After decades as a territory, the northern half of Dakota entered the Union as a state in 1889, its admission so entwined with its southern twin that the order was deliberately obscured.
For most of its settlement, the region was merely a territory — the northern portion of the sprawling Dakota Territory, governed from afar and impatient for the full standing of a state. That standing came at last in 1889, when the territory was divided and its northern and southern halves were admitted to the Union together as North and South Dakota.
The Twin That Would Not Be Ranked
So close were the twin admissions, and so keen the rivalry between the two, that the president is said to have deliberately shuffled the papers so that no one could say for certain which state was admitted first. The two entered the Union as near-simultaneous equals, born of the same territory in the same hour.
From the almanac's reckoning:
- North Dakota was admitted to the Union in 1889.
- It entered together with South Dakota from the divided Dakota Territory.
- The order of admission was deliberately obscured to settle the rivalry.
Statehood brought a capital at Bismarck, a constitution, and the machinery of self-government to a young and growing plains society. The almanac marks 1889 as the year the northern plains came fully into their own — a territory no longer, but a state among states.
Elsewhere in the Almanac
The Métis and the Red River Carts of Pembina
At Pembina in the north, the Métis people forged a distinct culture of the buffalo hunt and the trade trail, their squealing wooden carts once a familiar sight across the plains.
The Powwow and the Living Culture of the Plains Nations
Far from a relic, the powwow endures as a vibrant celebration of song, dance and community among the plains nations, drawing dancers and drums from across the continent.
Ghost Towns: The Prairie Reclaims Its Own
Across the plains stand the remnants of towns that time and the timetable passed by — a leaning elevator, an empty church, a main street returning quietly to grass.