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Patriotic chords resonate a deep refrain in the melody that has become Bismarck's past.
Once that overture has faded to memory and the backdrop has been pulled away, one may, perhaps, better understand how a comparatively small, rural community has long expressed in colorful ways its heart-felt loyalty to all things American.
Long before the founding of the Bismarck Patriotic Association, long before the 40 flags of Project Old Glory, long before returning veterans saw their names chiseled in marble, Bismarck was Loyal.
In a tale tinged with legend, this story opens with the shouts of angry men and the bold-print headlines of the day: "Remember the Bismarck!"
Shortly after the sinking of a German ship during World War I, efforts were launched to officially change Bismarck's legal name to the more patriotic-sounding, Loyal.
Lest anyone should doubt the patriotism of the German-settled city, a petition was signed by 105 resident and presented on Nov. 16, 1918 to the Bismarck City Council.
After having heard both sides of the debate, Mayor Hugh Steele signed the approved ordinance. In one swift stroke of the pen, the City of Bismarck was gone.
For one year and 151 days, children solemnly recited the Pledge of Allegiance and a capella strains of "God Bless America" echoed in the classrooms and churches of Loyal, Mo.
Like the strategy for yesterday's battles, "Bismarck" letterhead lay in the dust as time marched on...and troops flanked in and out of the Argonne Forest.
Then, by the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, 1919, the Armistice had been signed, and the Great War was over.
On the home front, dough boys rushed into the arms of their loved ones at the train depot as the Loyal Board of Aldermen formally repealed the name-change ordinance on the night of April 16, 1920.
From that day forward, Bismarck was to remain loyal in spirit alone.
There were reasons other than the war's end that led to this reversion back to the original name. For one, the second name was never widely accepted -- either by the Missouri Pacific Railroad or the U.S. Postal Service.
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