History of Grand Forks County. with Special Reference to the First Ten

riassFg^J? FRKHKN'TEI) IW ^4i§!p©l?^ ®f @i|MHD p©i|K§ (;©(3Hf^. WHlj Special Iêfewnce TO THE First tgn veftRS * ^ OF CITY, e*e ^ GRftND FORKS e/V^ <\^/^ Iqcluding aq l-(islorica! Oulline nhmh Valiey, ,L^- er-^ Of ^ê F(ed Fîv'er BY H. V. ARNOLD. Labimobe: Pjoneek Office. 1900. si^^HD p®i|i^§ (^©oîfp^. 09if}? gpGcial Iêfej'ence TO THE FiF$IRST TeN YeftRS * « OF ^ * GRftND FORKS CITY. ^M/\\v pÊ^^ I I ^V^ qcluding aq |-(isiorical Oulline^ '-^ ^^^ Q|: 11^^ i^^j 1^1^^^ Valley. BY h: vfARNOLD. II Larimore: Pioneer Office. 1900. A? A7 GOVERNMENT TOWNSHIP. N GIFT AUTHOR '95 PREFATORY REMARKS. rpHE history of the Red River Valley, so far as it has been published in _L this state, appears to have been confined to newspaper, magazine and other sketches. The next step is special pamphlets, and finally will come the bound books of the future. No really good history of the valley which will in- clude the era of the settlements, can be written until some progress has been made in collecting facts of that character concerning each of the counties of the Red River tier. The history of that part of the valley south of the inter- national boundary is chiefly confined to its North Dakota side, which, indeed, is the best portion of it in United States territory. The current of its history, however, also includes a strip of territory along the Minnesota side of Red River and which extends from Georgetown to Breckenridge. But the North Dakota side of the valley is specially historic ground, particularly its northern boundary around Pembina and Walhalla. Any work, even in pamphlet form, purporting to be a history of any one of the counties of the Red River tier of North Dakota, must necessarily sift over the accumulating records that belong to the history of the yalley in its entirety, for unless this be done, its old phase of life, the sequence of events and their bearing on the commencement of the modern epoch cannot be duly appreciated. The present is the outgrowth of past conditions; no hiatus, no abrupt transition separated the old phase of life in the valley from the commencement of the present civilization. Yet with the beginning of the latter account has to be taken of the great migration which has rendered this civilization a possibility. For a century past we have before us a rather contin- uous historic stream in the Northwest with which white men have been concerned. At present the literature bearing upon this subject, is in a rather discord- ant state, unsifted, and more or less filled with erroneous statements of fact, including discrepant and wrong dates. These sketches merely supply a tem- porary want. It would, perhaps, be a mistake to imagine that any permanent harm has been done in the matter of these errors; on the contrary, the dis- crepancies being apparent to anyone of critical intelligence, the outcome will be to stimulate others to investigate the facts they handle more carefully, so as to eliminate and correct the mistakes of their predecessors in the same field, also bringing to light other and new facts. A valuable series of articles on "Old Times in the Red River Valley," written by M. H. Morrill, were published in the Richland County Gazette in 1897 and '98; during the first half of 1898 another valuable series entitled "The Long Ago" collected by Chas. H. Lee, editor of the Walhalla Mountaineer, appeared in his paper and were subsequently issued in pamphlet form. More recently, the Grand Forks Herald in a notable illustrated 40-page edition of June 27, 1899, commemorating its twentieth anniversary, was rich in respect to its historical contributions and which were remarkable for their accuracy. The Record Magazine, of Fargo, formerly edited by C. A. Iôunsberry, and more recently by W. F. Gushing, begun in May, 1895, has also since that date gathered a large fund of valuable historical and descriptive matter concerning the Red River Valley and state of North Dakota. Doubtless the files of the Northwest Magazine of St. Paul, contain many articles of similar character. Numerous brief historical sketches concerning the city of Grand Forks were formerly included in special editions of the city papers and were also used in a few other Avorks. The earlier history of Grand Forks has never been more than merely skimmed over, no atteinpt ever having been made in these publications to treat the subject in detail. The original nucleus of these sketches appears to have been an historical article that appeared in a large illustrated edition of the Plaindealer for Christmas week. 1890, if, indeed, it was not older. It is observable that the style and subject matter of that