It's Day 456...It's also August 4th 2020...and we are in Harvey North Dakota

It's Day 456...It's also August 4th 2020...and we are in Harvey North Dakota

Trekking across highway 2, knowing...that eventually I’d have to head south towards I-94 to hit Fargo....so randomly I chose county road 52 and was quickly detoured... (road closed for construction)... through an area that illustrated even more vividly what small town America in North Dakota looks like.

And when you see a town called Anamoose…..well ya kinda sorta just have to check it out right? The 227 folks that call Anamoose home either ranch, farm, go to school, or enjoy retirement in the town they grew up in. But turn out... it wasn't always so quiet here.

The town was founded in 1898 along the main line of the Soo Line Railroad...but here...it wasn't American settlers...instead...Romanian settlers from Saskatchewan, Canada. The name "Anamoose" is derived from the Chippewa word "uhmemoosh," which means "female dog"...The story goes that Chippewa Indians working on the railroad noticed a dog that roamed the area and began referring to the place as "Anamoose" in their native language

That same year...a massive prairie fire would nearly take the town out....before it had even gotten started...the fire burned for several hundred miles...thankfully... A resourceful rancher living a mile west of town built a fire break that ultimately...would save the town.

The town grew rapidly in the early 20th century, with many new businesses being established....in pretty short order....the town had established a General Mercantile and Hardware store, Post Office, Livery Stable, The train Depot, two grain Elevators, a Hotel, a Lumber Yard, a Harness Shop, and an Implement Store....and by 1915, Anamoose had a population of 669....going gangbusters it seems. But then....the story of Anamoose takes a turn...and begins the journey to decline...so many of America's small towns....what history calls progress...mean pretty much the opposite .... in towns like Anamoose.

We likely would have spent the night there…but the lack of a grocery store sent us 17 miles further down the road to where we would actually spend the night...in Harvey North Dakota…population 1783.

Harvey is situated at the head waters of the Sheyenne River. According to the towns official site “Harvey’s unique Dakotan connection is its proximity to the Lonetree Wildlife Management Area. Linked to The North Country National Scenic Trail, this area represents a unique wildlife management and recreation opportunity for residents and visitors alike”.

Founded in 1893.... as a division point by the Soo Line Railway and is believed to be named after a railway line executive.

Harvey...like Anamoose...was off to a strong start. But Harvey kept going...and by the 1960's...the town had grown to over 2500 residents....flourishing around the railway infrastructure...and the transportation industry that grew with it. Farming...and ranching remain a big part of what folks in Harvey do as well.

The town remains a hub for the areas activity....it's built pretty solid shopping....and medical support systems.

Which is a good thing for the folks in town....any thing bigger....means a 70 or 80 mile trek to Minot in one direction....or over 100 miles in the other direction to get to Bismark North Dakota...the states capital....and home to over 70,000 North Dakotans.

And then...there was that one more click....and man...Harvey....if it tought me nothing else.....I know for sure now...... that being a small town in North Central North Dakota....doesn't always mean quiet...certainly never meant...boring......

For example....During the Cold War... Harvey was home to an Air Force radar station as part of the nation’s early-warning defense system.

It was built to detect incoming Soviet bombers and had military personnel stationed here for years.

And what about....The Harvey Heist....of 1943

During the height of WW2...the last thing a small prairie town .... anywhere in America...expected....

was a Wild West style bankrobbery...complete with shootout...

But on a cold November morning....Harvey...would witness one....

These bank robbers.... well armed professionals...not your local garden variety amateurs...They were in and out quick....with around 15,000 bucks....in todays money...that's 200 grand.

But local law enforcement...along with State troopers were on it quick too.....and when a local farmer reported witnessing the robbers ditching their stolen car...and sneaking off down a dusty country road to the south in a different car....minutes later.....just outside a place called Carrington....a shoot out.....

Wounding one law enforcement officer....and one of the robbers shot and killed on the spot. The remaining three...after attempting to escape on foot they were all rounded up....and sent to a federal penetentury.

And it was later learned....the 4 robbers had close ties to larger crime syndicates...and could be tied to other heists pulled off across the midwest....But here in Harvey...their crime spree would be brought to an end...

The folks in Harvey never forgot the day their little town was turned into a battleground.....they also talk about the fact that some of the money stolen was never accounted for....and how there could be a hidden stash....to this day...somewhere out there on the plains of North Dakota.

And it wasn't just that bank robbery in Harvey....that had links to larger...perhaps nation wide crime syndicates. Prohibition.,,brought a whole different cast of not so squeaky clean characters to the area. Harvey would become a hotspot for Bootleggers moving liquor...from Canada and remote stills.... through North Dakota...on it's way to places like Chicago...and Minneapolis. There were even whispers that Al Capone’s network had contacts in the area.

Harvey....even has it's very own ghost...and as some would tell ya.... it's the story about a young woman named Annie....and how she worked as a maid in the Harvey Motel in the late 1920's....perhaps into the 1930's....record keeping for the time wasn't great...and all hotel records from the time have long since been lost....so some of the details around her untimely death...in room 13....are pretty sketchy.....was it suicide...and accident....or something a bit more sinister? No one really knows...but it is well known that beginning in the 1940's....guests....and employee's of the hotel would begin reporting to have seen a ghostly figure....sometimes footsteps or lights randomly flickering...you know....all the standard ghost stuff.

