The following article is by my friend Bill Dollarhide, taken from his book, North Dakota Censuses & Substitute Name Lists, 1832-2015
Prologue: This historical timeline begins with the French fur-trading excursions into the Dakota Country; followed by the names, places, and events important to the peopling of the North Dakota area , up to the year 1925.
1738. Dakota Country. French explorer Pierre Gaultier de la Vérendrye visited Mandan villages near the Missouri River. This was the first known white expedition into what is now North Dakota.
1763. Treaty of Paris. This was the end of the French and Indian war. (In Europe it was called the Seven Years War). At the 1763 treaty, the French surrendered all their claims in North America. Spain acquired the former French areas west of the Mississippi plus New Orleans, an area called Spanish Louisiana. Great Britain gained all of Québec, which they renamed Province of Canada. Britain also gained control of the rest of North America east of the Mississippi River. They named their entire area British North America.
1783. Treaty of Paris. As the official end of the Revolutionary War, the 1783 treaty recognized the United States as an independent republic, with borders from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River. The treaty also reaffirmed the claims of Britain to present-day Canada; and Spain’s claim to lands west of the Mississippi River.
1792. Dakota Country. French-Canadian Jacques D’Englise opened trade on the Missouri River between Mandan villages and his Spanish employers located at St. Louis.
1797. Pembina Settlements. The French-Canadian trading posts known as the Red River Settlements were mainly in what is now Manitoba. There were a number of Métis traders who followed the Red River south into the Dakota Country to engage in trade with the Indians there. In 1797, Jean Baptiste Chaboillez, working for the North West Fur Company, established a trading post at Pembina (present North Dakota). Soon after, a Hudson’s Bay Company trading post was established near Pembina as well. The Pembina Settlements were not within American territory until 1818.
1800. Louisiana. Napoleon acquired title of Louisiana from Spain. At the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso, the Spanish acknowledged that it was too costly to explore the country and could not see the rewards being worth the investment. Spain retro-ceded Louisiana to France in exchange for the Grand Duchy of Tuscany (now part of Italy).
1803. Louisiana Purchase. The United States purchased Louisiana from France. Sent by President Jefferson to attempt the purchase of New Orleans, the American negotiators (James Madison and Robert Livingston) were surprised when Napoleon offered the entire tract to them. The Louisiana Purchase was officially described as the “drainage of the Mississippi and Missouri River basins.” Adding the area doubled the size of the United States.
1804. Lewis and Clark Expedition. Under orders from President Thomas Jefferson, Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark’s Corps of Discovery left St. Louis in search of a passage to the Pacific Ocean. Based on information from his spies, the Spanish governor of New Mexico dispatched soldiers from Santa Fe to the Arkansas River to intercept the party and arrest them. But, the Lewis and Clark party had taken a more northern route, following the Missouri River into the Dakota Country. The Lewis and Clark party wintered in Mandan villages (present North Dakota) along the Missouri River.
1804-1805. Orleans Territory and Louisiana District. In 1804, Congress divided the area of the Louisiana Purchase into two political jurisdictions: Orleans Territory had north and south bounds the same as the present state of Louisiana, but did not include land east of the Mississippi River, and its northwestern corner extended on an indefinite line west into Spanish Texas. New Orleans was the capital of Orleans Territory. For a year, Louisiana District was attached to Indiana Territory for judicial administration, but became Louisiana Territory with its own Governor on July 4, 1805. St. Louis was the capital of Louisiana Territory. The northern limit of Louisiana Territory (a theoretical line between the Dakota Country and Rupert’s Land), was still not precisely known.
1805. 1st Pike Expedition. U.S. Army Lieutenant Zebulon Pike led a small party of soldiers to investigate the Mississippi River above St. Louis. He was given specific orders to find the source of the Mississippi, and while doing so, to note “…any rivers, prairies, islands, mines, quarries, timber, and any Indian villages and settlements encountered.”