sketch has tinctured all subsequent writings upon the subject. There was an historical sketch covering much the same ground and which appeared in the first number of the weekly Herald In June, 1879, but that of the Plain- dealer appears to have been an independent production. The later sketches, although more or less amplified, as manipulated by different hands, all bear the stamp of the original exemplar. IV PREFATORY REM ARKS Portions of the present work have been clipped from articles by the writer that have appeared in the Larimore Pioneer during the last several years, the parts here retained having undergone more or less revision. In treating of the historical outline of the Red River Valley the earlier numbers ot the Record Magazine have occasionally been drawn upon for the basis of some of the facts narrated. As in the case of some other writers dealing with valley history, fragments from other sources have been now and then interwoven with the basis to round out paragraphs in respect to additional details, where these are not of the nature of extracts. In respect to the county history, much of it has been based upon the direct testimony of the Old Settlers, although contemporary records, always the best historical evidence, have been used so far as these have been obtainable. - Although great care has been exercised by the author in eliminating errors of statement and particularly erroneous dates from the materials used, it would be too much to claim that this work can be faultless in these respects. But whatever accuracy that portion of it may possess which bears upon the early history of the county and the city of Grand Forks, is due to the kindly help of the Old Settlers of the Red River Valley whose contributiou of facts are acknowledged either in footnotes or by name in the text, though innumerable other points derived from them and others are inwrought into the various paragraphs of the last three parts of this work. In making these acknow- ledgments of assistance from others, we should also mention John Nelson, Register of Deeds of this county, in assisting us in an examination of the oldest records of his office: also W. P. Davies, city editor of the Grand Forks Herald, through whose courtesy we were enabled to look through the oldest bound file of that paper. The author himself has been a resident of the county since May, 1880, and considerable matter has been incorporated in this work derived from his own personal knowledge and observations. Moreover, for many years past, much information covering innumerable points of local history, "has also been derived from persons resident in and around Larimore. The inferences that have been drawn from any special fact, or group of facts, or comments on the same, are generally the thoughts of the writer. i<:hrata. Page 1.—The figures for the 96th and 97th meridians should read 97th and 98th meridians. The error resulted from a slip of memory. Page 2.—The breadth of the fiat valley plain on the main line of the Great NortLern Railway is at least thirteen miles wide. While the ten mile limit may be taken as a geological boundary, it is none the less certain that the district between the Elk Valley and Red River flats constitutes a distinct topographical land-belt of the county, although this may merge impercept- ably with the valley plain. This correction also correspondingly modifies the stated breadth of this central land belt. See Note A, p. 127. Page 11.—Altitude of Kempton, 1126 feet, should read 1127 feet. Page 13.— "Comparative few Indians." The first of these words should read Comparatively. Page 103.— E. O. Steelman, now a resident of Elm Grove township, states that he was of the party who emigrated from Minnesota to Turtle river in June, 1878, but arrived at Grrand Forks about ten days later than the others. H. A. Morgan came through with a team of horses the next fall. Edward Wheeler, it seems, was not an original settler, but bought out the claim or right of a colored man named James Hawarden. Pages 106 and 107.—The names of certain settlers of Inkster and Strabane townships given as Casey, Congrave and McEwen should have been spelled Corey, Congram and McElwain. Mr. Inkster states that he removed to the Mouse River country in August, 1882, and not in 1885. See Note H. P^^K,T I. DESCRIPTIVE SKETCH. GENEKAT. DESOKIPTION POSITION AND BOUNDARIES. HE NORTH jind south row of counties, six in number, tlmt border the enstern side of the ut.'ife of North Djikotii, constitute wiiat is called its "Ked Kiver tier." (irjind Forks county occu- pies nearly a midway position in this row, being: fourth in order from tlie south.

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