History of North Dakota Timeline

(c. 10,000 BCE – Present)

The History of North Dakota traces thousands of years of Indigenous habitation by peoples such as the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Lakota, followed by European exploration and fur trading, large-scale homesteading and railroads in the 19th century, admission as the 39th state in 1889, agricultural development through droughts and the Dust Bowl era, and recent economic transformation driven by the Bakken oil boom. More Less

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Early Exploration

First European explorers arrive in the region

1700

The first Europeans explored the area in the 18th century, establishing some limited trade with the native peoples who had long inhabited the northern plains.

Image source: History of North Dakota

Pierre de la Vérendrye visits the Mandan tribes

1738

French explorer Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de la Vérendrye visited the Mandan tribes around 1738 and was astounded by their level of development. Limited trade with European powers followed through the end of the century.

Image source: Mandan

Limited trade with European powers continues

1739 - 1799

Following early exploration, limited trade with European powers continued through the end of the 18th century, linking the region's native peoples to broader commercial networks.

Image source: Fur trade

Maximilian spends winter at Fort Clark

1833 - 1834

Prince Maximilian of Wied spent the winter of 1833–1834 at Fort Clark during his expedition through the upper Missouri. His account, Travels in the Interior of North America in the Years 1832 to 1834, later appeared in Reuben Gold Thwaites' Early Western Travels series (1905–1906).

Image source: Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied

Territorial Era

Area organized as part of Minnesota Territory

1849

Much of the area that would become North Dakota was first organized by the United States as part of the Minnesota Territory before later being included in the Dakota Territory.

Image source: Minnesota Territory

Native American treaties with the United States

1851 - 1889

During the 19th century, a number of Native American tribes entered into treaties with the United States government as settlement expanded across the northern plains.

Image source: Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851)

Dakota Territory established

Mar 2, 1861

In 1861, the area that is now North Dakota was incorporated into the new Dakota Territory along with what is now South Dakota.

Image source: Dakota Territory

Homestead Act spurs western migration

1862

The 1862 Homestead Act, together with railroad expansion and favorable environmental conditions, set the stage for the massive Dakota Boom that followed in the 1870s and 1880s.

Image source: Homestead Acts

Territorial capital moves from Yankton to Bismarck

1883

The territorial capital's relocation from Yankton on the Nebraska state line to Bismarck in the north proved to be the last straw, and mainly the southern part began to call for division of the territory.

Image source: Bismarck, North Dakota

Voters agree to split Dakota Territory

Nov 8, 1887

At the 1887 territorial election, voters agreed to split the territory, setting the stage for admission of two separate states.

Statehood and Settlement

Dakota Boom drives population surge

1870 - 1890

The Dakota Boom increased the Dakota Territory's population from 11,766 in 1870 to over 328,000 by 1890, with farms growing from 1,700 to more than 50,000 and towns increasing from six to 310.

Northern Pacific Railroad reaches the Red River Valley

1871 - 1890

The success of the Northern Pacific Railroad and the Great Northern Railroad was based on the abundant crops and rapidly increasing settlement in the Red River Valley along the Minnesota border between 1871 and 1890.

Image source: Northern Pacific Railway

Bonanza farming transforms the Red River Valley

1878 - 1884

Power to 'bonanza' farming drove tremendous immigration to the Red River Valley between 1878 and 1884, along with the extensive efforts of Oliver Power and James J. Hill promoting settlement.

Image source: Bonanza farms

Constitutional Convention held in Bismarck

May 14, 1889

On May 14, 1889, the Constitutional Convention was held in Bismarck where the Dakota Territory was prepared for admission into the Union as two states.

North Dakota gains statehood

Nov 2, 1889

The rapid population growth brought about by the Dakota Boom paved the way for North Dakota and South Dakota's admission to the union as separate states on November 2, 1889.

Image source: North Dakota

Settlers arrive in large numbers by 1910

1890 - 1910

The settlers came by 1910, with the largest numbers comprising German Americans, Scandinavian Americans, and Yankees from the East Coast; the Yankees concentrated in the towns and cities, while the others became wheat farmers.

