East Dakota - West Dakota?

 A few days ago we heard a cowboy say, “I just learned how fast I can run.” With a grin he explained, “The darn bull chased me over the fence.” It was part of the lighthearted banter at the wedding we recently attended in Mandan. In many weddings in that part of the state the cowboy culture rules. The groom and groomsmen wear nice jackets and ties but almost always finish it off with hats, jeans, buckles, and boots. I was out of step in my slacks and dress shoes, but I rejoiced because the beer was free, so I was happy.

My wife comes from that part of the state and through the years I’ve developed a healthy regard for its landscape filled with large herds of cattle, endless fenced pastures, and buttes that try to reach the sky. As you drive there you can tune to AM radio stations featuring advertising for livestock handling equipment, bull sales, feed suppliers, and more in the way of agricultural production. I still relish the taste of those hamburgers at Kist’s sale barn and enjoyed the elbow- to-elbow atmosphere there with the cattlemen talking about bulls, prices, and hay crops.

Sure, there are pockets of the cowboy culture thriving closer to home. A hat and boot wearing cowboy will feel right at home in a McLeod or a Fort Ransom setting, but that is on a much smaller scale.

The idea exists that the North and South Dakota arrangement should have used the Missouri River to divide the land mass into East and West Dakota. Two distinct personalities present themselves. First of all, if you like flat land stay in the east. The glaciers swept through here and leveled the land flat as a pancake you might say. The west river area never experienced the sweep of moving ice.

The soil is richer in the east making it more favorable for crop farming, whereas the west’s rolling grasslands support a ranching with a cattle economy. I remember when small cattle herds were common in the east, too, and fences surrounded much of the acreage. The changing times brought large machinery that needed larger fields to operate more efficiently, and fences, even some shelterbelts, were in the way and started disappearing. On the small farm where I grew up, we milked about sixteen head of cows besides keeping some sheep and hogs. Today that would have been a very inefficient operation that could not sustain itself. Present owners have torn out the fences and trees.

In my lifetime a new ingredient added itself to the economy of West River. The first major discovery of petroleum in North Dakota was in 1951. Petroleum was discovered in a wheat field on the Clarence Iverson farm near Tioga in Williams County. This first oil-producing well was called Clarence Iverson No. 1. I was nine years old at that time and remember it clearly because it made big news. Look at what happened. Multi-millionaires have resulted from all the holes drilled deep into the earth. One state source reported the number of oil and gas wells in

production in North Dakota was 18,179 in July 2023. Besides the strong place that oil made for itself in the economy, western North Dakota also contains a huge deposit of lignite coal, the single largest deposit of lignite known in the world. It has found a ready market in the production of electric power.

The eastern section claims the largest population in the state, mostly because of its wide range of industries supplying employment. The industrial economy is aided by a factor not often thought of: two interstate highways intersect in Fargo. That fact greatly aids the influx of raw materials and the shipment of finished products. Our governor has done well enough in his Fargo base as a businessman to run for president.

We can’t forget about first beginnings, though. Everything stated above has occurred within 134 years of statehood plus a few years of territorial status, which as history goes is not long. It matters little, but this is my favorite period of state development. The railroads, notably the Northern Pacific were itching to extend the rail lines westward. They employed a very able agent named William McKenzie to extend and defend their interests.

McKenzie was what we can call a “mover and a shaker.” The capital of Dakota Territory resided in Yankton, but he, on behalf of the Northern Pacific, worked to move it to Bismarck. A lot of political power came from Minneapolis-St. Paul and with the railroad aiming toward Bismarck, that is where they wanted it located. They held a huge land grant and needed to entice settlers onto the land so their production could be shipped eastward.

Many reasons for a north-south split can be mentioned, but one University of North
Dakota history professor’s quote in Time magazine simply said, “the south half just did not like the north half.” The outcome and historical reasons for the territory’s division has no bearing on the present. We just end by saying it is what it is. The names East Dakota and West Dakota simply do not exist. As I continue driving west on future road trips, I’ll just enjoy the changing view through my windshield as I head to the western part of North Dakota.