GRANT COUNTY, - BACKGROUND REPORT

2014 Prepared by: Roosevelt-Custer Regional Council Dickinson, ND TABLE OF CONTENTS

Early History of North Dakota ...... 1 First People ...... 1 Fur Trade ...... 2 Military Confrontation ...... 2 American Settlement ...... 3 The Railroads ...... 4 Statehood ...... 4 ...... 6 The Spanish Influenza Epidemic ...... 6 The Great Depression ...... 7 Postwar Economics and Politics ...... 9 Political Realignment ...... 9 Present Day ...... 10 History of Grant County, North Dakota ...... 11 Characteristics of Grant County, North Dakota ...... 13 Grant County Transportation (Map) ...... 15 Land ...... 15 Grant County Public Land (Map) ...... 15 Grant County Land Use (Map) ...... 15 Grant County Legislative District (Map) ...... 15 Grant County Fire District (Map) ...... 15 Grant County Ambulance Service Area (Map) ...... 20 Population ...... 21 Government and Government Finances ...... 21 Employment ...... 21 Housing ...... 23 Health and Emergency Services ...... 24 Education ...... 24 Public Utilities/Waste Disposal...... 25 Tourism and Recreation ...... 26 Lake Tschida (Heart Butte Game Management Area)...... 26 Sheep Creek Dam ...... 27 Medicine Rock State Historic Site...... 28 i

Cat Coulee Dam ...... 28 Otter Creek Game Management Area ...... 28 Pretty Rock National Wildlife Refuge...... 28 Cedar River National Grasslands...... 28 The Carson Roller Mill...... 28 Churches ...... 30 The Evangelisch Lutheraner Dreieinigkeit Gemeinde...... 30 The Hope Lutheran Church...... 30 Energy ...... 31 Cities ...... 32 Carson...... 32 Elgin...... 33 New Leipzig...... 35 Leith ...... 37

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Early History of North Dakota

The land which would become Grant County came to the United States as part of the Purchase in 1803, which included most of North Dakota. North Dakota was variously organized (both in part or as a whole) as:

o Unorganized territory created by the , 1803–1804 o , 1804–1805 o Territory of Louisiana, 1805–1812 o Territory of Missouri, 1812–1821 o Unorganized territory formerly the northwestern , 1821–1854 o Territory of Michigan east of and White Earth River, 1834–1836 o Territory of Wisconsin east of Missouri River and White Earth River, 1836–1838 o Territory of Iowa east of Missouri River and White Earth River, 1838–1846 o Territory of Minnesota east of Missouri River and White Earth River, 1849–1854 o Territory of Nebraska west of Missouri River or White Earth River, 1854–1861 o Territory of Dakota, 1861-1889 o State of North Dakota, since November 2, 1889

First People

Before new arrivals settled the Northern Plains in the 19th Century, the land had been occupied by for many centuries by big game hunting cultures after the retreat of the continental glaciers about 10,000 years ago. Later settlements included both hunting and gathering and farming peoples. When the first white explorers arrived, distinct Indian groups existed in what is now North Dakota. These included the Dakota or Lakota nation (called "", or enemies by those who feared them), Assiniboine, Cheyenne, , , and . Groups of Chippewa (or Ojibway) moved into the northern around 1800, and Cree, Blackfeet, and Crow frequented the western buffalo ranges.

These peoples represented two different adaptations to the plains environment. Nomadic groups depended primarily upon vast herds of American Bison for the necessities of life. When the horse was brought to the Northern Plains in the 18th Century, the lives of the Dakota, Assiniboine, and Cheyenne changed dramatically. These bands quickly adapted to the horse, and the new mobility enabled them to hunt with ease and consequently to live better than ever before. The horse became a hallmark of Plains cultures, and the images of these mounted Indians bequeathed a romantic image of power and strength that has survived in story, films, and songs.

In contrast, the sedentary Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara lived in relatively permanent earth lodges near the Missouri River and supplemented produce from extensive gardens (raising corn, beans, pumpkins, squash and sunflowers) with hunting; their

1 fortified villages became commercial centers that evolved into trading hubs during the fur trade of the 18th and 19th centuries. The Mandan villages played a key role in the native trade networks because of their location and permanency. Their location at the northernmost reaches of the Missouri River placed them near the closest portages to the Hudson Bay basin and thus the fastest access to French and British traders. Additionally, valuable Knife River flint was produced not far from the villages.

Pierre Gaultier de La Vérendrye was arguably the first European to explore the area, although rumors persisted of a Viking expedition up the Red River in 1362. He visited the Mandan tribes around 1738 while searching for a water route to the Pacific Ocean, and was astounded by the Mandan’s level of development. Most contact resulted from the Canadian fur trade until Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led the American "voyage of discovery" up the Missouri from St. Louis in 1804.

Fur Trade

The fur trade linked the Northern Plains to a world-wide economic and political system. Intense competition between rival companies resulted in competition for prime locations. With several notable exceptions, contact between the Native peoples and American traders, explorers, and military personnel in the Northern Plains remained peaceful during the early 19th Century. Indians became instrumental in the fur trade; major trading posts at Fort Union and Fort Clark, and others of lesser significance, catered mainly to Native trappers and hunters. In exchange for their meat and furs, the Indians received guns, metal tools, cloth and beads, and other trade goods. This exchange forever altered Indian cultures, and it often brought dangers; in the 1780s it’s estimated that three-fourths of the and half the perished from smallpox, which raised its ugly head again in 1837 and virtually wiped out the Mandan people at Fort Clark.

