USA > North Dakota > Early history of North Dakota: essential outlines of American history > Part 51
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80
414
EARLY HISTORY OF NORTH DAKOTA
Constitution some provisions which are embodied in the declaration of rights; ceding jurisdiction over military posts came from the secretary of war, through General Ruger.
REVISION AND ADJUSTMENT
The Committee on Revision and Adjustment were authorized on August 8th to have their report printed and submitted their final report on August 13th. It was a complete constitution and arranged under appropriate heads and sections consecutively numbered. The amendments recommended were indicated at the section to be amended. Each delegate was furnished a printed copy of this final report. It was considered section by section and when any article was adopted it was immediately referred for engrossing by the enrolling and engrossing clerks. On this review, the delegates found that their own work in the committee of the whole was not always satisfactory. "The convention in undoing what it had done the day before, performed the most commendable day's work of the session. The compelling of the Supreme Court to give opinions when called upon, and the Legislature to extend, but not to restrict the right of suffrage, was a pair of very ridiculous propositions," said the Bismarck Tribune at the time. The schedule contained the agreement of the joint commission on the division of the public records of the territory, provision for an election to adopt or reject the constitu- tion and for the taking effect of the constitution. The Committee of the Enroll- ment and Engrossment were authorized to correct the copy of the constitution furnished them. They made few changes in phraseology and punctuation, and at the night session of Saturday, August 17th, reported a correctly enrolled and engrossed constitution. The chief clerk was empowered to renumber the sections, which was adopted as a whole by a viva voce vote. The yeas and nays were demanded by a sufficient number, the roll was called and the constitution was adopted by a vote of 40 ayes and 23 nays, 12 delegates being absent and not vot- ing. The constitution was signed by the president and chief clerk in open con- vention, and by a number of the delegates, who by motion duly adopted, were invited so to do and the constitution so signed was deposited by the chief clerk in the office of the secretary of the territory. On the day preceding adjournment the convention by resolution provided for the publishing of 1,000 volumes of the debates and also thanked the president and the permanent officers of the conven- tion for the fair and efficient manner in which they had discharged their duties, and presented to President Fancher the chair he had occupied, and the gavel he had wielded. On the last day, the delegates presented Fancher with a framed group picture of the delegates, and Chief Clerk Hamilton was the recipient of a similar picture, as an appreciation of their services. On the night of Saturday, August 17th, on motion of Rolfe, of Benson County, the convention adjourned sine die, and passed into history.
SUBSEQUENT PROCEEDINGS
Arthur C. Mellette, as governor of the Territory of Dakota and by virtue of the authority vested in him by section twelve of the schedule of the constitution, on August 29, 1889, by proclamation caused an election to be held on the first
415
EARLY HISTORY OF NORTH DAKOTA
Tuesday in October, to elect congressional, state, legislative, judicial and county officers as provided in the constitution and to adopt or reject the constitution, and to adopt or reject the prohibition article to be voted on as a separate article. The constitution was ratified at this election by a majority of 19,334, there being 27,441 votes for ratification and 8,107 against. Every county in the state gave a majority for ratification, except the counties of Grand Forks, Nelson and Walsh, which gave an aggregate majority of 3,418 against ratification. This was more than offset by Burleigh and Cass counties, which gave an aggregate vote of 5,079 for ratification, only two votes against ratification were cast in Burleigh and thirty-one votes in Cass County.
The prohibition article on a separate vote was ratified by a majority of 1, 159. The delegates "slipped a cog" when they provided in the schedule that congres- sional, state, legislative, judicial and county officers should be chosen at the same time the vote was taken on the ratification or rejection of the constitution. This fact coupled with the fact that the republican and democratic parties held conven- tions and nominated full state tickets and did not as parties oppose ratification, made it morally certain that the constitution would be raified. In anticipation of ratification, Chief Clerk Hamilton had prepared an engrossed copy of the constitu- tion and this properly certified together with a certified abstract of the votes cast by each county as canvassed by the governor, secretary of the territory and chief justice, were forwarded on the adoption of the constitution to President Harrison, who on the 2d day of November, 1889, by proclamation declared "the fact that the conditions imposed by Congress on the State of North Dakota, to entitle that state to admission to the Union have been ratified and accepted and that the admis- sion of the state into the Union is now complete" and thus North Dakota was released from the shackles of territorial servitude, and endowed with the rights, duties and privileges of a sovereign state of the Union.