1805. Louisiana Territory had five original subdivisions: St. Louis District, St. Charles District, Ste. Genevieve District, Cape Girardeau District and New Madrid District. The unpopulated area north of these original districts was referred to as Upper Louisiana, which extended west to the Continental Divide; and north into the Dakota Country.
1812. Missouri Territory. On June 4th Congress renamed Louisiana Territory as Missouri Territory. This was to avoid any confusion after Orleans Territory became the State of Louisiana on April 30, 1812. The General Assembly of the Territory of Missouri met in St. Louis in October, and converted the first five original districts into counties: Cape Girardeau, New Madrid, St. Charles, St. Louis, and Ste. Genevieve. A year later, the territorial legislature created Arkansas County from lands ceded by the Osage Indians.
1818. Anglo-American Convention. The 49th parallel was agreed to as the boundary between the U.S. and the British territory known as Rupert’s Land. In the treaty, the United States acquired part of the Red River drainage in present Minnesota and North Dakota, and ceded part of the Missouri River drainage above present North Dakota and Montana. As a result of this treaty, the Pembina Settlements of present North Dakota were added to the territory of the United States for the first time.
1827. Independence, Missouri. The frontier town of Independence was founded in 1827, the farthest point westward on the Missouri River where steamboats could travel at that time. Independence immediately became a supply point, staging area, and primary starting point for the growing number of trappers and traders using the Santa Fe Trail.
1832. First Steamboat into Dakota Country. After dredging projects near the mouth of the Kansas River, steamboat traffic could continue up the Missouri River. In 1832, the steamboat Yellowstone left St. Louis to begin the first of its annual fur-trading voyages up the Missouri River, reaching Fort Union (present North Dakota/Montana line).
1832-1870. Manitoba Censuses. There is a combined index to the nominal (head of household) census returns for the Red River Settlements of present Manitoba, including 1832, 1833, 1838, 1840, 1843, 1846-47, 1849, 1856 (incomplete) and every-name 1870 for the Lower Settlement, Grant Town and Indian villages. The index and original censuses are available at the Provincial Archives of Manitoba, part of the Hudson’s Bay Company Archival Records. The people identified therein includes those who traveled back and forth into the Dakota Country. NOTE: The 1870 Manitoba/Red River census names all members of a family, relationship to head, age, sex, occupation, religion, whether Métis (French & Indian blood), or other race; and identifies the full name of a father and full maiden name of a mother for each person. It is one of the most detailed censuses ever done in North America.
1833. Jun 1st. Black Hawk Cession. After the Black Hawk War of 1832, the Sauk and Fox tribe of present-day Iowa was forced to cede land on the west side of the Mississippi River to the United States. The cession opened a large area of the Ioway Country for legal white settlement for the first time.
1836. Wisconsin Territory was created, taken from Michigan Territory. Its area extended from its present Lake Michigan border to the Missouri River. The first American census taken in the Dakota Country was the 1836 Wisconsin Territory census, which included the Pembina settlements on the Red River (2 miles south of the Canadian border). A name index to the entire 1836 census is available online at a USGenWeb site. There are good prospects for finding Pembina people with the same surnames as those enumerated in the Red River Settlements censuses (now Manitoba) for the same general time period.
1838. Iowa Territory was created, encompassing all lands north of the state of Missouri between the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. An 1838 Iowa Territorial Census included the Pembina Settlements of present North Dakota. The entire IA 1838 census was indexed in Ronald Jackson’s Iowa 1838 Territorial Census Index (FHL book 977.7X22ji). That book was included in a combined Iowa census database at Ancestry.com.
1842. Nebraska Country. The word “Nebraska” first began to appear in publications in 1842 after John C. Fremont explored the Platte Valley/Nebraska Country/Dakota Country areas.
1850-1857. In the 1850 federal census, the Dakota Country areas east of the Missouri River were part of Pembina County, Minnesota Territory. The same area was included in the 1857 MN Territory Census.
