In June 2011, five young people began their walk across North Dakota. Beginning on June 3rd at Montana they reached Bismarck on June 16th. Because of other commitments, they paused their hike and restarted on June 1, 2012 and completed their journey at the Red River of the North on June 13th.
Many of you likely saw them walking, encountered them in local cafes or saloons, or discussed them when you gathered with area folks that June. They wrote a book, The Walk Across North Dakota, about their journey which was published by NDSU Press in 2016.
They were not the first to walk across North Dakota. In the 1910s travelers on foot were not unusual. A Dickinson Press story on December 26, 1914 titled “German Hiker” began with “The Red Trail seems to be the route for hikers and long distance pedestrians as another lover of the sport visited our city last Saturday.”
That person was Reginald von Bruenig. A recent immigrant from Germany, von Bruenig had brothers serving in the German armed forces in the war in Europe that recently begun. Three of his brothers had been killed.
The United States official policy at that time of the war was neutral. Reginald von Bruenig wanted to help the soldiers serving in the conflict and decided that raising money for the Red Cross would be an appropriate way of helping them.
He proposed a bet that he could walk from Missoula to Chicago in three months. The bet was made with the University Club of Missoula. Business people put up $2,500. If Reginald makes it to Chicago before three months are up, $1,000 will be provided to the German Red Cross. If he doesn’t make it there in three months the $1,000 will go to the English Red Cross. The remaining $1,500 was to go a young lady in Missoula who was to marry Reginald when he returned from the hike.
There were strict rules that he had to comply with in order to win the bet, some of which were; He could not accept nor ask for donations. Any money needed to finance the journey had to be raised during the journey. He carried postcards that he sold along the way. Reginald had to obtain signatures of mayors in the towns he passed through and county officials in county seat town.
Von Bruenig carried a letter from the mayor of Missoula describing the purpose of the journey he was on. Reginald presented the letter to the local officials when he was obtaining their signatures. His travelling companion was a well-trained bulldog.
He entered North Dakota about December 17, 2014 and reached Fargo on the 31st. He walked across North Dakota in 15 days. The young folks in 2011/2012 likely followed close to the same route he hiked; but it took them 27 days in the summer. Von Bruenig walked across North Dakota in December. The average temperature in Bismarck for December 1914 was 7.3 degrees Fahrenheit. There are 148 years of data for temperature in Bismarck and December 1914 is currently ranked as the 17th coldest.
Reginald von Bruenig left Missoula on November 11, 2014 and had to be in Chicago by February 11, 1915. He arrived there on the February 4 a week ahead of schedule and won the bet. He took the train back to Missoula.
by Bennett R. Kutischta, OROT Committee Chair
February 9, 2022