AMENDMENTS TO CONSTITUTION
Twenty amendments have been made to the constitution since its adoption. The first forbids the authorization of lotteries or gift enterprises for any pur- poses, and requires the Legislature to enact laws prohibiting the sale of lottery or gift enterprise tickets. The second relates to the elective franchise, and restricts suffrage to full citizens of the United States civilized persons of Indian descent who shall have severed their tribal relations two years next preceding each elec- tion, disqualifies persons under guardianship, non compos mentis or insane, those convicted of treason or felony, unless restored to civil rights, and requires the Legislature to establish an educational test as a qualification and empowers the Legislature to prescribe penalties for neglecting or refusing to vote at any general election.
The third to the Board of Pardons. The fourth to the assessment of property and how the property of railroad and public service corporations shall be assessed for purposes of taxation.
The fifth the school for the deaf and dumb at the City of Devils Lake, changing the name from asylum to school.
The sixth establishes an institution for the feeble minded at Grafton the Legis-
416
EARLY HISTORY OF NORTH DAKOTA
lature to appropriate 20,000 acres of the grant of land made by Congress, to its benefits for its endowment.
The seventh, the Legislature may provide that grain grown in the state and held therein in elevators, warehouses and granaries may be taxed at a fixed rate.
The eighth, the investment of the moneys of the permanent school fund in first mortgages on farm lands within the state.
The ninth fixes the minimum prices of state lands and the conditions of sale, one-fifth of price in cash, one-fifth in five years, one-fifth in ten years, one-fifth in fifteen years, and one-fifth in twenty years, interest not less than 6 per cent pay- able annually in advance.
The tenth increases the Supreme Court from three to five members.
The eleventh reduces the rate of interest to be paid by purchasers of school lands from 6 per cent to 5 per cent.
The twelfth establishes a state normal school at Minot.
The thirteenth reduces the rate of interest to be paid by purchasers of state lands from 6 per cent to 5 per cent and permits the acquirement of such lands through the exercise of the right of eminent domain, by railroads, for townsite and other enumerated public purposes.
The fourteenthi authorizes and empowers the Legislature by law to erect, pur- chase, or lease and operate one or more terminal elevators in the states of Minne- sota and Wisconsin, or both.
The fifteenth providing for the initiative and referendum as to legislation.
The sixteenth providing for the initiative as to the constitution.
The seventeenth, to change the name of the state blind asylum.
The eighteenth, state aid to the building of public highways.
The nineteenth, terminal grain elevators within the state.
The twentieth, to permit the classification of property for the purpose of taxation.
PERSONNEL OF THE MEMBERS
Of the members of the Constitutional Convention several were advanced to high public positions, as follows :
United States Senators .- Martin N. Johnson, William E. Purcell.
Members of Congress .- Burleigh F. Spalding and Martin N. Johnson.
United States District Judge .- John E. Carland.
Governor .- Roger Allin, Fred B. Fancher.
Lieutenant-Governor .- David Bartlett, Elmer D. Wallace.
United States Surveyor-General .- Erastus A. Williams.
United States Assistant Attorney-General .- Reuben N. Stevens.
United States Attorney .- John F. Selby, Edgar W. Camp.
Assistant United States Attorney .- James F. O'Brien and William H. Rowe. Judge Supreme Court .- Burleigh F. Spalding. State Auditor .- Herbert L. Howes.
Insurance Commissioner .- Fred B. Fancher.
State Treasurer .- Knud J. Nowland.
District Judge .- William J. Lander and Samuel H. Moer, the latter at Duluth.