Military Confrontation

Major military expeditions searched the Northern Plains for Santee Dakota who had participated in a violent uprising in Minnesota in 1862. Battles at Whitestone Hill in 1863 and at Killdeer Mountain and in the Badlands in 1864 diminished Dakota resistance, forcing many onto reservations to avoid starvation. A chain of military outposts, beginning with Fort Abercrombie in 1857, continually increased Federal power, and the great slaughter of the northern bison herds after 1870 eventually caused the nomadic tribes to submit. Some bands of Dakota resisted into the 1880s, but their old way of life on the plains was lost.

Several parts of the struggle between opposing cultures yet remain sources of legend and controversy. In 1876, units of the 7th Cavalry commanded by Lt. Col. George A. Custer left Fort Abraham Lincoln near Bismarck to search for Dakota who had refused

2 confinement on reservations. The resulting annihilation of Custer's immediate command at the Little Big Horn River in Montana Territory made names such as Crazy Horse, Gall, and Sitting Bull familiar throughout the nation. Many Dakota moved to Canada to escape relentless punitive expeditions sent by the army, and remnants finally surrendered at Fort Buford in 1881. Nine years later Sitting Bull, the leading opponent of reservation life, identified with the Ghost Dance religion, one that forecast the return of traditional Plains Indian ways. Standing Rock Reservation Indian police were sent to arrest the elderly leader at his home in 1890, and Sitting Bull was killed.

American Settlement

American settlement of the Northern Plains commenced in earnest after 1861, when was organized by Congress. Significant immigration began when the westbound built to the Missouri River in 1872 and 1873. So significant was this foreign immigration that in 1915 over 79% of all North Dakotans were either immigrants or children of immigrants.

Along and near its line, new towns sprang up to serve the settlers, the tracklaying crews, and other, sometimes rowdy frontier citizens. Fargo and Bismarck, for example, both began as rough-and-tumble railroad communities. Spurred by the 1862 Federal Homestead Law, farming settlement developed gradually after the first claim west of the Red River was filed in 1868.

The military first introduced beef cattle to the area in the 1860s to stock their forts. They did very well and needed little care, although they had to be protected initially from Indian “appropriation”. Outfits primarily from Texas, financed by eastern or foreign investors, took notice and took advantage. Smaller ranches with 200-300 head of cattle also began to multiply.

Ranching boomed in the early 1880s. Teddy Roosevelt famously took up residence in the badlands and although he owned no land managed to run up to 5,000 head of cattle. A great settlement "boom" in northern Dakota occurred between 1879 and 1886. During those years, over 100,000 people entered the territory. The majority were homesteaders, but some organized large, highly mechanized, well-capitalized bonanza farms in the eastern part of the state. These operations, several of which lasted into the 20th Century, made names such as Dalrymple and Grandin well known throughout the United States and helped publicize the northern frontier.

The “free range” that characterized this period was exploited beyond its limits because of the huge profits to be made and overstocking, exacerbated by a drought in Texas, soon led to enormous losses. Then came the winter of 1886-1887, which by some estimates wiped out three-fourths of all cattle in the northern plains. A packing plant built by the Marquis de Mores in boom times closed for good the following summer.

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Ranching seemed doomed by homesteaders but came to co-exist – although it was generally forced from level open country to the badlands. Ranchers and cowboys took up their own homesteads and began to rebuild their herds.

The Railroads

The influence of the railroads and their business allies guided northern Dakota from its earliest territorial days. Led by political agent Alexander McKenzie of Bismarck and St. Paul, these groups aggressively worked to attract investment capital to the Northern Plains. The 1883 removal of the territorial capitol from Yankton to Bismarck on the main line of the Northern Pacific Railway demonstrated the power of these outside corporate interests in Dakota Territory's affairs.

The Northern Pacific Railroad was given land grants by the federal government so that it could borrow money to build its system, and at its peak owned 24% of North Dakota. The federal government kept every other section of land, and gave it away to homesteaders. At first the railroad sold much of its holdings at low prices to land speculators in order to realize quick cash profits, and also to eliminate sizable annual tax bills. By 1905 the railroad company land policies changed when it realized it had been a costly mistake to have sold much of the land at wholesale prices. With better railroad service and improved methods of farming the Northern Pacific easily sold what had been heretofore "worthless" land directly to farmers at good prices. This created another boom which attracted speculators, inflated prices, and brought in foreign immigrants which were considered to be the colonists of choice. By 1910 the railroad's holdings in North Dakota had been greatly reduced.

Meanwhile the Great Northern Railroad energetically promoted settlement along its lines in the northern part of the state. The Great Northern bought its lands from the federal government—it received no land grants—and resold them to farmers one by one. It operated agencies in Germany and Scandinavia that promoted its lands, and brought families over at low cost.

Statehood

On November 2, 1889, President Benjamin Harrison approved the admission of North Dakota to the Union. The new state was a Republican Party stronghold. The first Governor, John Miller, presided over a turbulent initial legislative session that, among other issues, fought about the question of legalizing lotteries and prohibition.

County-splitters swung into action with settlement, under various motives, petitioning and debating until the state was divided into 53 relatively small counties. With each new split a new county seat struggle developed as two or three towns fought for dominance.

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Political life revealed an insurgent tendency that has continued to the present day. In 1890, the cooperative Farmers Alliance formed an Independent Party to challenge the "McKenzie Gang" that dominated the Republican Party. The Independents fused with the minority Democratic Party in 1892 and captured state government with a platform promising significant reforms. Their efforts, however, were frustrated by political inexperience, and in 1894 the Republican Party regained power. Controlled by conservatives, North Dakota government encouraged investment by establishing liberal banking, regulatory, and taxation policies; to support their policies, conservatives argued that capitalists would not invest in North Dakota unless state government did its part to diminish risk and enhance profits.

