North
Dakota and South Dakota Commentary
North Dakota and South Dakota Atlas
of Historical County Boundaries
John H. Long, Editor;
Peggy Tuck Sinko, Associate Editor; Peggy Tuck Sinko and Deborah Skok, Historical
Compilers; Emily Kelley, Research Associate; Laura Rico-Beck, GIS Specialist
and Digital Compiler; Peter Siczewicz, ArcIMS Interactive Map Designer; Robert
Will, Cartographic Assistant.
The territorial period in
the Dakotas was remarkably long and saw numerous changing jurisdictions and
changing geographical configurations. Present North Dakota and South Dakota
were under territorial jurisdiction from 1804, when most of the area first came
under the control of the District of Louisiana (later Louisiana Territory),
until 1889 when statehood was achieved. At various times, parts of the Dakotas
were under the control of Louisiana Territory, Missouri Territory, Michigan
Territory, Wisconsin Territory, Iowa Territory, Minnesota Territory, and
Nebraska Territory. The Missouri and White Earth Rivers often served as an
east-west dividing line separating the area of the modern states into two
distinct territorial jurisdictions. Dakota Territory, at various times,
included parts of present Montana, Nebraska, and Wyoming, and during much of
this time, the area was unorganized federal territory.
By 1857, it was clear that
Minnesota would soon gain statehood, but the new state would not include the
western part of Minnesota Territory—an area already known by the name “Dakota.”
After the creation in 1854 of Kansas and Nebraska Territories, the United
States Congress moved slowly to establish new territories in the west, despite
growing pressure from settlers, land companies, and railroads to move faster.
The slavery controversy derailed many efforts to create new territories.
Finally, in 1861, after three years of agitation, Congress organized Dakota
Territory, along with Colorado and Nevada Territories. Dakota Territory lasted
an unusually long time, from 1861 until 1889—one entire generation. Because of
the long territorial history, the majority of North Dakota and South Dakota
counties were created by Dakota Territory prior to statehood. Moreover, Dakota
Territory at times covered an area much larger than the bounds of the two
modern states, and the first four counties of Wyoming were created by Dakota
Territory.
The challenges faced in
mapping historical county boundaries in the Dakotas arise largely from the
vastness of the area and the small population. The surveying of public lands in
the Dakotas began in the 1860s and proceeded in a somewhat slow and piecemeal
fashion, generally moving west from the eastern boundary of the territory.
Often the territorial legislature laid out counties prior to the land being
surveyed, several times writing boundary descriptions that are most difficult
to map.
In January 1873, Dakota
Territory created sixty-seven counties, leaving only the southwestern and
west-central parts of present South Dakota outside the bounds of a county. Much
of this land had not been surveyed, and in the area west of the Missouri River
and north of forty-seven degrees north latitude, the drawing of county boundary
lines required some interpretation and extrapolation. Today, South Dakota is
covered by survey lines measured west from the fifth principal meridian, and by
lines laid out to the east of the Black Hills meridian (There is also a small
part of southern South Dakota within the limits of the sixth principal
meridian). However, in 1873, territorial officials anticipated guide meridians
forty-two miles apart, or every seven ranges, west of the fifth principal
meridian. In advance of the actual survey they defined some new county lines in
terms of projected 11th and 12th guide meridians that never came into
existence. The compilers, therefore, had to estimate the county boundary lines
of Boreman, Meyer, Pratt, Rusk (now Dewey), and Stanley based on the
legislature’s intent.
Additional counties created
in this area were defined in terms of latitude and longitude. At the time of
statehood, South Dakota still contained about 24.5 million acres of unsurveyed
public land. It was only in the first two decades of the twentieth century that
all the odd, non-county areas were absorbed into existing counties, and all
county lines were shifted from lines of latitude and longitude to run on
federal land survey lines.
Over the years, North and
South Dakota have created—and then eliminated—a significant number of counties,
more than any other states. North Dakota currently has fifty-three counties,
but it was also the parent of another seventeen counties that no longer exist,
as well as five more counties that were proposed but never came into existence.