417
EARLY HISTORY OF NORTH DAKOTA
Superintendent of Public Instruction .- Wm. J. Clapp.
Railroad Commissioner .- Andrew J. Slotten.
Compilation Commission .- Robt. M. Pollock.
State Senators .- Andrew J. Slotten, John McBride, Charles V. Brown, Arne P. Haugen, George H. Fay, James H. Bell, Patrick McHugh, Virgil B. Noble, Andrew Sandager, John F. Selby, A. F. Appleton, William E. Purcell.
Representatives .- Erastus A. Williams and R. M. Pollock.
Speaker of the House .- Reuben N. Stevens, Edward H. Lohnes, Robert B. Richardson, A. W. Hoyt, James A. Donnelly, Henry W. Peterson, Charles V. Brown, Albert F. Appleton.
THE PRESIDENT'S PROCLAMATION TWO NEW STATES
THE PRESIDENT'S PROCLAMATION ADMITTING THE TWIN DAKOTAS INTO THE UNION
The following dispatch was sent from the Executive Mansion at 4 o'clock Saturday afternoon by Secretary Blaine :
To Governors Mellette and Miller, of North and South Dakota, Bismarck, North Dakota:
The last act in the admission of the two Dakotas as States in the Union was completed this afternoon at the Executive Mansion at 3 o'clock and 40 minutes, by the President sign- ing at that moment the proclamation required by the law for the admission of the two States. The article on prohibition, submitted separately in each State, was adopted in both. The article providing for minority representation in South Dakota was rejected by the people. This is the first instance in the history of the National Government of twin States, North and South Dakota, entering the Union at the same moment.
JAMES G. BLAINE.
The following is the text of the proclamation admitting North Dakota :
By the President of the United States of America:
A PROCLAMATION
Whereas, the Congress of the United States did, by an act approved on the 22d day of February, 1889, provide that the inhabitants of the Territory of Dakota might, upon the conditions prescribed in said act, become the states of North Dakota and South Dakota;
And whereas, it was provided by said act that the area comprising the Territory of Dakota, should, for the purposes of the act, be divided on the line of the seventh standard parallel, produced due West to the western boundary of said Territory, and that the dele- gates elected as therein provided to the constitutional convention in districts north of said parallel should assemble in convention at the time prescribed in the act at the city of Bismarck ;
And whereas, it was provided by the said act that the delegates elected as aforesaid should, after they had met and organized, declare on behalf of the people of North Dakota that they adopt the Constitution of the United States, whereupon the said convention should be authorized to form a constitution and State government for the proposed State of North Dakota ;
And whereas, it was provided by said act that the constitution so adopted should be republican in form and make no distinction in civil or political rights on account of race or color, except as to Indians not taxed, and not be repugnant to the Constitution of the United States and the Declaration of Independence, and that the convention should, by an ordinance irrevocable, without the consent of the United States and the people of said States, make certain provisions prescribed in said act ;
And whereas, it was provided by said act that the Constitutions of North Dakota and South Dakota should respectively incorporate an agreement, to be reached in accordance with the provisions of the act, for an equitable division of all property belonging to the Vol. 1-27
418
EARLY HISTORY OF NORTH DAKOTA
Territory of Dakota, the disposition of all public records, and also for the apportionment of the debts and liabilities of said Territory, and that each of said States should obligate itself to pay its proportion of such debts and liabilities the same as if they had been created by such States respectively ;
And whereas, it was provided by said act that the constitution thus formed for the people of North Dakota should, by an ordinance of the convention forming the same, be submitted to the people of North Dakota at an election to be held therein on the first Tuesday in October, 1889, for ratification or rejection by the qualified voters of said proposed State, and that the returns of said election should be made to the Secretary of the Territory of Dakota, who with the Governor and Chief Justice thereof, or any two of them, should canvass the same; and if a majority of the legal votes cast should be for the constitution, the Governor should certify the result to the President of the United States, together with a statement of the votes cast thereon and upon separate articles or propositions and a copy of said consti- tution, articles, propositions and ordinances ;
And whereas it has been certified to me by the Governor of the Territory of Dakota that within the time prescribed by said act of Congress a constitution for the proposed State of North Dakota has been adopted and the same ratified by a majority of the qualified voters of said proposed State in accordance with the conditions prescribed in said act ;
And whereas, it is also certified to me by the said governor that at the same time that the body of said constitution was submitted to a vote of the people a separate article, num- bered 20 and entitled "Prohibition," was also submitted, and received a majority of all the votes cast for and against said article, as well as a majority of all the votes cast for and against the constitution, and was adopted;
And whereas, a duly authenticated copy of said constitution, article, ordinances, and propositions, as required by said act, has been received by me ;
Now, therefore, I, Benjamin Harrison, President of the United States of America, do, in accordance with the provisions of the act of Congress aforesaid, declare and proclaim the fact that the conditions imposed by Congress on the State of North Dakota to entitle that State to admission to the Union have been ratified and accepted, and that the admission of the said State into the Union is now complete.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington this 2d day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighty-nine, and of the independence of the United States of America the one hundred and fourteenth.