Though severely criticized by progressives, the strategy did result in some industrial development. Large lignite mines opened near Beulah and Wilton, and local brickworks and flour mills soon dotted the state. The railroad industry, bolstered by completion of both James J. Hill's Great Northern Railway (GN) in 1887 and the SOO Line in 1893, built branch lines and fostered new towns resulting in nearly 500 miles of new track and more than 50 new town sites in one year. Many of the town sites were never settled, and were abandoned. Rail expansion peaked in 1905 when the GN and SOO squared off in a "railway war" in northern North Dakota.

Evidence of development, however, did not quiet the progressive opposition. In their opinion, the state provided too many incentives, and they pointed out that huge profits were being taken from North Dakota, that the distant leadership of rail and commodities companies were often arrogant and unresponsive to the needs of their customers, and that rural people were often taxed out of proportion to their means. Most galling, however, was the frequent evidence that out-of-state corporate interests dominated North Dakota government, using it to further private goals rather than the general welfare of the citizens.

By 1905, the swelling chorus of protest caused a political upheaval. Republican progressives united with Democrats to elect as Governor, and his election commenced a reform era. In the next decade, a series of other movements surfaced. For example, in 1907, a new cooperative movement, the American Society of Equity, came to North Dakota and by 1913 had created well over 400 marketing and purchasing locals throughout the state. Among the many new settlers who immigrated during the second Dakota "boom" after 1905 were radicals, and they united into the North Dakota Socialist Party. Both the cooperative and radical movements questioned the preference given to out-of-state corporations, called for fair taxation, and demanded better services from state government. For these movements, the goal was returning control of North Dakota's government and economy to the people, and they were not afraid to demand that state government organize and operate banking, insurances, and processing businesses in order to bring the benefits of competition, lower costs, and better services to the people.

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Nonpartisan League

These movements resulted in the formation of the Nonpartisan League (NPL), North Dakota's greatest political insurgency. The NPL, born in 1915, united progressives, reformers, and radicals behind a platform that called for many progressive reforms, ranging from improved state services and full suffrage for women to state ownership of banks, mills and elevators, and insurances. Led by A. C. Townley, the NPL used the primary election to take control of the Republican Party in 1916, dominated all state government by 1918, and enacted its program in 1919. Its administration, headed by Governor Lynn J. Frazier, instituted many reforms in state government; among them were re-organization of state services, expansion of educational services, development of health care agencies, and improved regulation of public services and corporations. However, its core program generated fierce opposition fueled by funds from out-of-state corporations; those interests used every means to obstruct the NPL program, including lawsuits and extreme propaganda.

The anti-NPL movement gained strength during and after World War I. Charging that the NPL's leaders, many of whom were former Socialists, were opponents of American participation in World War I, the anti-NPL forces coalesced in late 1918 into the Independent Voter's Association. Vitriolic political infighting followed. The IVA attacked on many fronts, rapidly sowing disunity within the NPL and splitting the coalition of cooperative groups that had helped support the League. Economic distress caused by the precipitous decline in grain prices after World War I and a drought in western North Dakota helped diminish NPL support. In 1920, the IVA took control of one legislative house and in 1921 forced a recall election that deposed Governor Frazier and other members of the Industrial Commission that governed state-owned industries. The NPL era, one that significantly altered North Dakota government, had ended.

The NPL left an indelible mark on the state. The at Bismarck, opened in 1919, has become a large and powerful economic force; the State Mill and Elevator at Grand Forks, completed in 1922, provided a market for grain and a source of feed and seed; the state hail insurance program benefitted many farmers until its elimination in the 1960s. Perhaps most importantly, the NPL established an insurgent tradition in the state that blurred party lines for four decades, and both the League and the IVA elevated a generation of leaders to power. Each official recalled in 1921, for example, later regained public office.

The Spanish Influenza Epidemic

In 1918 the Spanish influenza epidemic struck. Half of North Dakota's soldier deaths were from disease, mainly influenza. In November schools closed and all public gatherings were cancelled; nearly 3,000 North Dakotans died.

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The Great Depression

For North Dakota the 1920s and 1930s proved to be a time of contrasts. An economic Depression, starting with the 1920 collapse of wartime prices for grain, punctured the economic expansion of previous decades. More North Dakota banks closed in 1921 than in any other year; the resulting contraction of credit caused many farm foreclosures. During the '20s 62% of North Dakota's 898 banks failed, compared to 20% nationally. Montana and had 70% closings - the highest rate in the nation. North Dakota depositors lost 50 million dollars.

People were leaving; for those who stayed there were high taxes and mortgages - and the hope of rain and better markets next year. But instead, the '30s brought unprecedented drought and relentlessly low markets. One-third of North Dakota farmers lost their land through foreclosure; 82% of the land in western and central North Dakota became tax delinquent.

Compounding the misery, it didn’t rain. Grass didn't even turn green the spring of 1934 in western Dakota, with little snow the winter before. It was the driest year anyone had ever seen. The fatal year 1936 shattered three records in many places throughout the state: driest, hottest, and coldest.

Those farmers in a better financial position, however, were able to enlarge their holdings, and many also mechanized their operations. A dramatic shift to motorized transportation placed greater emphasis on better roads and bridges. By 1920 57% of the state's farmers owned cars - soon North Dakota exceeded the national average in per capita car ownership. New devices entered the state's homes. Radio, especially, became commonplace after the first stations went on the air in North Dakota in 1922. Likewise, motion pictures attracted thousands, and many theaters were built in towns across North Dakota. Rural population diminished while cities grew. North Dakota reached its peak population in 1930, but the total thereafter dropped steadily until 1950.

