The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1926-06-26
North DakOta's
History of so Years
Will Be Reviewed
CONTINUED from page one.,

Continued from page one.)
ed themselves. For those seven
years Bismarck on the Missouri was
the outpost Of civilization.
1t was the troubles of the North
ern Pacific railway during the panic
that gave Dakota its first land boom.
The stock had been secured BY the
huge land grant of the government.
Men holding large blocks of stock
took their payment in tracts of land.
Eight million dollars was raised this
way; the road stood the shock, re-
organized and proceeded on its way
to the Pacific.
The possession Of the vast tracts
Of land brought a new era to the ter
ritory known as bonanza farming
These farms in ,Cass, Trail, Barnes
and other counties, consisting Of
many adjoining sections, were sown
to wheat. On the Dalrymple farm
mile-long burrows were plowed with
out break. Later the cost Of labor
and the problem Of marketing caus-
ed the breaking up Of the bonanza
farms. They did their part iw the
upbuilding of Dakota, for they gave
publicity to the rich land and to the
fortunes which might be made in
Number One Hard.
The homestead laws Of the govern
ment which gave lands to people who
would live on them for certain
length Of time brought settlers to
the country. In their sod huts and
claim shacks they took possession Of
the land. Wheat was king.
In Minnesota financial genius
who understood traffic problems
from his experience on the river and
running local railroad decided on
another transcontinental road He
foresaw great wealth for middle
America if there were market for
her wheat in the east over the water
route and in the west at Puget
Sound. He was james j. Hill.
Mr.. Hill profited by the troubles
Of the n. p. and built his road slow
ly, colonizing as he went. His road
made money on the trade of a set
tied country. Immigration was en-
couraged. Thousands came from the
Atlantic seaboard to Dakota without
touching foot in the east. Mr.. HIPS
faith in his settlers has long been
vindicated.
The Cattle Industry
The wheat era was duplicated by
the cattle industry west Of the Miss
ouri. Longhorns from Texas had
for some time been driven north 20
avoid the drouth Of summer, but it
was not nutil the eighties that the
territory became known as 4 cattle
country.
The cattle industry flourished on
mammoth scale. Land sold from
80 cents to $500 an acre and much
of it was held by the stockmen in
common. All cattle and horses were
branded in the summer and turned
out to Craze. In the fall "round- up"
they were driven out of their feeding
places into corrals and separated ac-
cordng to the branding marks and
shipped to the packers. When such
loose methods became impractible
the day Of the cowboy began to wane.
The ranches have been cut up into
farms. North Dakota, with It's nutri-
tious natural grasses and it's easily
raised crops Of alfalfa and other for
age crops. is still big stock raising
state. But the day Of the cattle king,
like the day of the bonanza farmer,
is past.
Medora, in the heart of the cattle
country, is now known as the gate to
the Bad Lands where the proposed
Roosevelt National Park will some
day mark another era Of progress.
The Bad Lands, where nature has
carved with wind and water and
painted with fire, have thrilling
beauty.
A review Of the past in Medora
must not omit the days when young
Theodore Roosevelt was ranchcr.
Old cowboys still tell of his prowess
as hunter and rider and Of his ac-
tvity as deputy sheriff. In 1896
he sold his ranch at profit and re-
turned to New York and politics. In
his subsequent writings he regarded
that the state has adopted him as her
own.
Nor must cattle days at Medora
be passed without mention Of the
venture of Marquis de Mores who
conceived the idea of packing plant
in the heart of the cow country.
Backed by his wife's millions he put
his plan into operation on a large
scale, attracted many hundred labor
ers to the country, failed and re-
turned to France. The Chateau de
Mores, the home which he built at
Medora, is a landmark.
SO much for the days before state
hood. In 1889 North Dakota was ad-
mitted to the Union. Its present
story is known to everyone, youth as
well as pioneer. The dashing Indian
fighter of half a century age would
scarcely know what to make Of his
lost frontier.
An Agricultural Empire
He would find that the Indian land
is now an agricultural empire, an
empire as large as New York, Mass
achusetts, Connecticut and New Jer-
sey combined. He would find 100000
people in place of the 2,400 of the
seventies.
Few states have greater acreage
Of tillable soil. In 1890 but 1,9O9,441
acreN were under cultivation. The
last report Of the State Department
Of Agriculture shows l4,S99,O57
acres.
Number One Hard Wheat is still
the great crop Of North Dakota,
bringing in $147,215,OOO i'm 1925 while
the totals for other grains were al
most 100000, 600 more. The old
time farmer would be surprised to
know that in spite of this fact, the
day of the one-track, grain farming
in North Dakota is past. The age
Of diversification has dawned.