South Dakota, with sixty-six counties, also created another thirty-nine
counties that are now extinct, as well as four unsuccessful proposed counties.
In some cases counties were laid out in anticipation of settlement, but the
actual population never reached sufficient numbers to warrant a fully
functioning county. This collection of data covers all these counties.
Dakota Territory and its
successor states of North Dakota and South Dakota followed the pattern common
to many Midwest and Plains states of creating counties and then waiting for a
period of time before organizing them. In some cases, the delay was only a
matter of days or weeks, which allowed the new county officials time to prepare
for the task of governing, but in other cases counties remained unorganized for
years, even decades. In general, a county that remained unorganized for a
lengthy period would be attached to a fully organized county for various
governmental purposes. These attachments are all noted in the chronologies. In South Dakota, two counties still
have not been organized and are attached to fully organized counties: Shannon
County, which has been in existence since 1875 and is attached to Fall River
County, and Todd County, created in 1909 and now attached to Tripp County.
Sources do not share a
single standard for determining the date when a county became fully organized.
Sometimes the date when commissioners were appointed was used; in other cases
the date of the first meeting of the county commissioners was cited. Generally,
the difference is small, usually just a matter of days, but in all cases the
particular source is cited in the chronologies.
Nearly all county boundary
changes and creations in the Dakotas were made through the legislative process.
However, in North Dakota between 1899 and 1912, the state Supreme Court issued
several rulings dealing with county boundaries and creations. These cases
involved the absorption and elimination of counties in the western part of the
state by Billings, Mercer, and Stark Counties. The 1896 act that authorized
these changes was finally ruled unconstitutional in 1901. Other cases involve
the creation of new counties in the first two decades of the twentieth century.
Creations of new counties were, in most cases, dependent on the approval of the
voters living in the affected areas. Challenges to the legality of new-county
referenda delayed the creations of Burke, Golden Valley, Mountrail, and
Renville Counties until the North Dakota Supreme Court upheld the results of
the voting.
Several sources used to
compile the historical counties of North Dakota and South Dakota merit special
mention. Luella J. Hall’s, “History of the Formation of Counties in North
Dakota,” in volume 5 (1923) of Collections
of the State Historical Society of North Dakota, was very useful. This
carefully done work included not only North Dakota counties, but also counties
in South Dakota created by Dakota Territory. Hall corresponded with local and
state officials, was usually able to determine the outcome of local referenda
on county boundary changes and creations, and in many cases could explain the
reasoning behind certain boundary descriptions.
The most useful historical
maps were those found in Alfred T. Andreas’, Historical Atlas of Dakota (1884). The large-scale individual
county maps in this atlas show great detail and are very accurate. They were
useful for identifying geographical features such as rivers, and for providing
detailed presentations of land survey lines and Indian treaty lines. One other
useful map was the 1878 map of Dakota Territory compiled by the U.S. Engineer
Department. Although it does not include county boundaries, it does show the
extent of the federal land survey to that date, as well as geographical
features. Finally, Hunt and Eaton’s map of North and South Dakota (c.1888) was
particularly useful for county changes west of the Missouri River in the period
just before statehood.
The Dakotas presented a
particular organizational challenge. Because most of the activity of county
creation and change occurred during the territorial period, because this period
lasted so long, and because it would be historically inaccurate to try to
separate the two states before 1889, the maps and accompanying data are
presented in three parts: Dakota Territory (1804 to 1889), South Dakota (1889
to 2000), and North Dakota (1889 to 2000). This means that to view a North
Dakota county configuration prior to November 1889, one must generally consult
the “Dakota Territory Historical Counties” file. Conversely, while tracing the
county boundary changes of a South Dakota county, one will probably need to
consult both “Dakota Territory Historical Counties” and “South Dakota
Historical Counties.” The exceptions are the counties whose boundaries never
changed and that, therefore, exist in only one version.