As a rural state, North Dakota suffered greatly when the prices received for farm produce declined. The search for a solution to that problem brought about different movements in the 1920s and 1930s. For example, cooperatives enjoyed a renewed popularity in the 1920s. As farmers tried to band together to market their produce and reduce the costs of farming, the North Dakota Farmers Union spread across the prairies. Substantial organizing efforts in the mid-1920s resulted in formation of a state Union in 1927; Farmers Union locals built elevators and organized oil cooperatives that served the needs of an increasingly mechanized rural economy. In 1932, the cooperative group helped form a militant defense organization, the Farmers Holiday Organization, to take direct action against low commodity prices and farm foreclosures.

The renewed militancy in rural North Dakota quickly spread into state politics. A revitalized Nonpartisan League emerged in 1932, electing the colorful populist as Governor. Langer took bold actions when he assumed his office in 1933; he slashed state spending, imposed moratoriums on mortgage foreclosure sales, and

7 embargoed shipment of grain from the state. However, his disregard of law brought Federal investigations, and in 1934 he was convicted of campaign law violations and removed from office; Lt. Governor Ole Olson finished the term. That same year, a divided NPL lost the Governor's office to Democrat Thomas Moodie; he assumed office in 1935, but was quickly disqualified when an investigation discovered that he did not meet state residency requirements. Lt. Governor Walter Welford succeeded Moodie, becoming the fourth Governor in seven months. Langer returned to the electoral wars in 1936 after successfully overturning his conviction and then being exonerated after four new trials in 1935. In 1936, he was re-elected Governor; though defeated in 1938 when he ran for the U.S. Senate, he unseated incumbent Lynn J. Frazier in 1940 and retained that office until his death in 1959.

Though the explosive politics of the 1930s mostly centered around Langer, several other North Dakota leaders received national prominence. Senators Gerald P. Nye and Lynn J. Frazier became known for reflecting the isolationist philosophy prevalent among North Dakota people. Nye's investigation of the role of the munitions industry in bringing the United States into World War I made him a national figure and at the end of the decade he helped lead the national America First movement that sought to keep the nation out of World War II. Frazier established himself as a pacifist by annually proposing a Constitutional amendment to outlaw American participation in foreign wars. In 1936, Congressman William Lemke was nominated for President by the new Union Party; though he received fewer than one million votes, he carried the concerns of drought-stricken farmers throughout the nation.

Despite economic problems, crop failures, dust storms, and weather extremes, North Dakota visibly modernized during the 1930s. The new skyscraper State capitol, begun in 1932, was completed in 1935. Federal relief programs improved highways, state parks, and city services throughout the state. State departments addressed public health and safety problems, and a movement for consolidated law enforcement was initiated with formation of a State Highway Patrol in 1935. Rural schools consolidated at an increasing rate. Public utilities extended their reach through development or rural electric cooperatives; the first, Baker Electric of Cando, energized its lines in 1938.

For many, however, the economic hardships of the Depression could not be overcome. Thousands of North Dakotans lost their farms and either moved into the cities and towns or from the state. One historian estimates that over 70% of the state's people required one form or another of public assistance. The toll in broken dreams, physical hunger and hardship, and displacement will never be completely measured. Still, most North Dakotans stubbornly held on, husbanding their resources and spending carefully. Even during the hard times, for example, drought-stricken counties and cities rarely missed bond payments, and indeed the public debt in the state was substantially reduced during the Depression years.

More favorable weather improved crop yields in the 1940s. With more commodities to sell, farmers benefitted even more from the higher prices stimulated by American entry into World War II. Within a span of five years, the farm debt in the state dropped

8 markedly; at war's end in 1945 North Dakota residents had accumulated the largest per capita bank deposits in the nation.

Postwar Economics and Politics

Wartime prosperity continued into the late 1940s. Major Federal projects kept the construction economy booming, for example. In 1946, the demand for Missouri River flood control and diversion of the river's waters for irrigation and industrial development were rewarded with initiation of construction on the Garrison Dam; project supporters also envisioned a grand scheme of canals to move the water into other parts of the state, and the project's start seemed the realization of dreams voiced since the early 1920s. Reservoirs on the Sheyenne, James, and other rivers were also constructed for flood control and municipal water purposes.

Development of natural resources expanded in 1951 when oil was discovered near Tioga. The resulting "oil rush" coincided with expanding use of lignite coal to generate electricity; in 1952 and 1954, two coal-fired plants were built near Velva and Mandan, and oil refineries were established at Williston and Mandan, as well.

Communication and interstate transportation systems improved dramatically during the 1950s. The first television station went on the air in 1952 at Minot. Construction of a Federal controlled access highway system began in 1956. In addition, by 1960 two large Air Force bases had been built at Grand Forks and Minot, a modern continuation of an historic role in Federal military strategy that began in the 1860s. Changes in communications and transportation were enhanced by better airline service and a rapid shift away from dependence on railways. Though airline routes had included North Dakota since 1927, regular service expanded in the 1940s and 1950s, at least in part as a result of a conscious effort by state government to develop local and regional airports. Likewise, the steadily more modern network of state and federal highways made truck transportation into a viable alternative to railroads. Those same highways made private auto transportation more reliable; more North Dakotans bought cars after World War II than ever, soon giving the state a ratio of over two vehicles for every person in the state. As a consequence, however, use of rail passenger service declined, and by the end of the 1950s railroads had increasingly become a means for hauling freight, not people.

