Dakota Territory

Territory of Dakota
Organized incorporated territory of the United States
←   ← 1861–1889 →   →   →   →
Capital		Yankton (1861–1883) Bismarck (1883–1889)
Government		Organized incorporated territory
Governor		List
History
-	Created from Nebraska and unorganized territories	March 2 1861
-	Idaho Territory split off	March 4 1863
-	Land received from Idaho Territory	May 28 1864
-	Wyoming Territory split off	July 25 1868
-	North Dakota and South Dakota statehood	November 2 1889

The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of North and South Dakota.

History

The Dakota Territory consisted of the northernmost part of the land acquired in the Louisiana Purchase of the United States. The name refers to the Dakota branch of the Sioux tribes which occupied the area at the time. Most of Dakota Territory was formerly part of the Minnesota and Nebraska territories.

When Minnesota became a state in 1858, the leftover area between the Missouri River and Minnesota's western boundary fell unorganized. When the Yankton Treaty was signed later that year, ceding much of what had been Sioux Indian land to the U.S. Government, early settlers formed an unofficial provisional government and unsuccessfully lobbied for United States territory status.

Three years later President-elect Abraham Lincoln's cousin-in-law, J.B.S. Todd, personally lobbied for territory status and the US Congress formally created Dakota Territory. It became an organized territory on March 2, 1861. Upon creation, Dakota Territory included much of present-day Montana and Wyoming.

Dakota Territory in the American Civil War

Dakota Territory was not directly involved in the American Civil War but did raise some troops to defend the settlements following the Dakota War of 1862 which triggered hostilities with the Sioux tribes of Dakota Territory. The Department of the Northwest sent expeditions into Dakota Territory in 1863, 1864 and 1865. It also established forts in Dakota Territory to protect the frontier settlements of the Territory, Iowa and Minnesota and the traffic along the Missouri River.

Dakota Territory and statehood

Dakota territory historical coat of arms (illustrated, 1876)

Following the Civil War, hostilities continued with the Sioux until the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie. By 1868, creation of new territories reduced Dakota Territory to the present boundaries of the Dakotas. Territorial counties were defined in 1872, including Bottineau County, Cass County and others.

During the existence of the organized territory, the population first increased very slowly and then very rapidly with the "Dakota Boom" from 1870 to 1880.^[1] The white population grew slowly for a number of reasons. Mainly, the Sioux Native Americans were considered very hostile and a threat to early settlers. They were gradually defeated and were not as severe a threat.^[2]

The population increase can largely be attributed to the growth of the Northern Pacific Railroad. Settlers who came to the Dakota Territory were from other western territories as well as many from northern and western Europe. These included large numbers of Norwegians, Germans, Swedes, and Canadians.^[3]

Commerce was originally organized around the fur trade. Furs were carried by steamboat along the rivers to the settlements. Gold was discovered in the Black Hills in 1874 and attracted more settlers, setting off the last Sioux War. The population surge increased the demand for meat spurring expanded cattle ranching on the territory's vast open ranges. With the advent of the railroad agriculture intensified: wheat became the territory's main cash crop. Economic hardship hit the territory in the 1880s due to lower wheat prices and a drought.^[4]

Dakota Territory, c. 1886

The territorial capital was Yankton from 1861 until 1883, when it was moved to Bismarck. The Dakota Territory was divided into the states of North Dakota and South Dakota on November 2, 1889. The admission of two states, as opposed to one, was done for a number of reasons. The two population centers in the territory were in the northeast and southeast corners of the territory, several hundred miles away from each other. On a national level, there was pressure from the Republican Party to admit two states to add to their political power in the Senate.

In popular culture

Dakota Territory was the setting for the syndicated western television series, Man Without a Gun, starring Rex Reason as newspaper editor Adam McLean and Mort Mills as Marshal Frank Tillman. The program aired from 1957–1959.

The Disney musical film The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band takes place in the Dakota Territory during the time of the 1888 Presidential Election.

Dakota Territory was the setting for several novels by Laura Ingalls Wilder, including By the Shores of Silver Lake, The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie, These Happy Golden Years and The First Four Years.

Dakota Territory is the main setting for the HBO TV series "Deadwood". The town Yankton and The Black Hills area are mentioned often in the show.

