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North
Dakota
By
Dorothy Scheele
The Friendship Train is America’s unmatchable gift of
$4,000,000 worth of food to France and Italy after the Second World
War. The idea of the Friendship
Train originated from Drew Pearson, a well-known broadcaster and columnist
of the mid twentieth-century. While
in Europe, Pearson noticed that the Russians were sending food to Europe and
creating an enormous
brouhaha whenever a
shipment arrived. Pearson realized
that this beneficent gift was actually an attempt to persuade the Europeans
to accept communism. He loathed
communism and conceived the idea that America can also send food to Europe: hence, the Friendship Train. Americans opened their cupboards and
scoured their fields to give.
The United States government was not a part of this
unique event. Every state
contributed to the Friendship Train even though it travelled through only
11 states. A more thorough history
of the Friendship Train is available on the home page of this web site.
The citizens of the Peace Garden state gave generously to
the Friendship Train. However, scant
information about the amount of money or quantity of the donations exists,
making it difficult to site or credit donors. Other than some brief exceptions, few
facts are available.
In one of the few instances where credit was given to donors
was printed in the December 31, 1947,
Stutsmen County Record. Traill County
topped the list, contributing $5,857.
Next was Divide County, giving $5,783, Hettinger County $4,826, and
Grand Forks County, $4,481. These
figures were the only ones reported in the North Dakota newspapers at that
time.
Funds collected by December 1947 as reported by the Stutsmen County Record were $62,450, a
significant amount for a state with a population, according to the 1940
census, of 41,935. Officials
anticipated the monetary figure to be between $89,000 and $ 90,000 by the
end of the food campaign.
The departure date for North Dakota’s donations and the
date when it would join other boxcars heading for New York were not
available. The fact that most of the
newspaper articles were dated between December 1947 and February 1948
indicates that the donations were not shipped with the original Friendship
Trains which left from the west coast on November 7, 1947.
Simultaneous with the Friendship Train was another food
drive which was termed ‘Wheat for Relief.’
C. A. Armstrong was the executive secretary of this program which
was formed to send wheat to northern Europe. Officials decided not to mill the grain
in the Peace Garden state, but instead to have the Europeans mill it. By so doing, the people would have some
of the work they needed and also be able to mill it in whatever way they
wanted to use it.
North Dakota received the historic and grateful thank you
from France known as the Merci train, which consisted of 40 & 8
boxcars. The Merci train arrived in
New York harbor on February 9, 1949. It consisted of 49 boxcars of gifts, one
for each state and one to be shared by D.C. and Hawaii. These gifts were given by the French
people from their homes in the same way that America’s gifts were from
their homes
North Dakota’s boxcar is located at 612 E. Boulevard
Avenue in Bismarck. Gifts from the
French to the North Dakotans can be viewed on the web site of the North
Dakota Center and State Museum.
List of works consulted
“December 31 is Deadline For Wheat For
Relief” Stutsman County Record Dec.
25, 1947: 6.
“Report to Governor Marks
Climax of Scout Week Here: The Bismarck
Tribune Feb 12, 1949: 1.
“’Thank You Train’ To Arrive Feb. 15” The Bismarck Tribune Feb. 3, 1949:
1.
The Friendship
Train was the genesis for the French Merci Train. The. Website www.mercitrain.org has extensive information
about that train. Copies of Mr. Bennett's Book The Merci Train, A Big Thank You
From the French Merci Train is available
at ebennett89@yahoo.com. The price is $25.00 per copy,
including postage.
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