Political Realignment

Even as the state modernized, established political patterns continued. A new insurgency, the Republican Organizing Committee (ROC), quickly became powerful after 1943. It elected Fred Aandahl as Governor in 1944 and controlled the office until the late 1950s. Its leaders included Milton R. Young, who was selected to fill the Senate seat vacated by the death of John Moses in 1945 and served until 1981. ROC success forced realignment in state politics; to unite liberals under one banner, the Nonpartisan League and the Democratic Party moved toward consolidation in the 1950s finally

9 agreeing to run a unified ticket in 1956 and eventually merging in 1960. The Democratic-NPL obtained some immediate success; in 1958, well-known liberal leader Quentin N. Burdick became North Dakota's first Democratic congressman, and in 1960 the party gained the Governor's office and held it continuously for the next twenty years, including four consecutive victories by William L. Guy (1961-1973) and two by Arthur A. Link (1973-1981).

In the 1980s, political control of the state has shifted between the two parties. Republican Allen I. Olson upset incumbent Governor Link in 1980; the election put many Republicans into state office and in part resulted from the overwhelming popularity of Presidential hopeful Ronald Reagan. Within two years, however, Democratic-NPL efforts to regain the party's momentum resulted in steady gains, and in 1984 Olson's bid for re-election was stymied by Casselton farmer George A. Sinner. In 1986, Democrats for the first time won control of the State Senate, as well. After a century of domination by the Republican Party, North Dakota now has a vibrant two- party politics.

Present Day

Since 2000, the state has experienced rapid growth, largely due to the oil boom in western North Dakota's oil-rich Bakken shale. Oil and gas has recently replaced agriculture as the leading industry in the state and is now producing more than 1 million barrels of crude oil per day and heading higher. Unemployment rates are the lowest in the nation, at just over 3% - and are less than 2% in the oil patch. A 2013 census report listed North Dakota's population at an all-time high of 723,393 residents, making North Dakota the fastest-growing state in the nation. The population boom reverses nearly a century of flat population numbers.

Not all have prospered, however. Non-oil businesses are having a hard time keeping employees with the quantity of high-paying jobs in the oil patch, and those residents not employed by oil are significantly affected by the high costs of living, especially for housing. Traffic is also much increased, and rising crime is an unfortunate side effect of the steadily increasing population and money to spend caused by a boom economy. Infrastructure needs to support the boom are overwhelming.

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History of Grant County, North Dakota

Most early settlers in Grant County were Russian-Germans, with lesser numbers of Norwegians, Anglo-Americans, Bohemians and Germans immigrating to the county. The Russian-Germans came primarily from the Ukraine and were descendents of Germans from the provinces of Baden, Alsace, Wurttemburg and Pfalz who immigrated to Russia at the invitation of the czar during the 1800's but subsequently left after they lost many of their privileges.

Most Russian-German Protestants came from Bessarabia (now called the Moldavian SSR, located between Romania and the Ukrainian SSR) and from the Glueckstall Ukranian villages. Russian-German Catholics came from the Beresan colonies in the Ukraine, although many who settled north of Lake Tschida came from the Katharinental and Karlsruhe colonies and settlement in the Raleigh region was unique in that settlers came from Krassna, the only major Catholic colony in Bessarabia.

Sizable numbers of Norwegians settled in the northeast Grant County and they, along with Anglo-Saxons, were the first settlers to engage in rough-country ranching. Both groups came primarily from eastern North Dakota and from Minnesota.

A group of Finlanders began a colony south of New Leipzig, mostly in Delabarre Township, during settlement times, but most left during the 1930's.

In 1874 General George Custer left Fort Lincoln near Mandan en route to the Black Hills Gold discovery. His route entered south of where the Heart River exits Grant County. He passed near the present sites of Lark, Carson and Heil, crossed the Cannonball River east of where Sheep Creek Dam is now located, and continued southwest out of the county. Custer also camped about nine miles northeast of Carson while en route to the Battle of the Little Big Horn in Montana on June 25, 1876.

A stagecoach, which ran from Deadwood, SD in the Black Hills gold country to Bismarck, ND, had a route through the southern part of Grant County. It stretched 200 miles with no towns in between, necessitating stage stations about every 20 miles. The fifth station on that route was situated on the north bank of the Cannon Ball River near Sebbens.

In 1916 residents of Southwestern Morton County began a drive to split the county. The new division was to be called Grant County, named after President Ulysses S. Grant. On November 7, 1916, the issue went to the voters and passed by a large margin with Mandan and most of Morton County voting for the measure. Carson was named as the temporary county seat, and at the November 7, 1918 election Carson became the permanent County Seat with a vote of Carson 1,247 votes to Elgin’s 1,064 votes.

The citizens in the early days were anxiously waiting for the railroads to come and help domesticate the prairie country of Grant County. They came in 1910, and two of them came at once. The Northern Pacific started work from Mandan to Mott and the

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Milwaukee from Mobridge, SD to New England, ND. Both railroads met at New Leipzig and it was a competitive battle between them to traverse the rest of the county. Towns sprang up along these roads with energetic businessmen eager to make them a success.

These small towns disappeared one by one until only Carson, Elgin, New Leipzig and Leith remain that have governing boards. In the early 30's Grant County had a population of over 10,000; a U.S. Census Bureau estimate for 2013 found only 2,377. Poor climactic conditions during the early 1930s, technologic and economic conditions which made small farms impractical, World War II, the trend toward smaller families and the attraction of better-paying jobs in urban areas led to this population loss.

