one hour visiting Fort Dodge in 1903.  He arrived at the Illinois Central Station by train around 11:25 am.  His train was drawn by a great engine, decked with hundreds of flags, coming from Denison, Iowa.  President Theodore Roosevelt spent one hour visiting Fort Dodge in 1903. He arrived at the Illinois Central Station by train around 11:25 am. His train was drawn by a great engine, decked with hundreds of flags, coming from Denison, Iowa.President Theodore Roosevelt spent one hour visiting Fort Dodge in 1903. He arrived at the Illinois Central Station by train around 11:25 am. His train was drawn by a great engine, decked with hundreds of flags, coming from Denison, Iowa.It is just so in civil life. I believe this country is going forward to rise to a pitch, not merely of power, but of high and true greatness such as no other country has ever shown, because I believe that our average citizen now in peace has profited and will profit by the lessons taught in the Civil War by the men of ’61 and that we shall apply practically the two lessons of which I have spoken.That we show as a nation that what we seek is not mere ease, not mere comport, not mere material well-being important though that well-being is – but that we shall try to do in our lives individually and collectively as a nation the things worth doing and to do them well and finally that we shall realize so far as in human power it can be realized, the brotherhood in fact as well as in name and shall continue to treat this government as a system under which, so far as finite human ability reach us, to reach that knowledge and system, under which each man is treated, not with regard to his wealth or his possessions or occupation, or his social position, but with reference to his fundamental qualities as a man among his fellows. ….…..Goodbye, and good luck.”Sources:*Fort Dodge, 1850 – 1970 by Roger Natte*www.inoldfortdodge.com