The peopling of the area quickly followed the

first exploration with settlements in Selkirk

Colony, on the Red and Assiniboine rivers, and

the Pembina settlement. Both were established

in 1812, but conditions were so difficult that by

1823 Selkirk had become part of the Hudson

Bay Company settlement and Pembina had

been abandoned.

The indigenous tribes of the Dakotas were the Mandans and Arikaras. Eastern tribes that were moved into the

area included Hidatsas, Crows, Cheyennes, Creeks, Assiniboines, Yanktonai Dakotas, Teton Dakotas, and

half of the five to six thousand people living at Fort Garry were métis, with a large percentage being Canadian-

born.

Settlers began moving into the region in 1849 with the organization of Minnesota Territory and the settlement

of Iowa and Minnesota. This immigration brought a number of settlers to southeastern Dakota. Dakota

Territory was created by an act of Congress on 2 March 1861 from the area that had previously been Nebraska

and Minnesota territories. Overland migration to Montana brought settlers in conflict with the Native

Americans, and several wagon trains were attacked. The government reacted by constructing a number of

additional forts including Rice, Buford, Stevenson, Totten, and Ransom. Fort Pembina was established in 1870.

Steamboats improved transportation after 1871, but it was the railroads that truly opened North Dakota to the

outside world. With the treaties signed by the Sioux in 1867 and 1868, the population of North Dakota

Major efforts encouraged immigration to North Dakota after statehood was obtained on 2 November 1889,

creating a second population boom period. Articles describing mineral resources, timber, land, climate,

livestock, and religious denominations were widely published. Of the approximately forty-five million acres of

land, three-fourths were advertised as still susceptible to profitable tillage, and thirty million acres were still

idle in 1892. Beginning in 1898 and ending with World War I, some 250,000 immigrants moved to the state,

many of these foreign-born. Most of this settlement occurred along the Great Northern Railroad, the Missouri

Plateau, and the Drift Prairie. Again, more people immigrated to the area than could be sustained, and later

years brought more outward migration from the state.

Dakota and in 1870 as the Dakota Territory. There was a special federal

census of the area in 1885. There were also state censuses in 1915 and

1925.

The following census collections are available on Ancestry:

Marriage records date back to the creation of each county. Beginning in 1925, copies were also sent to the

state Division of Vital Records. Divorce records are maintained by the clerk of the district court in each county.

North Dakota was a popular site for quickie divorces between 1886-1899, when parties needed to be residents

of the state for only 90 days.

more than one year from the date of the search.

United States or Its Allies From the State of North Dakota in the World War, 1917-1918, vols. 1-4

View all North Dakota collections on Ancestry

The organizations listed below provide information about North Dakota history and genealogy. In

addition to these state-level resources, many counties and towns maintain important genealogical

collections in local libraries, genealogical societies, or historical societies, so check for local resources

when researching.

Native American tribes that have inhabited present-day North Dakota include the Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara,

Yantonia, Sisseton, Wahpeton, Hunkpapa, Dakota/Lakota Sioux, Pembina Chippewa, and Cree.

1610 – Henry Hudson's claim of the Hudson Bay watershed for England included eastern North Dakota.

1682 – Cavelier deLaSalle claimed the Mississippi River watershed for France; this included North Dakota.

1738 – Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye became the first European to visit Mandan villages

along the Missouri River.

settlement in North Dakota.

1803 – Spain returned the Missouri watershed to France.

1834 – Land east of the Missouri River became part of the Michigan Territory.

1836 – Land east of the Missouri River became part of the Wisconsin Territory.

1837 – Mandan Indians died in a smallpox epidemic near Fort Clark.

1838 – Land east of the Missouri River became part of the Iowa Territory.

1848 – Catholic and Protestant missions were established near Pembina.

1849 – Land east of the Missouri River became part of the Minnesota Territory.

1854 – Land east of the Missouri River became part of the Nebraska Territory.

1860 – Regular steamboat service on the Missouri River started.

1861 – Dakota Territory was organized.

1863 – Homesteading began in the Dakota Territory.

1882 – Fire destroyed much of Grand Forks.

1883 – The territorial capital moved from Yankton to Bismarck.

1889 – North Dakota was admitted as the 39

state.

1897 – North Dakota's first free public library opened at Grafton.

1898 – Fire destroyed the business section of Bismarck.

1907 – Gas was discovered south of Westhope.