There’s an anecdote from North Dakota dating back about 15 years that perfectly sums up both the culture of the state – the third-least populous in the mainland US – and the trajectory of one of its most celebrated daughters.
Future Miss America Cara Mund, now 30, was then a tenth grader performing in the capital’s annual Band Night, when throngs of North Dakotans crowd Bismarck for a parade featuring regional high schoolers and community organizations. Mund marched one lap as a percussionist playing the snare drum with her school band; then she dashed to change into an evening gown and sash to march another as Miss North Dakota Outstanding Teen.