The Northern Pacific Railroad passenger train was discontinued in the late fifties and in the early seventies all train activity ended. The Milwaukee Railroad was the first to go and the tracks were taken out in the late seventies. The Northern Pacific tracks were removed in the mid-eighties.

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Characteristics of Grant County, North Dakota

Location of Grant County, North Dakota

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Grant County, North Dakota

Land

Grant County is one of 53 counties in North Dakota. It consists of 1659 square miles of land, approximately 1,062,000 acres, of which 44% of the taxable land is tilled for growing crops and 56% is used for grazing livestock.

At one time Grant County had over 130 different School Districts. Usually the State Government retained section numbers 16 and 36 of each township for school purposes. As time went on and county population decreased and modes of travel improved, the country schools were closed one by one, until only two schools are left in the county.

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Years ago this State School land was offered for public purchase, but as the majority of the county's farmers and ranchers could not afford to buy this land it remains state owned. The State Government owns 33,775 acres and the Bureau of Reclamation (Lake Tschida) owns over 12,000 acres, which together comprise about 4.3% of total land area.

Population

In the early 1930s Grant County had a population over 10,000, but the effects of drought, the Great Depression, the demise of small farms, the lack of jobs and other factors caused an out-migration that continues to this day. An estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau put the 2013 population at 2,377, which results in 1.4 people per square mile. Elgin has 615 residents, Carson has 284, New Leipzig has 215 and Leith has 15.

For the period 2008-2012, Grant County was overwhelmingly white at 97.3%. Over 86% of persons 25 or over were high school graduates and 15.3% had a bachelor’s degree or higher. Over 75% owned their own homes, which had a median value of $63,300, and per capita income was $26,801. The median household income was $40,968 while 13.8% of the population was below the poverty level. About 4.6% of the population was under age 5, 18.0% were under age 18 and 27.0% were 65 and over, with the median age being 51. Over 85.4% of people were affiliated with a religious congregation; the largest groups were Evangelical Lutherans and Catholics.

Government and Government Finances

Grant County is governed by three county commissioners who meet twice a month, on the first Tuesday and the third Wednesday. The primary source of revenue is from property taxes, which provided revenues of $3,257,833 from a taxable base of $13,548,787 in 2012.

The position of County Auditor is an elected position voted upon by the citizens of Grant County in the off year, or non-presidential election years. The county auditor is by statute the chief financial officer of the county, the elections administrator, the property tax administrator, and the executive secretary to the board of county commissioners.

Law enforcement in the County is provided by the County Sheriff, with assistance from special deputies and the game warden.

Employment

The following three tables show a labor force in Grant County of 1,122 with an unemployment rate of 2.9%, which reflects on the influence of oil and gas development in the state – although Grant County is not presently one of the oil and gas producing

21 counties nor does it include any major urban areas. About 52% of workers get a private wage or salary, 14% are employed by government and 33% are self-employed.

Monthly (Not Seasonally Adjusted) Labor Force, Employment and Unemployment data in Grant County, ND for May, 2014.

Civilian Labor Force Employment Unemployment Unemployment Rate (%)

1,122 1,090 32 2.9 Source: Labor Market Information Center, Job Service North Dakota, LAUS Unit

Estimated average wage information Grant County, North Dakota for the 4th quarter, 2013.

Total *Average Average *Average Area Name Average Hourly Weekly Annual Employment Wage Wage Wage Grant County , North Dakota 594 $15.45 $618 $32,136 North Dakota 438,565 $24.50 $980 $50,960 * Assumes a 40-hour week worked the year round. Source: Labor Market Information Center, Job Service North Dakota, QCEW Unit

Income information for Grant County, North Dakota.

Income Description Income Source Year Total Median Family Income HUD 2014 $58,600 Median Household Income Census 2012 $38,524 Per Capita Personal Income BEA 2012 $64,009

In this last table, a family is defined as a group of two or more persons residing together who are related by birth, marriage or adoption; all such persons are considered the members of one family. Income from people 15 years old and over is included. A household consists of all the people - related and unrelated - who occupy a housing unit. A house, an apartment or other group of rooms, or a single room, is regarded as a housing unit when it is occupied or intended for occupancy as separate living quarters. A person living alone is also counted as a household. Per capita personal income differs from the average annual wage because it includes other labor income, proprietors' income, rental income, dividend income, interest income, and transfer payments to persons-less personal contributions for social insurance – in addition to wage.

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Persons employed in the county work in the following industries:

Distribution of industries in Grant County, North Dakota for the 4th quarter, 2013.

Rank Industry Sector Establishments Employees 1 Health Care and Social Assistance 6 169 2 Public Administration 11 84 3 Manufacturing 3 44 4 Retail Trade 9 41 5 Wholesale Trade 9 38 6 Finance and Insurance 7 34 7 Accommodation and Food Services 8 27 8 Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting 9 23 9 Transportation and Warehousing 9 19 10 Educational Services Confidential Confidential Source: Labor Market Information Center, Job Service North Dakota, QCEW Unit

The most common occupations in Grant County are:

 Farmers and farm managers (38%)  Vehicle and mobile equipment mechanics, installers, and repairers (6%)  Agricultural workers including supervisors (6%)  Driver/sales workers and truck drivers (6%)  Metal workers and plastic workers (4%)  Other sales and related workers including supervisors (3%)  Construction trades workers except carpenters, electricians, painters, plumbers, and construction laborers (2%)

Housing

The 2010 census showed Grant County as having 301 houses and condos with a mortgage or loan, 575 houses and condos that were free and clear, and 252 renter- occupied apartments. The county is not located in the oil and gas area and has seen little need for new housing. In fact, in 2013 there were no permits issued for new residential construction, which is understandable as the population continues to decrease year-by-year.

