The Dickinson press., 1915-11-20
Story of the Making of
the Sunshine State
BY r.. F. FLINT
North Dakota Commissioner Qf Agriculture and Labor

it & TT 4es wes ip that ta a snappy t RstnR E1bstt The w. " Habbs4S: who ahs 4sse9f
sudden taking off the world still mourns, was the author. The
thought may not have been original with him: Yet somehow these
appeared in that aippant little publication, have indelibly impressed
Energy is ever seeking expression"
ia. So !. p pointed " do ,t these words sS1ds apply ply to the subject Of this article
the settlement, growth and present condition of this great state Of
By way Of preface let US look back a half century or more to the
close Of that terrific struggle which had torn this nation apart in the
proof proof Of + the ne Tremendous re a@s s" energy Of ofv Which t%' nlttan w as cap a
Up to this time the great West was practically a n almost unknown
the na+ early excursions TTa st41sr, Of a + few W. vs snts51s ONE. sd We Bnms INC gold gold
pieted. The woodlands Of the great central states had been oecu-
pied, surveyed and brought within the boundaries Of civilization.
t1s;, moment ase to g. gaze ssI Iasai3iog!y westward ::as1 oyer y: r. t;:. t::s1s;s p plains i:
Re!sS i %oa@ts tain "9 a~sisiag S 's signal IRON te3 that that % ea~s:d $e7 : s@s
it's M" gres tea 9: 1a sioas a u SGeo"e"' ""oef ''0''''0' M give 'S "''''
r.,s. sssn ssn tsisnp sf =; ;b6 Risn%sn ID 1 msn, t1 :a fG ;s ts. T s:i%s & R sss:
hood and toughened by the trying experience of warfare. These
try %y1 their ~h'1 fortunes IS in ny slmos! any New isi Of ZEN :nds az @c @'s "
an ;s s"sa ~ ts: s$ DID S' nss ess. that aa3 lid ts sss n sss ;9z:s ssa 81 sss sns g %s:t,
Their passes traversed and the waters of the Pacific reached
that westward movement along the Northern line Of the United States
which has resulted in the creation OF the great northwestern states;
the Middle West again ' found AN an outlet aaS t1 along this new line Of . T Prog g:
l hewn homes y snd Wealth Eaaf fo1 Themselves D' i"Hsi in si Michigan ,o's ohie, Viii Illinois, ii
Wisconsin and other states east Of the Mississippi, set forth on their
and md inherited der to the full their spirit it,: AND initiative iia A'' y '"SA '~A"'
Swiftly yet surely the wave swept westward. Hanlets became
villages, villages became towns and towns became cities. Yet still
the march of progress continued. The Mississippi was reached and
passed. Homes were established, civil rule W. organized, railroads
were built and a permanent civilization created.
In this manner the outposts of the advance reached the Red
River Of the North, and it was here that W own state Of North
Dakota, or Dakota territory as it wa then called, came into the
quickly moving picture.
In the meantime a new force had been added to that army Of
energy and progress which was destined to exert the greatest single
influence yet developed in the movement westward. This was no
less than the injection nj senne Ct a distinctly Sy+ European p;aa.t factor 9r. among e. those
erations Of continuous struggle with stubborn soil and climate these
hardy people had, for some years, been sending their young men
westward along tho northern stretches of our continent in search Of
new homes perhaps less rugged in their surroundings than those to
Which they had been accustomed.
No sturdier o. better equipped allies could have been secured
for the stupendous task yet before the pioneers. Indeed, from this
time forward, so marked has been the influence of these people upon
the movement, the history of North Dakota must of necessity be-
come a history of the Scandinavian farmers who dared and did in
those early days when the Red River marked the boundary of that
great Unknown which the men with the viking blood Jared forth to
tame and civilze. @
The crossing of the Red River by the Northern Pacific railroad
in Tuly, 1873, may well be named as the date of birth for North
Dakota, although some sixteen years were yet to elapse before state