See also

• Bibliography of North Dakota history
• Governors of Dakota Territory
• HBO fictional series Deadwood set in the Black Hills in the town of Deadwood in 1876.
• Historic regions of the United States
• History of North Dakota
• History of South Dakota
• List of Dakota Territory Civil War units
• Territorial evolution of the United States
  • Territory of France that encompassed land that later became part of the Territory of Dakota:
    • Louisiane, 1682–1764 and 1803
  • Territory of Spain that was later returned to France:
    • Luisiana, 1764–1803
  • Territory of the United Kingdom that encompassed land that later became part of the Territory of Dakota:
    • Rupert's Land, 1670–1870
  • U.S. territories that encompassed land that later became part of the Territory of Dakota:
    • Louisiana Purchase, 1803–1804
    • District of Louisiana, 1804–1805
    • Territory of Louisiana, 1805–1812
    • Territory of Missouri, 1812–1821
    • Territory of Michigan, 1805–1837
    • Territory of Wisconsin, 1836–1848
    • Territory of Iowa, 1838–1846
    • Territory of Minnesota, 1849–1858
    • Territory of Nebraska, 1854–1867
    • Territory of Idaho, 1863–1890
  • U.S. territories that encompassed land that was previously part of the Territory of Dakota:
    • Territory of Idaho, 1863–1890
    • Territory of Montana, 1864–1889
    • Territory of Wyoming, 1868–1890
  • US states that encompass land that was once part of the Territory of Dakota:
    • State of Nebraska, 1867 (annexed land 1882)
    • State of North Dakota, 1889
    • State of South Dakota, 1889
    • State of Montana, 1889
    • State of Wyoming, 1890
• United States Congressional Delegations from Dakota Territory

Footnotes

Further reading

• Jon K. Lauck, Prairie Republic: The Political Culture of Dakota Territory, 1879-1889. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2010.

External links

Wikisource has the text of the Encyclopaedia Britannica (9th ed.) article Dakota.

• Collection of Historical Photographs of the Dakota Territory
•  "Dakota, a territory of the United States". The American Cyclopædia. 1879. 

State of North Dakota Bismarck (capital) Topics Bibliography Climate Colleges and universities Cuisine Delegations Geography Governors History Music People Visitor attractions Society Culture Crime Demographics Economy Education Politics Regions Badlands Coteau du Missouri Drift Prairie Red River Valley Turtle Mountains Larger cities pop. over 5,000 Bismarck Devils Lake Dickinson Fargo Grand Forks Jamestown Mandan Minot Valley City Wahpeton West Fargo Williston Smaller cities pop. 1,000 - 5,000 Beach Beulah Bottineau Bowman Burlington Cando Carrington Casselton Cavalier Cooperstown Crosby Ellendale Garrison Grafton Hankinson Harvey Hazen Hettinger Hillsboro Horace Kenmare Langdon Larimore Lincoln Linton Lisbon Mayville New Rockford New Town Oakes Park River Rolla Rugby Stanley Thompson Tioga Velva Walhalla Washburn Watford City Wishek Counties Adams Barnes Benson Billings Bottineau Bowman Burke Burleigh Cass Cavalier Dickey Divide Dunn Eddy Emmons Foster Golden Valley Grand Forks Grant Griggs Hettinger Kidder LaMoure Logan McHenry McIntosh McKenzie McLean Mercer Morton Mountrail Nelson Oliver Pembina Pierce Ramsey Ransom Renville Richland Rolette Sargent Sheridan Sioux Slope Stark Steele Stutsman Towner Traill Walsh Ward Wells Williams

State of South Dakota Pierre (capital) Topics Delegations Famous South Dakotans Geography Government History Transportation Symbols Universities Visitor attractions Society Culture Crime Demographics Economy Education Politics Regions Badlands Black Hills Coteau des Prairies Coteau du Missouri Dissected Till Plains East River Pine Ridge Siouxland West River Larger cities pop. over 5,000 Aberdeen Belle Fourche Box Elder Brandon Brookings Huron Madison Mitchell Pierre Rapid City Sioux Falls Spearfish Sturgis Vermillion Watertown Yankton Smaller cities pop. 1,000 - 5,000 Baltic Beresford Britton Canton Chamberlain Clark Clear Lake Crooks Custer De Smet Deadwood Dell Rapids Eagle Butte Elk Point Flandreau Fort Pierre Freeman Garretson Gettysburg Gregory Groton Harrisburg Hartford Hot Springs Lead Lemmon Lennox Martin Milbank Miller Mission Mobridge North Sioux City Parker Parkston Platte Redfield Salem Sisseton Springfield Summerset Tea Tyndall Volga Wagner Webster Winner Largest CDPs pop. over 1,000 Blackhawk Colonial Pine Hills Dakota Dunes Fort Thompson North Eagle Butte North Spearfish Oglala Pine Ridge Porcupine Rapid Valley Rosebud Counties Aurora Beadle Bennett Bon Homme Brookings Brown Brule Buffalo Butte Campbell Charles Mix Clark Clay Codington Corson Custer Davison Day Deuel Dewey Douglas Edmunds Fall River Faulk Grant Gregory Haakon Hamlin Hand Hanson Harding Hughes Hutchinson Hyde Jackson Jerauld Jones Kingsbury Lake Lawrence Lincoln Lyman Marshall McCook McPherson Meade Mellette Miner Minnehaha Moody Oglala Lakota Pennington Perkins Potter Roberts Sanborn Spink Stanley Sully Todd Tripp Turner Union Walworth Yankton Ziebach