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Health and Emergency Services

There is a medical clinic at Jacobsen Memorial Hospital, a 25-bed facility in Elgin. Although they are some distance away, Bismarck, Mandan and Dickinson have major medical facilities that augment the local facilities, giving local residents adequate access to good health care. There are no intensive care units in the county, however, and most medical specialists are at least an hour’s drive away.

Grant County is served mostly by four rural fire protection districts, which also provide emergency services and are staffed by volunteers. The Flasher RFPD handles most of the northeastern part of the county, and the Glen Ullin, Almont, Hebron and New Salem RFPDs similarly handle nearby parts of the county. Some areas in the south and southeast are not in any particular district.

Education

At one time Grant County had over 130 different school districts. As time went on and county population decreased and modes of travel improved, the country schools were closed one by one, until only three public schools are left in the county. Carson and Elgin offer grades K-4, Carson handles grades 5-8 and Elgin provides the high school (grades 9-12).

One other accredited school is the Prairie Learning Center in St. Gertrude, which currently has an enrollment of 46, all boys and in grades 5-12. The program is for adolescents with out-of-control, antisocial or delinquent behavior, and teaches social control, socially-acceptable time management and developing a positive self-image. Prevention, intervention, independent life skills training and the use of the outdoors as a stepping stone to success are at the core of the PLC approach.

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Public Utilities/Waste Disposal

Telephone service in the county is provided by West River Cooperative Telephone Company and electricity is provided by Montana-Dakota Utilities and by Mor-Gran-Sou Electric Co-op, Inc.

A private operator contracts with Elgin, Carson and New Leipzig for solid waste disposal, and these same cities provide water and sewer within city limits. Private water and sewer systems are used in all other areas of the county.

The only public passenger transportation is provided by the Hwy 21 Bus operated by West River Transit, a privately-run enterprise that is subsidized by County, State, and Federal grants. The bus stops in New Leipzig, Elgin and Carson with service to Hettinger, Dickinson, and Bismarck.

An airport with a grass runway is located south of Elgin.

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Tourism and Recreation

Lake Tschida (Heart Butte Game Management Area) is a reservoir that was created by the Heart Butte Dam, which was completed on December 9, 1949 for flood control, irrigation, incidental water supply and recreation. It’s about eight miles long, and the Bureau of Reclamation provides a controlled amount of long-term leases along its shores for cabins and trailers. Fish species are dominated by small walleye, but some are up to 10 pounds, and northern pike, white bass, catfish and smallmouth bass are present. Some perch, crappie and small bluegill also are available and many large buffalo carp are present.

Heart River immediately below spillway for Lake Tschida

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Sheep Creek Dam is an earthen dam used for recreation and fish and wildlife protection services. It was completed in 1970. Rainbow trout are stocked annually, and there are abundant largemouth bass, bluegill and crappie. Some walleye, brown trout and smallmouth bass are available.

Sheep Creek Dam

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Medicine Rock State Historic Site near Heil, North Dakota was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. Other names associated with the site are Medicine Hill, Medicine Butte, Me-me-ho-pa, Medicine Stone, and Miho. It is the largest of six sites in North Dakota with rock art paintings, and was the location of ceremonies, and has been long known to natives and non-natives. Lewis and Clark did not visit it but wrote of it.

Cat Coulee Dam is a 21-foot high, 300-foot long earthen dam built in 1938. It drains 4.5 square miles.

Otter Creek Game Management Area is 320 acres located 4 miles east and 1 mile north of the junction of ND 21 and ND 31. It has deer, sharptail grouse, pheasants and turkeys.

Pretty Rock National Wildlife Refuge is an 800-acre easement refuge on privately- owned land, but the landowners and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service work cooperatively to protect the resources. Located 10 miles south of New Leipzig, the area has been known as a temporary resting place for migrating Whooping Cranes.

Cedar River National Grasslands are 6,717 acres that stretch from Grant County south into the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in Sioux County. They are administered by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the Dakota Prairie Grasslands. Level plains and rolling hills are cut by dry and flowing streams in the area.

The Carson Roller Mill is a manufacturing facility in Carson, North Dakota that was built in 1913. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1980.

According to its NRHP nomination, it "is the only known roller flour mill in North Dakota to remain essentially unaltered and to contain its original equipment." It is evaluated to be "a rare and valuable example of industrial technology related to the commerce and industry of North Dakota's early settlement period."

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The Carson Roller Mill

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Churches

The Evangelisch Lutheraner Dreieinigkeit Gemeinde, or Evangelical Lutheran Trinity Church, near New Leipzig, North Dakota, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 2009. The church was founded by immigrants who were Germans from Russia. It has also been known as Trinity Heupel Church and as Heupel Church. The NRHP listing included one contributing building and one contributing object. It was built by Henry Bellman and others during 1902-1905 in Late Gothic Revival style.

Evangelical Lutheran Trinity Church

The Hope Lutheran Church, also known as Old Stone Church, is a historic church built in approximately 1898 and located seven miles north of Elgin, North Dakota. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1992. The 2.5-acre area of the NRHP listing includes a cemetery as an additional contributing site.

The church is located on a hill above the cemetery. The exterior walls were constructed with local sandstone slabs laid in mud mortar. In 1981, the sandstone is covered with a cement material that gives the exterior the appearance of stucco. In a chapter on the prairie churches of North Dakota, the authors of "Fromer's 500 Places to See Before They Disappear" describe Hope Lutheran as an "evocative sight ... standing alone

30 among the wheat fields" with no steeple, and "only a plain white cross tacked onto its cedar-shingled roof."