1854. May 30th The Kansas-Nebraska Act passed the U.S. Congress, creating Kansas Territory and Nebraska Territory. The act allowed residents of the two territories to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within their borders. Separated on their present common boundary, both extended from the Missouri River to the Continental Divide. Thus, Nebraska Territory included parts of present North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming. Kansas Territory included present Kansas and parts of present Colorado.
1860. Unorganized Dakota. When Minnesota was admitted as a state in 1858 with its present boundaries, Dakota was orphaned, and remained without jurisdiction for three years. However, the area from the western Minnesota line to the Missouri River was enumerated in the 1860 federal census as Unorganized Dakota. This was not an official jurisdiction, but one invented by the Census Office to gather census data for the Red River/Pembina settlements. Areas west of the Missouri River were part of Nebraska Territory, but for convenience, a number of outposts west of the Missouri River were instead enumerated as part of Unorganized Dakota. In addition to the 1860 U.S. Federal Census available online at various sites, there is a special USGenWeb site with the digitized 1860 census pages for all of Unorganized Dakota. The images are the actual census forms, where the “County of” and “State” blanks are crossed out and replaced with “Unorganized Dakota.”
1861. Mar. Dakota Territory was created by Congress. The original area included all of present North Dakota, South Dakota, and parts of present Montana and Wyoming east of the Continental Divide (The area of the first Dakota Territory can be visualized on the 1860 map above: extend the modern boundary line of South Dakota/Nebraska west to the Continental Divide). Yankton was the first territorial capital, replaced by Bismarck in 1863.
1885. Jun. Dakota Territory Census. The territory took only one territorial census, a special enumeration taken in 1885 with federal assistance. The format was similar to the 1880 federal census. The original manuscripts for the 1885 Dakota Territory census schedules were divided, the northern counties now kept at the State Historical Society of North Dakota in Bismarck; the southern counties at the South Dakota State Historical Society in Pierre. 50 of the 56 counties in place in the North Dakota area in 1885 have survived.
1885 Dakota Territory Census Online: The North Dakota portion of the 1885 Dakota Territory census was indexed online at the ND State Univ. website; and indexed as well at the Ancestry.com website.
1889. Nov. North Dakota and South Dakota were both admitted as states with the same boundaries as today. Although Dakota Territory had petitioned Congress to be a single state, that would have probably caused two Democratic senators to be added, upsetting the balance in Congress. By splitting Dakota Territory into two states, two Republican senators and two Democratic senators were added to Congress, maintaining the balance of power.
1905-1925. North Dakota State Censuses. After admission to the Union in 1889, the state of North Dakota conducted three state censuses, in 1905, 1915 and 1925. Only a statistical summary of the 1905 state census survives, but the full census schedules for the 1915 and 1925 censuses are extant. The original state census manuscripts are located at the State Historical Society of North Dakota in Bismarck.
1915 & 1925 North Dakota State Censuses Online: The 1915 and 1925 North Dakota Sate Censuses are digitized and indexed online at both Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org.
Further Reading:
North Dakota Censuses & Substitute Name Lists, 1832-2015 (Printed Book), Softbound, 79 pages, Item FR0277.
North Dakota Censuses & Substitute Name Lists, 1832-2015 (PDF eBook), 79 pages, Item FR0278.
Online North Dakota Censuses & Substitutes: A Genealogists’ Insta-Guide™, Laminated, 4 pages, 3-hole punched, Item FR0347.
Online North Dakota Censuses & Substitutes: A Genealogists’ Insta-Guide™ (PDF Version), 4 pages, Item FR0348.
In reviewing the 1860 Unorganized Dakota census pages, I think an interesting fact was missed in the article: for the Census Bureau to label a portion of land not part of an actual territory or state, meant they had to provide their own census takers. The official census takers for all censuses, 1790-1870 were the federal marshals of a territory or state. On the line of the census forms, the printed, “Asst Federal Marshal was crossed out, and written in was “Census Agent.” This happened no where else but Dakota in any census taken 1790-1870. The first census taken with enumerators hired by the Census Office was the 1880 federal census.