Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-04-22
INTERESTING ACCOUNT OF THE
DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH dakota
GIVEN IN PRIZE WINNING ESSAY
National Bank of Far
go Conducted Contest in
Celebration Of. 44th Ami
versary- Miss Mabel Da-
Mes, Of This City, Won
First Prize-Banks Mark
Mile Post of Advancement

First Prize-Banks Mark
s5s Mile Post of Advancement
IN celebration of their 44th ami
versary, officers of the First National
bank of Fargo conducted an essay
contest for students of the state. Inc
essays were to recount the develop.
ment Of the state during the a. years
existence Of the bank.
Miss Mabel Davies of this city. q
student of the state university. won
the contest. Her essay in full follows:
North Dakota, less than half a CEN
fury ago q part of that vast area pop
ularly known as the Great American
Desert" today enjoys the truly de.
served title of the 'Breadbasket OF
the World" Upon this TERRITORY, four
or five decades ago, the world look
with scorn; it was a bleak. barren
area, regarded as a blot upon, the
Landscape, as unfit for the habitation
of any save the h~alf-savage Red men,
described by one writer as literally
ana emphatically good for nothing to
the white man." To this territory. to-
day. the world looks for a large part
OF the food supply which is ultimately
tIO Oo IllC uCSlNIIt6 ~ ~ SA> -"
emit great war. The steps by which this
mighty change has been wrought form
scenes in a s~tupendous drama of
progress, u%nequalled in power and
romantic situation by any product OF
an authors brain.
Let us look backward for a little
space. and review the scenes of the
last four decades. The Indian mas
aacres of the sixties had been check
ed; the great pioneer movement"
which followed the disbanding OF the
armies of the Civil war had begun;
and the tide of westward expansion
had swept even across the boundary
of the "God-forsaken country OF ia
kota." In the latter seventies we find
the vast area included II North
and South Dakota organized and gov
erned under the title of-Dakota Ter
ritory. Already the prairies were dot
ted with settlers huts. Forts had been
built here and there for the protec-
ton Of the pioneers, mail and stage
routes were marked, and steamboats,
piled up and down the Red river OF
the North. Two thriving settlements
were already established on the west
bank Of the river, one at Grand Forks,
the junction of the Red and Red Lake
rivers. and one at Fo~~n. where the
Northern Pacific railroad first enter
ed the state:
Then Came the Farmers.
The westward extension Of this line
Of transportation and the parallel ad-
vance of the Great Northern railroad,
Z pushing westward from Grand Forks,
brought in their wake a throng of
pioneers who came. not to trade in
furs nor to hunt the buffalo, u to
themselves and their children. These
were the men who laid the founda-
ton of our great state, and who prov
ed to the world that at last God had
smiled upon. the, desert, Along the
two great lines of railroads. towns
sprang up like mushrooms overnight,
and by the beginning of the decade
OF the eighties h prairie was dotted
mol, with lone settlers huts, but with
Thrilling villages. The population
which according to the census of
1879 was 2,49Asz had increased by 1880
Land was fo be had in this fertile
region almost for the asking, and
land of such quality that its yielding
capacity was fabulous. Soon the set
tiers found that their primitive plows
meet the possibilities Of cultivation,
and better types of machinery were
brought in. Bonanza farms were OPP
ened with immense quantities of ma
chinery, livestock and equipment. For
The financing Of these, great enterpris-
es' capital was needed in large
amounts, and for the wealth being
eafekeeping and investment were de-
manded. Here was a field of enter
prise waiting to be entered, and the
important step was taken by the Bank
OF Dakota In January. 1873. In March,
Of the same year this pioneer -insti-
tuition was incorporated as the First
National Bank of Fargo. with total
sentered, other. banking institutions
spFAng UP, and their steady growth
ID indicative of the general progress
of the people they serve.
Political Changes.
The period of the eighties saw po-
utical changes in the Territory of Da-
kota- In 1883 the state capital was
removed from Yankton to Bismarck,
and in 1889 the national congress
passed the bill which gave to the two
divisions Of Dakota Territory the right
to statehood. A steady increase in the
settlement of the northern half of the
IN 1890 to 1919, nearly one hun
dred times the figures given for 1870.
Throughout the nex decade the
growth continued; industries expand
Cd. manufacturing and commercial
VI interests developed, two more great
railway systems sent their ramifica-
lions through he state. and with the
aAyent of the twentieth century, North
Dakota found herself the infant
paedigy of the nation, outstripping hel
olAef sisters in many lines Of activity
ss Banks are Milestones.
6me one has remarked that bank.
- amilestones along the blazed trail
ofs4sfndustrial and agricultural prog
@o1ies Perhaps, then. u best methoe
siofsMeasuring the advancement Of oul
1870 In h lasttwo decades is by 1
9lEnce into the mirror Of our ,nationa
VI lnkftutions. In 1905 there were ii
Nefth Dakota $50 state banks, trans
ar1ln Ef business Of $18,4S8, 5000
ASlSeg1eI5 there were 63s state bank
Njj1 -four trust companies, with tota
&tings OF 372.175,495.18. In this per
ssttoX Ess3oans increased over $4,000 90
ssa1lle capital and surplus over $1,000,