WAHPETON, N.D. — Back in the day, when the circus train would stop in small towns around our region, everything stopped.

Stores closed, farmers took a break from their work and everyone came to town.

In Wahpeton, people still stop and ask for directions to the circus monument at a local cemetery. It's a reminder of a dark day in Wahpeton.

The day the Ringling Brothers Circus came to town.

Before the big show even started, bad weather moved in, and the aftermath is now part of circus history.

At the Riverview Cemetery, just outside of Wahpeton, among all the other gravestones, is a replica circus tent pole. It is actually a monument to the three men who died when lightning struck as they were getting ready for the circus in 1897.

It was a big day on the dusty streets of Wahpeton. A Ju

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