St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-10-09
The People of Central and Northern Da-
kota Want Admission Without
Division.
They are Disguised With the Attempt
of DemagOgues to Slice the
Territory
For the Purpose of Increasing Their
Chances for Office Holding by
Doubling the Offices.
rbe Trend of Public Sentiment Since
the First Settlements in North
eastern Dakota.
-
Admission Undivided.

n relation Ia the division of the territory is
IinnIy wonderful, and if the time ever
zones when the people are given chance
q vote ON this question the fact will be
clearly shown. The earliest settlement Of
he territory was in the southeastern corner,
md after many years, viz: in 1871. settle
nent commenced in the northeastern cor
ner. Anticipating such settlement the
Northern Pacific Railroad company caused
a bill to be introduced in the senate that
fall for the creation of the territory of Penn
bina. from the northern part, OF the terri
tory. This attracted attention and did
much toward settling up thee embina
region. At the time there wac .no settle
ment to speak of in Northern Dakota.
There was not soul at either Fargo, Bis
marck or jamestown, Fort A. Lincoln
was not established, Grand Forks had not
been born and Pembina had only been
heard of through the operations of Joe
ROlette and George Potter. Potter, by the
way, was member of the Minnesota legiS-
lature at the time of the Ramsey
Wilkinson contest for the senate.
Ramsey was the only Republican senator
and had firm grip on the patronage OF the
state. Wilkinson had been elected to con-
gress in the First district and controlled
the patronage of that district. 1t was pic
ME that year for members OF the legisla-
ture. Everybody got something if they
asked for it. Wakefield and Freeman got
land offices, Bryant got seed wheat, Fuller
was banished to Duluth, but poor old
George F. Potter. who cast the nominating
vote, was left without anything. George
FROTHED AND FUMED,
and cursed Ramsey, and finally it was de-
cided TO Danish him, so the Pembina land
district was created and was opened for
business. Potter was appointed receiver,
and as receiver he was an immense sue
cess. He told me few years later that he
had clean Official record. There wasn't
a id entry in it." said he. His bond
was an illustrious one, and is said to have
carried the names of Window, Marshall,
Bill King and others of that stamp. 1t was
good. and the government did not lose
ANYTHING where official receipts were is
sued. but Jim Hill is out $500 for some
claims paid for by him at Bismarck,
for which Potter didn't have time
to give official receipts. Potter said Ramsey
told him it was prospectively good thing
and he got tired of working prospects and
concluded to try the reality. A United
States court was established at Pembina.
and quite a little city was established.
Every body, Tnen consisting of Jud La
Moure, his father-in-law, Nelson, Enos
Stutsman and half dozen other actual
settlers on the farming lands at Pembina
and the few in the village: Capt. Griggs a
Grand Forks. and half a dozen settlers
there; John Haggart, Capt. Egbert, An
IN
Goodrich and Venum at Jamestown; Billy
McFadgen at Valley City and Bill Shaw
and his camp at Bismarck, all favored
division. Those in the Southern part OF
the territory had heard of the proposed
division. but didn't care whether it was
accomplished or not. North Dakota made
its first appearance as North Dakota and
won its first victory in 1874. Judge Barnes
of Fargo, and Lounsberry, of Bismarck,
went down with ten votes. There were
about sixty votes IN the convention. Moody
and B. T. Campbell were the leading can
dIdates. The Northern delegates made a
fight for Judge Kidder. They held the
balance of power and Yor His first bill
was for the division of tbs territory, and
during his six years in congress, his best
efforts were given for IS division. The
North
GREW AND PROSPRED,
and always favored division unit 0rdway
and the capital went to Bismarck. In 1899
Burrows. in urging division, brought for
ward ten-year-old arguments. He told Of
a barren waste which separated the two
sections. He said there was not wager
track connecting the two sections, and thai
the North could only reach the South via ST
Paul and Sioux City; that there was undy-
ing hostility and no prospective railroads
between the two sections, and the people
were as separate and distinct in their tastes.
interests ETC., as those OF Ohio and Ten
nessee. After he closed his speech, be Wis
tied the gallery, where the Dakota bows
then in the city had congregated in order 10
hear his great effort in behalf of down.
trodden Dakota, and Maj. Edwards said:
Burrows, for heavens sake, don't ever
tell that barren waste lie again: it was a
good enough plan for you to work fol
division five years ago, but Central Dakota
is now the best settled portion of Dakota.
and if you fellows are not pretty lively
about securing division. she will come
down here and demand admission as a
whole" And that is just what Central
Dakota is doing to-day. She demands that
this nonsensical cry for division be silenced.
And ii we Of Central Dakota ever do sue
coed in getting vote upon the question:
vote that being legally authorized is
entitled to respective shall show
how completely the sentiment of the people
has changed. The politicians may want to
double the expense of state government in
order to gain a percentage of the spoils:
they may want to double their chances for
gaining official positions but the people of
this section want admission without divis-
ion-they want to be a part of our grand,
Imperial and undivided Dakota They
want the power in the house of representa-
tiYeS and i'll national conventions that a
large and united delegation will give them,
They want the North united with theSouth.
and both to be in sympathy with Central
Dakota instead Of using Central Dakota as
the battle ground on which the hostile
tribes of the North and South meet year
after year to fight their battles over. Fol-
Dur part we are in earnest in opposition to
division. We are tired of this sectional
war. We are disguised with
THE CAPITAL CONTROVERSY
and are perfectly content to allow the cap
ital to rest in peace on the banks of the
Upper Missouri, knowing full well that if
II remains there it will result in drawing to
it new lines Of railroad that will open up to
settlement portion of the territory as pro-
ductive as the best. now almost entirely
unoccupied; that the North and South
will within a year or two at most,
be united by half dozen north and south
fines Of railroad, and the people of both will
unite in opposing the iniQuity that the poll
ticians are trying to work upon them in
this division matter. Whatever may be
said of Ordway, to him the people are in
debted for the first anti division seed planted
In Dakota. He left the comforts of his
New England home to found an Ordway
dynasty in Dakota. He knew no North, no
South, and came as Moses to lead the Da-
kotians to statehood and glory, expecting,
OF course that when the time for admission
cahe he would be chosen senator. A fight
was commenced upon him at once, and the
headquarters of the opposition was located
ct Yankton. He secured property interests