The Barnes County Historical Society Lecture Series Season 23 Presents: Cindy Benson “Weapon Laws and Ordinances in the Early days of North Dakota and Minnesota (1859-1921)” 7 PM Thursday, March 21st at the Barnes County Museum. (315 Central Ave N. Valley City, ND). With approaching, the weather this Lecture could be rescheduled.

Weapon ordinances and laws for Dakota Territory, North Dakota, and rural Minnesota in the 1800s and early 1900s.  How weapons were regulated in the Dakota Territory and early years of statehood in North Dakota and Minnesota. Was it the lawless Wild West?  How did the two states compare? How does it compare to our laws today?  What you learn might surprise you.

Cindy Benson is from Moorhead, Minnesota.  She is currently a volunteer researcher on a historical research project for Everytown Law, a division of Everytown for Gun Safety. She has lived in Moorhead for the past 29 years with her husband, John. They have two adult children, Claire and Sam. She is a retired English Learner teacher from the Fargo Public Schools where she worked teaching English to New Americans for over twenty years.  She retired in 2020 from Fargo South High School but continues to do volunteer tutoring with adult New Americans through a local non-profit. She also volunteers with her local Moms Demand Action group, an advocacy organization that promotes gun safety. She enjoys birdwatching, attending local cultural events in the FM area including exhibits and events at the Clay County Historical Society, and traveling with her husband, John. Their trips always include stops at museums and local historical sites. She has always been interested in history inspired by her maternal grandfather, Stanley Grady, who despite a tenth-grade education was an avid, self-taught historian.

The public is cordially invited.

All Lectures are at the Barnes County Historical Society Museum and held in conjunction with Valley City State University.  They are free and open to the public.