The Bismarck tribune., 1934-04-07
Pioneers Beggared
Selucs For Capital
Made Great Sacrifice IN RaisIno
100000 for Dakota
Territory
ACTUAL CASH TURNED OVER
Final SO, 900 Was More plffj.
oule 70 Raise Than First
$4,000


down tho elevators and trek through
the u stories q North Dakotas nsw
skyscfaper capitol building this year
viii not have IN adequate apprecia.
tion Of the sacrifices made BY plo-
neer residents here half . century
ego to have the seat q government
located In Bismarck.
In the bill permitting . capital
commission 70 select slte, Il was
stipulated that enough money ana
land should b offered to build the
new state house.
Towns which were little more than
wide places In tho praifie trails made
offers and at least one town, ordWay,
was laid out for the purpose Of be-
coming capital dte.
Numerous offers were received and
some Of them appeared at first glance
to be better than that made b. Bis
marck, but Investigation showed
there was little to back up some Of
these promises, whereas Bismarck
actually produced tho cash.
It required heroic efforts and some
scheming to do II, however, and the
details Of the Job are lost In the hase
OF time.
Burleish =. spalding Of Fargo, only
survivor Of the original capital COM
mission. said that Bismarck found It
more difficult to raise tho last $4,000
than the first $4,000. Tho money
was produced by ]. W. Raymond,
carly banker, within Z few hours after
Spalding entered HIS office In demand
OF the cash.
Cash Hard - Get
Tho contract entered into by peo.
pie Of the city was that they were
to provide 100000 and $40 acres Of
land. The latter item was easy but
the money was q difficult problem.
Everyone was aflame with enthusi-
asm and each gave according to his
means. Citizens We'd with each other
to see who could give the most and
1t Is more than . tradition that many
mortgaged their homes Or other prop
e.ty to raise the money. Committees
circulated about the village soliciting
subscriptions and everyons gave q
least . little.
A list Of the donors which WAS SUBJ
sequently found In . local hank, lists
1Ss separate donations, ranging from
5000 down to IS. Some names were
listed more than once but It Is not
known whether these listtngs repre-
sented more than one separate dona-
ton. -: .....,. =.
For some the capital did not bring
the prosperity Of which they dream
ed, since business competitors appear
cd with the new building and event.
ually attained prominence In the To-
cal field. Others assert that some Of
the mortgages incurred at that time
never were paid off.
possible dollar had been collected
from local citizens, the fund still was
far short of 100000. It was at this
point that the financiers stepped into
the picture and local banks, whose
active heads directed the fund-Saisiug
campaign, guaranteed" the balance.
Wherever 1t came from the money
was obtained In cash and paid to the
capitol commission.
J. w. Raymond, then territorial
treasurer, was head Of the Bismarck
National Bank and George H. Fair.
child was vice president and active
manager Of the First National Bank.
The subscription list was found In
the records Of the Bismarck National
Bank by Captain I. p. Baker when
hA later took over that institution. L
II now yellowed with age and the
signatures, many Of which are hardly
legible, are somewhat faded.
Text Of Document
The text Of the document, the
names appearing on It and the
amounts listed as having been SUBJ
scribed follow:
We the undersigned in consideration
Of the benefits which We have received
from the location Of the capital OF
the Territory Of Dakota ct Bismarck
hereby agree to pay the sums set op-
pcsite our respective names, to the
Territory In accordance with the leg
Ulative enactment and the bid Of the
city Of Bismarck which has been &c.
cepted by the capital commissioners,
said money to be paid at once to
committee consisting Of ]. w. Ray
nlond and q. II. Fairchild.
T.. II. BLY, .................... .$6OOO.OO
J. w. Raymond .............. 100000