Mark Kempenich Slide Collection

Collection

Identifier: Photo 2105

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Mark Kempenich Slide Collection documents fort sites in North Dakota as they appeared in the 1970s, as well as some other general views of Fargo and North Dakota. Mark Kempenich was an accomplished amateur photographer, with a good sense of composition and documentation. The collection, consisting of 398 slides, has been organized into two series: Forts of North Dakota and a Topical Series. All the images were taken in the early 1970s, possibly all the summer of 1971. These slides came in no particular order, other than most of the forts slides were separated. They have been organized alphabetically by the name of the fort. In the first series, Forts of North Dakota, the content consists of seventeen forts, both military, commercial as well as on the Indian reservations of Fort Berthold and Fort Yates. The Topical Series includes Fargo N.D. aerials, the David Henderson Houston house being moved, and some general North Dakota scenes. All of Kempenich’s slides are Ektachrome with good color retention. The color of the Colorfax slides has deteriorated. These no doubt were not taken by Mr. Kempenich. The first folder consists of Fort Abercrombie and Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. Fort Abercrombie has slides of signs & memorials, wagon wheels, fortifications and buildings, field shots, and three farm scenes that were taken along side of a road on the same role of film. Fort Berthold Indian Reservation file has views of the Crows Flies High Butte historic cite including the Four Bears Bridge over the Missouri, and the Fort Berthold Agency headquarters building of the U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs at New Town, N.D. The second folder has Forts Buford and Fort Clark. Fort Buford’s slides show a historical marker, signs and maps, buildings, and some landscape views of a cemetery. Fort Clark has a large variety of signs and maps, buildings and landscapes, three slides of a grave site and two that include buffalo. Also included is of marker of Battle of Killdeer Mountains. The third folder is of Fort Dilts and Fort Hancock. Fort Dilts slides consist of some signs and grave shots. Fort Hancock only consists of two signs about the museum and one aerial view of the camp. The fourth folder consists of three forts; Fort Abraham Lincoln, Fort McKeen and Fort Mandan. Fort Abraham Lincoln was initially named McKeen until 1872 when its name became Fort Abraham Lincoln and expanded to the south as a cavalry post. Fort Abraham Lincoln and McKeen slides consist of signs, memorials, building shots, landscapes and aerial views of the forts. Fort Mandan consists of mostly signs and a couple of a building structure. The fifth folder has two forts, Fort Pembina and Fort Ransom. The majority of Fort Pembina slides are of signs, pictures, and memorials and there are also a few buildings and landscape slides. Fort Ransom’s slides have a couple signs, mostly buildings of the fort, landscapes, and aerial view of the fort. The sixth folder has Fort Rice and Fort Seward. Fort Rice has only four slides and they are all of a sign of the post. Fort Seward has a variety of signs, and cannons. There also is a series of images documenting a Fort Seward Wagon train trip showing some horse riders and covered wagons making their way on a rural road. The seventh folder has Fort Stevenson and Fort Totten. Fort Stevenson has one slide of a sign posting the fort. Fort Totten has slides of signs, buildings, a cemetery, and aerial views of the fort. Amongst the Fort Totten slides are three images of the monument erected at the Whitestone Battlefield site in Dickey County, N.D. The eighth folder is the last of the forts folder and has Fort Union and Fort Yates, N.D.. Fort Union has five slides; all of them share information about the fort on signs. Fort Yates, N.D. slides have signs showing the fort, information about the fort and slides of a building, marker for Sitting Bull and the Standing Rock monument. In the Topical Series, there is one folder including Fargo Aerials, David Henderson Houston house being moved and North Dakota scenes. The Fargo Aerials slides are all of Fargo North Dakota, and include of NDSU and looking southeast towards downtown, rural developments likely in south Fargo and of Riverside Cemetery and Moorhead beyond. The house being moved slides document the workers preparing the David Henderson Houston house to be moved from its original site near Hunter, N.D. to the Cass County Historical Society in West Fargo. The North Dakota views slides are an eclectic mix of views of an unnamed building, a barn and a house. Most of the slides in this file were published by Colorfax of Silver springs, Maryland. These include views of the International Peace Gardens, Lake Metigoshe, Badlands, the Great Northern Depot in Fargo, ferry landing on the Missouri from Tioga to Charlson, winter scene, oil fields, ski jump at Devils Lake and the Dickinson rodeo.

Dates

1970 - 1979

Creator

Kempenich, Mark, 1907-1972 (Person)

Access

The collection is open under the rules and regulations of the Institute.

Copyrights

Biography

Mark Kempenich was born January 10, 1907 in Randal Minnesota. Mark lived in the Fargo-Moorhead area and married Ialeen Haigh on January 31 1940. Mark and Ialeen lived at Alexandria, Minn., Bismarck, N.D. and St. Paul, Minn. before finally moving back to the Fargo-Moorhead area. Mark worked with the Moorhead Daily News and managed a theater in the area. Mark was also awarded the Distinguished Service Award of the National Conference of the Order of the Arrow for his contributions. He passed away on April 6, 1972.