1880
Military reserves in the eastern and central portion of northern Dakota were opened to homesteading.
1882
The last great Indian buffalo hunt took place and the Turtle Mountain Reservation was established. Fire destroyed a large portion of Grand Forks.
1883
The territorial capital was moved from Yankton to Bismarck and the first capitol was constructed. A university (UND) at Grand Forks and a Presbyterian College (now Jamestown College) were established. The Marquis de Mores began a packing plant and other businesses and planned the town of Medora; these enterprises failed in 1886. Theodore Roosevelt first visited Medora; he later established two ranches in that vicinity that he utilized periodically until 1888.
1884
Half the city of Devils Lake was destroyed by fire.
1885
The first meeting of the Territorial Legislature was held at Bismarck and the Marquis de Mores was acquitted of murder in a trial at Bismarck. The Hospital for the Insane (now North Dakota State Hospital) was opened at Jamestown and the territorial prison (now the State Penitentiary) opened at Bismarck. The great "Dakota Boom" in settlement increased the territory's population during this era and the territorial census was taken.
1886
Severe winter in the western part of Dakota Territory put an end to open range ranching and the Bank of Hamilton (oldest state bank in North Dakota) was opened. The Soo Line Railway began construction in northern Dakota at Fairmont; the Soo completed its lines to Portal in 1893.
1887
The Standing Rock Indian Reservation was opened to homesteading , and the Board of Pharmacy, North Dakota's first examining board, was founded. The North Dakota Medical Association was founded at Larimore.
1889
Northern Great Plains, 1880-1920
[line]
[Title Bar]
The first Europeans to see North Dakota came in search of furs and a water route to the Pacific Ocean. One of the first to explore the region was French Canadian Sieur de La Verendrye in 1738, when France laid claim to much of North Dakota. He visited one of the Mandan villages along the Missouri River near present-day Bismarck.
In 1803 the United States purchased this region from France in a transaction called the Louisiana Purchase. In 1804 President Thomas Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore this territory and find a route to the Pacific Ocean. The Lewis and Clark Expedition wintered with the Mandan and Hidatsa Indians in 1804-1805. They passed through the region again in 1806 on their return from the Pacific. Lewis and Clark stayed longer in the region that became North Dakota than in any other place through which they traveled. Although many others explored after Lewis and Clark and recorded their experiences, perhaps the most valuable record was made by Prince Alexander Philipp Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied (Prussia) and Karl Bodmer between 1832-1834. The records Maximilian kept and the world famous paintings by Karl Bodmer during their winter with the Mandans at the Knife River villages provides an in-depth glimpse of Native American customs, culture and dress.
[Photo Icon] After the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the rush to establish fur trading posts on the Missouri River began. The Red River Valley fur trade in the eastern part of the state began to boom at about the same time. Beaver and buffalo furs were among the most popular items. The Red River Valley was not part of the Louisiana Purchase, but it was ceded in 1818 by the British to the United States.
During the years of the fur trade, which was dominated by the English-based Hudson Bay Company, many French traders took Chippewa or Cree wives. Their children were called Metis (meh-tee). Many Metis lived near Pembina, located in extreme northeast North Dakota, a major fur trading post and the first European settlement in North Dakota.
[line]
Previous | Next
Return to North Dakota Historical Overview
[line]
Northern Great Plains: Photographs from the Fred Hultstrand and F.A. Pazandak Collections
Northern Great Plains, 1880-1920
[line]
[Title Bar]
[Photo Icon] Most settlers came to North Dakota for free or inexpensive land and the chance to farm. Between 1879 and 1886 over 100,000 immigrants entered northern Dakota territory. The second massive movement into the state was between 1898 and 1915 when more than 250,000 persons came into the state. While some of the earliest settlers came by ox-drawn wagons, stagecoaches, or steamboats, the vast majority came on the railroad. Both the Northern Pacific and Great Northern railroads advertised Dakota in Europe, promoting people to take the railroad to North Dakota and farm the rich land there.
Most new settlers grew wheat, but did not have large farms. They either bought their land from the railroad or they homesteaded federal land. Homesteading involved living on and improving 160 acres of land for a number of years, after which the settlers got the land for free. They could receive an additional 160 acres of land by planting and maintaining trees on the prairie.
Large-scale farming occurred in eastern North Dakota from about 1875 to 1890, when investors from the eastern United States purchased huge tracts of rich Red River Valley land. Much of it was acquired from the Northern Pacific Railway and operated as large farms growing "No. 1 Hard" wheat. These farms ranged in size from 3,000 to 65,000 acres. The farms earned such tremendous profits that they became known across the United States as bonanza farms. On September 6, 1878, even President Rutherford B. Hayes visited the bonanza farm of Oliver Dalrymple near Casselton, North Dakota.
[line]
Previous | Next
Return to North Dakota Historical Overview
[line]
Northern Great Plains: Photographs from the Fred Hultstrand and F.A. Pazandak Collections
Northern Great Plains, 1880-1920
[line]
<images/ngp_nd_ranch.gif>
While a wheat bonanza was taking place in eastern North Dakota in the 1880s, a cattle bonanza was occurring in western North Dakota. Ranchers brought their cattle from the southern plains into the Badlands, where there was plenty of grass for their herds of cattle and soon over a half million head of cattle were grazing in the region.
[Photo Icon] The Little Missouri River Valley, which had been opened by the Northern Pacific Railroad, was an ideal area for raising cattle. There were streams, nutritious grasses which were good for winter grazing, and ravines and coulees which provided shelter. The heart of cattle country was the Badlands, stretching along the Little Missouri River. The future President Theodore Roosevelt was the most famous person who ranched in that area, near Medora. In 1883 he bought his first ranch, the Maltese Cross. During the next five years Roosevelt spent a few months of each year in the area, and kept a small herd of cattle until 1898. Years later, he said, "I never would have been President if it had not been for my experiences in North Dakota."
The bonanza came to a crashing halt in 1886-1887 when winter came six weeks early, with blizzards in mid-November and freezing cold. Cattle died by the tens of thousands, with estimates of seventy-five percent dying. Ranching still continued, but on a much scaled-down version, and ranchers avoided overstocking.
[line]
Previous | Next
Return to North Dakota Historical Overview
[line]
Northern Great Plains: Photographs from the Fred Hultstrand and F.A. Pazandak Collections