Hope Lutheran Church

Energy

Grant County is not participating in oil and gas development at the present time. The lone contribution to energy development was the Sprecher mine, intended to exploit the 155 million tons of strippable lignite coal in Grant County. Owned by the Knife River Coal Company and located just west of New Leipzig, the mine employed two persons in 1980 and operated only part of the year to supply local home and institutional heating needs. Future plans prior to 1980 were to increase output from 5,000 tons per year to its capacity estimated at 2,000,000 tons per year and was expected to bring 264 additional people to Grant County. The expansion never took place, however; the mine was abandoned and sealed on December 1, 1980.

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Cities

Carson is the county seat of Grant County. The original village was established August 11, 1902 a mile south of the present city site. The name Carson is a combination of the last names of local pioneer businessmen Frank Carter and the Pederson brothers, David and Simon. They and others believed the railroad would pass through at a point two miles to the north so a second townsite, North Carson, was founded in 1907. When the Great Northern Railway came through in 1910 it passed midway between the two towns, so both North and South Carson moved to the present location and retained the name Carson.

Carson, North Dakota

The 2010 census found 154 households, of which 20.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.0% were married couples living together, 7.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 1.3% had a male householder with no wife present, and 54.5% were non-families. About 53.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 24.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

Population in 2012: 284 (0% urban, 100% rural). Population change since 2000: -11.0%

Males: 124 (44.0%) Females: 160 (56.0%)

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Median resident age: 49.1 years North Dakota median age: 39.0 years

Zip code: 58529.

Estimated median household income in 2012: $36,966 (it was $19,722 in 2000) Carson: $36,966 ND: $53,585

Estimated per capita income in 2012: $28,568

Estimated median house or condo value in 2012: $40,024 (it was $19,900 in 2000) Carson: $40,024 ND: $142,500

Mean prices in 2011: All housing units: $66,272; Detached houses: $66,272

Median gross rent in 2012: $400.

Mar. 2012 cost of living index in Carson: 79.6 (low, U.S. average is 100)

Percentage of residents living in poverty in 2012: 17.9%

Elgin is the largest city in Grant County. It was originally called Stanley but after the Milwaukee Railroad came through in 1910 and there already was a Stanley on their route, the name was changed. It’s been recorded that one citizen, weary with long deliberations, glanced at his watch and suggested its brand name – thus the name Elgin.

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Elgin, North Dakota

The 2010 census found 339 households, of which 16.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.3% were married couples living together, 5.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 2.9% had a male householder with no wife present, and 50.7% were non-families. Over 49% of all households were made up of individuals and 32.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

Population in 2012: 615 (0% urban, 100% rural). Population change since 2000: -6.7%

Males: 262 (42.7%) Females: 353 (57.3%)

Median resident age: 57.4 years North Dakota median age: 39.0 years

Zip code: 58533.

Estimated median household income in 2012: $33,562 (it was $22,391 in 2000) Elgin: $33,562 ND: $53,585

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Estimated per capita income in 2012: $23,537

Estimated median house or condo value in 2012: $55,551 (it was $26,900 in 2000) Elgin: $55,551 ND: $142,500

Mean prices in 2011: All housing units: $45,400; Detached houses: $46,460; Townhouses or other attached units: $77,244; In 2-unit structures: $38,622; In 3-to-4- unit structures: $77,244; Mobile homes: $19,446

Median gross rent in 2012: $396.

Mar. 2012 cost of living index in Elgin: 79.1 (low, U.S. average is 100)

Percentage of residents living in poverty in 2012: 19.2%

New Leipzig is another town in Grant County that was moved. The original townsite, called Leipzig, was located 11 miles northeast of the present site. It was moved when the Northern Pacific Railroad was put through in 1910 and renamed New Leipzig. Most of the settlers that moved here were Russo-Germans and the town was named after Leipzig, Germany.

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New Leipzig, North Dakota

The 2010 census found 115 households, of which 10.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.8% were married couples living together, 3.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.5% had a male householder with no wife present, and 38.3% were non-families. Almost 36% of all households were made up of individuals and 20.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

Population in 2012: 215 (0% urban, 100% rural). Population change since 2000: -21.5%

Males: 115 (53.7%) Females: 100 (46.3%)

Median resident age: 57.8 years North Dakota median age: 39.0 years

Zip code: 58562.

Estimated median household income in 2012: $33,723 (it was $30,521 in 2000) New Leipzig: $33,723 ND: $53,585

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Estimated per capita income in 2012: $25,177

Estimated median house or condo value in 2012: $50,720 (it was $19,000 in 2000) New Leipzig: $50,720 ND: $142,500

Mean prices in 2011: All housing units: $42,053; Detached houses: $43,611; Mobile homes: $14,000

Median gross rent in 2012: $388.

Mar. 2012 cost of living index in New Leipzig: 78.3 (low, U.S. average is 100)

Percentage of residents living in poverty in 2012: 17.2%

Leith was founded in 1910 along a Milwaukee Railroad branch line that separated from the railroad’s Pacific Extension in McLaughlin, South Dakota and ran to New England, North Dakota. The name was given by railroad officials and comes from the harbor town of Leith, near Edinburgh, Scotland. This line was abandoned in 1984 which resulted in isolating Leith as none of the primary highways in the area were constructed to go through the city.

The 2010 census found 14 households, of which none had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.0% were married couples living together, 7.1% had a female householder with no husband present, none had a male householder with no wife present, and 42.9% were non-families. About 43% of all households were made up of individuals and 21.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

Population in 2012: 15.

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