These reports would continue....into the 1980's....when the Harvey Hotel ceased operation. So is Anna a lost spirit...waiting for someone....or waiting for her murder to be solved? Or is Anna...simply the conjurings of the imagination of others? Whichever.....the story of Anna has managed to stick around Harvey for over 80 years.

And imagination....if that's what it is....isn't confined to ghost stories around Harvey....The midwestern plains that surround the town have been a hotspot for UFO's sightings....and strange lights in the night sky's...earliest reportings date back 50 years. Many will tell ya the observations are more likely associated with the nearby Minot Airforce Base...A military base with a long history of classified...top secret military projects.

And what about all the stories about strange "dissappearances" around here...

Throughout the late 1800's...and early 1900's....several instances in which settlers on the plains...simply dissappeared...and were never seen again.

Some....... were blamed on severe blizzards, some.....perhaps on Native American conflicts...but others...simply unexplained. One tale in particular.... tells of a homesteader who walked into the prairie during a storm and was never seen again—his cabin left intact, food still on the table.

And then.....when I read "The Town of Twins...Harvey..... North Dakota’s Double Mystery...

Well I had to keep reading....of about a quiet town nestled in the heart of the prairie, where the wind sweeps across golden fields, and the railroad still echoes through Main Street.

At first glance, Harvey looks like any other small Midwestern town. But if you stay a while, you’ll notice something… strange.

There’s something about Harvey. Something in the air… the water… or maybe… in the DNA.

Because this town has an unusual secret—more twins are born here than in almost any other town of its size.

They call it… The Town of Twins.

It's a Numbers Game...

Soooo.... let’s talk numbers.

The national average for twin births in the U.S. is about 33 twins per 1,000 births. In a town as small as Harvey—where the population hovers around 1,500 today—you wouldn’t expect to see many twin births at all. Maybe one every few years, if that.

But in Harvey? Some years have seen as many as one in every 20 births result in twins. That’s a rate far beyond what’s considered normal for a town this size.

Over the years, the local schools have had multiple sets of twins in a single grade, sometimes even in the same classroom. Teachers have joked about doing “double-takes” just to make sure they weren’t seeing things.

And here’s where it gets even weirder… many of these twins come from families with a long history of, well, more twins.

Some Harvey families have seen three, even four generations of twins—as if something in this small town is hardwired for doubling up.

What’s Causing It?

So, what’s going on here? Is it genetics? The environment? Or something else entirely?

Scientists say that twin births tend to run in families, particularly fraternal twins, which happen when a mother releases multiple eggs at once. If a lot of Harvey’s early settlers carried this genetic trait, it could have passed down through the generations, making twin births more common.

But… there’s another theory.

Some researchers believe diet and environmental factors could play a role in twin births. There’s even a study suggesting that certain foods—like dairy products—can increase the chances of twins.

And guess what? North Dakota is a major dairy-producing state.

Could Harvey’s high twin rate be linked to something as simple as what people are eating?

Or… could it be something else?

If nothing else....it's a Local Mystery That Won’t Go Away

Now, of course, there’s no official scientific study on Harvey’s twin phenomenon. But the locals? They know something’s up.

Parents joke about the “Harvey Twin Curse”—a surprise that some expecting moms weren’t exactly prepared for. Others say it’s just part of life in Harvey—"around here, twins are just what we do."

So whether it’s genetics, the environment, or some unknown X-factor hidden in the town’s history, one thing is for sure—Harvey is no ordinary small town.

And the next time you visit? Look twice. Because in Harvey, you might just be seeing double.

Pretty cool that as we pulled of into a city park....complete with RV hook ups....I had no idea....that what we had actually pulled into....was

A town with an abnormally high number of twins. A ghost haunting an old hotel. An infamous bank heist that ended in a deadly shootout.

And if they ever reopen that Harvey Hotel....stay out of room 13.

For a quiet place on the North Dakota prairie, Harvey has more than its fair share of mysteries....

For us, Harvey would also be where we would experience our first head on, full out midwest thunderstorm...the likes of which I hadn't seen since leaving Minnesota...as a teenager in 1982.

The smell of rain. I think we all have a visceral reaction to the scent that hits us when those first rains come after a long hot summer. Somehow it is just a little more impactful when it is not the end…but the middle of that long hot summer.

The rain drops hit with precision and purpose when driving down through a 70 degree night. Maybe it is the pacific northwesterner in me, or maybe its everyone of us, but getting wet is not the concern as you step out of the RV and into it all.

The sky lights up and and for an instant it is daylight…then dark again. The pace of everything quickens. It is difficult to explain the sensation that things are moving so quickly around you while at the same time everything stands still. The flashes of light and the cracks and booms bring everything around you to life then suddenly it all disappears into blackness again. Silence.

You think to yourself that you should probably go inside…and yet you don’t want to. But eventually you do…because your supposed to.

Back inside Vacilando the raindrops, those raindrops with precision and purpose are even more evident.

They seem to pound the aluminum skinned roof as if to state their presence and make it known that nothing else matters but them. And at this moment in time…in this place…they are right.

Didn't even turn the television on ..... or check the phone for updates....here in Harvey.

Instead....a night of reading about Harvey....

Then drifting off to sleep ... listening to the rain pound our roof...and thinking about the 100 miles between us....and Fargo North Dakota......

I wonder what we'll learn there...