Image source: German Americans

About 100,000 immigrants settle in the Dakotas

1900 - 1950

Roughly 100,000 immigrants arrived between 1900 and 1950, settling primarily in North and South Dakota, Kansas and Nebraska.

Politics and Economy

John Miller arrives during bonanza farm period

1878 - 1889

Born in New York of Scottish ancestry, John Miller came to North Dakota during the bonanza farm period, 1878–89, and would become a representative political leader of the state's Republican era.

Image source: John Miller (North Dakota politician)

Republican dominance of North Dakota politics begins

1889 - 1900

From the late 19th century, North Dakota's politics was generally dominated by the Republican Party, with leaders such as Governor John Miller exemplifying the party's influence.

Image source: North Dakota Republican Party

Miller organizes the John Miller Land Company

1896

After serving as governor, John Miller returned to his bonanza farm business and organized the John Miller Land Company in 1896.

Railroad revises its land policies

1905

By 1905 the railroad company land policies changed when it realized it had been a costly mistake to have sold much of the land at wholesale prices.

Miller heads Chaffee-Miller Milling Company

1906

John Miller became president of the newly incorporated Chaffee-Miller Milling Company in 1906 and pursued numerous civic and social improvement projects until his death in 1908.

Railroad holdings in North Dakota greatly reduced

1910

By 1910 the Northern Pacific Railroad's land holdings in North Dakota had been greatly reduced following changes to its land policies.

Nonpartisan League formed

1915

Formed in 1915 with its roots in agrarian populism, the Nonpartisan League was strongest in the north-central and northwestern areas of the state, where Norwegian Americans predominated.

Image source: Nonpartisan League

Lynn Frazier leads NPL to gubernatorial victory

1916

In 1916, Lynn Frazier led the Nonpartisan League in a left-wing populist movement that gained control of North Dakota's lower house and won 79% of the popular vote in the gubernatorial election.

Image source: Lynn Frazier

William Langer elected attorney general on NPL ticket

1916

William Langer was elected state attorney general on the Nonpartisan League ticket in 1916, one of the few urban men in the farm group.

NPL wins control of legislature and enacts platform

1918

In the 1918 elections, the NPL won control of both houses of the legislature, and afterwards enacted a significant portion of its populist platform.

Senator Gronna opposes League of Nations treaty

1919 - 1920

Senator Asle Gronna was a staunch isolationist who opposed the League of Nations treaty because it further entangled the United States in foreign relationships and limited national decision making. He failed to win reelection in 1920.

Image source: Asle Gronna

Governor Langer declares debt moratorium

1932

Elected governor at the nadir of the Great Depression in 1932, William Langer declared a debt moratorium, stopped foreclosures, and raised the price of wheat paid by the state-owned grain elevator to the state's wheat farmers.

Langer convicted and removed from office

1934

Langer's solicitation of 5% of each state employee's salary for an NPL newspaper led to federal conspiracy charges, an initial criminal conviction, and his removal from office in 1934.

Langer acquitted and reelected governor

1936

After being acquitted on appeal, William Langer was reelected governor in 1936, continuing his Nonpartisan League career.

Langer moves to the US Senate

1940 - 1959

William Langer moved to the US Senate in 1940, where he served until his death in 1959, joining an isolationist bloc in foreign policy.

Image source: William Langer

Isolationist bloc opposes Cold War policies

1945 - 1957

North Dakota's senators formed an isolationist bloc that opposed American involvement in the Cold War, opposing the United Nations, Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, NATO, Korean War, SEATO, Formosa Resolution, and the Eisenhower Doctrine of 1957.

NPL merged into Democratic Party

1956

A group of young insurgents in 1956 merged the NPL into the Democratic Party, creating the Democratic-NPL party that has since shared the governorship roughly equally with Republicans, though the legislature has remained dominated by Republicans.

Image source: North Dakota Democratic–Nonpartisan League Party

Oil boom drives rapid growth in the Bakken

2000

Since 2000, the state has experienced rapid growth, largely due to the oil boom in western North Dakota's oil-rich Bakken shale.

Image source: Bakken formation

Census reports all-time high population

2013

A 2013 census report listed North Dakota's population at an all-time high of 723,393 residents, making it the fastest growing state in the nation and reversing nearly a century of flat population numbers.