The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1915-11-18
Story of the Making of
the Sunshine State
BY r.. F. FLINT
North Dakota Commissioner Of Aoricu1' ure and Labor

1t was in that snappy pamphlet the "Phiistine" Therefore
cudden taking off the world still mourns, was the author. The
thought may not have been original with him, Yet somehow these
appeared in that fippant little publication, have indeIby impressed
Energy is ever seeking expression"
So pointedlty do these words apply 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
p proot Of + the %! t tns ast Ss1, energy Ct f'v wbich h: nation alton w East eapsbIs
Up to this time the great West was practically an almost unknown
the early excursions of a few venturescme adventures and gold
hunters. The settlement of the Middle West had about been COM
pied, surveyed and brought within the boundaries of civilization.
the a m ~, aente to g saSs inq vi aey1N Westward over we the ctr treeless plains
which swept in unbroken grandeur from the Mississippi to the
which was to bring a continent under subsection and give the world
its greatest national unit.
Grants triumph at Richmond and the quickly resulting, peace
hood and toughened by the trying experience of warfare. These
men were ripe for any emergency: They were ready and eager to
try t sseh f %s eSs "; San aa%1sd a shst p 1sd the hs'e true Ss inessss' of the West.
; IN i9y rs::ss t 91sys aa 19 and dss sss v %sser sh Of 1 eSs Pseisc hs ssae Sssa gained
With this advance, and following it in al endless stream came
which has resulted in the creation Of the great northwestern states.
~. T Ts ;ad % n 6s: energy faggyyd that hat d had fh sens tis a. the ,i sSn9 g. n1oe Of
fsss; homes ans y snd ws. Eanf fa Themselves os t1esi in si MeSigps .o1e Ohio, Il i
new adventure fully equipped with all those qualities, Of mind and
and inherited to the full their spirit and initiative.
Swiftly yet surely the wave swept westward. Harnlets 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 was 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 our own state OF North
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 of a distinctly European factor among those
partiipating-the Scandinavian. Natural pioneers, trained by gen.
eratons of continuous struggle with stubborn soil and climate these
hardy neon1e had. for some wears. been sending their young men
westward along the 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 or 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 civilize.
The crossing of the Red River by the Northern Pacific railroad
in Tulv. 1873. may well be named as the date of birth for North
Dakota. although some sixteen years were yet to elapse before state