Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1913-09-09

quarrels were engaged in on any
pretext. And in a town-rivalry al
fair anything was considered fair, so
long as it, obtained the desired end.
sNKsfen CHARLES E. =AoYatt In west
to 10y out the town of La MOure,
Grand Rapids had been settled for
about year, and was growing lusti-
". The first pioneer in La MOure
county was Homer r. Elliott, who
later became postmaster of the first
postoffice. 1t is recorded in a his
tory Of the county, written by C. 10.
L0Vett for the Chronicle of La MOure,
that the first mail brought only two
letters, and both of these were for
the new postmaster. Elliott came in
70, Grand Rapids was laid out in
81, and in the fall of so the town OF
La Moure was plated. From that
time the town began to boom, and the
growth of its sister town, Grand
Rapids, was effectually shut off.
The fight for supremacy was along
railroad lines. Several lines were
reported to be building or intending
to build. A road had been promised
Grand Rapids, but the Fargo &
Southwestern reached La Moure in,
stead, and with a great hurrah, the
residents of that town began to pull
III the settlers from over the county
and all the new ones from other
states. Later the road from James.
town. to Cakes was built and restored
some of Grand Rapids lost prestige.
But it never restored what should
have been It's share, for the county
seat, once lost, could V be re-
gained without infinite trouble. AS
the only settlement in the county
with much life in it, and with a rail
road, promised, it seemed the only
logical place for a county seat, and
all the county records were kept
there. Surprising itself secure, q
vote on the county seat question had
never been taken, and when the cleo
ton came in 1892, the citizens Of
the Oldest town ere overpowered.
The records were taken dnring the
night and hauled forcibly to La
MOure.
Settlers were greatly wrought up
at the high-handed methods used in
the fight. but nothing more was
done, and the settlers and business
men Of Grand Rapids, one by one,
cnoved to the new center, which is
today the capital of a county noted
over the state as the raiser Of the
best crops in the state and the best
blooded stock. Ia Moure is a gre
horse county, and there is not an
other one lin North Dakota with so
many pure bred horses to it's credit.
AS to its grain when the Overland
ers passed through the county, it
had crops in better shape than
anything seen before that time.
La MOure was a wild town in it's
beginning. Poker was considered
too tame for these hardy settlers,
who were dissatisfied unless they
could SIT in at a game Of faro, chuck
luck, three-card monte, or play the
vince | Of fortune or the roulette
wheel. Gambling tents were the US
nai thing then, and were the most
numerous of any business houses on
the street.. Il
AS to newspapers, La Moure has
had as many ventures as any county.
The Chronicle has been changed in
name, in form In ownership-until
IT Is. now mixed identity. Charles
Cleveland started the first newspap.
er in the county-at Grand Rapids
and later sold to Joe Mitchell Chap
pie, who is remembered well by old
pioneers Of. the county. w. j. Nc
Kean issued the first newspaper In