[ SEAL.]
BENJAMIN HARRISON.
By the President.
JAMES G. BLAINE, Secretary of State.
The proclamation admitting South Dakota is of the same general purport.
MARCH OF CIVILIZATION
The picture at the close of this chapter represents an incident of the opening of the Constitutional Convention of North Dakota, at Bismarck, July 4th, 1889.
A similar incident occurred at the laying of the cornerstone of the territorial capitol, September 8th, 1883.
This story is best told in the language of Major Mclaughlin, Indian inspector. in the following letter :
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, WASHINGTON, July 12, 1917.
COL. C. A. LOUNSBERRY,
Washington, D. C.
My dear Colonel :
Referring to our recent conversation regarding two important public ceremonies held at Bismarck, N. D., in which a large number of the Indians of the Standing Rock Reservation participated, I submit the following, which I recall quite distinctly :
JAMES MeLAUGHLIN Inspector, U. S. Indian Office
YELLOWSTONE KELLY (Luther Sage Kelly. 1873
419
EARLY HISTORY OF NORTH DAKOTA
I.
At the laying of the cornerstone for the capitol at Bismarck in the early part of Septem- ber, 1883 (I am under the impression it was September 8th, but it may have been a day or two later), to which ceremony I was invited by the Governor and the Mayor of the City of Bismarck to bring a delegation of the Standing Rock Indians, I had about three hundred of the principal Indians of the reservation accompany me on that occasion.
We reached Mandan about 2 P. M. where we left our teams and saddle horses, and waited until about six o'clock for a special train, which was sent over to take the Indians across the Missouri River to Bismarck.
About the time of our arrival in Mandan, Rufus Hatch's Pullman train from the Yellow- stone Park had reached Mandan, and remained at the depot during our stay there, which was about four hours. Upon Mr. Hatch's train there were a great many English noblemen, French counts and German barons, etc., and Sitting Bull did a flourishing business, during the time the train remained there, writing autographs for those people at $1.50 each.
Upon our arrival in Bismarck, the committee which had been assigned to look after the Indians, met us at the depot, and directed us to the place which had been selected for the camp, and had secured a room in the Sheridan House for Sitting Bull and his family. There were five sections of the Northern Pacific Pullman cars which arrived at Bismarck that evening, the sections coming into the depot one half an hour apart, upon which train was Henry Villard, then president of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, accompanied by his wife, Gen. U. S. Grant and his wife, Secretary Teller, ex-Secretary Schurz, Mayor Carter Harrison, of Chicago, and Mayor O'Brian, of St. Paul; together with many other prominent men from Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and European countries, who were on a tour to be present at the driving of the Golden Spike not far from Missoula, Mont., being about midway on the said railroad, between Lake Superior and the Pacific Ocean, the driving of which spike announced the completion of the line from Lake Superior to the coast.
You doubtless remember, that a number of those visitors made talks from the tower which had been erected on the capital site for that purpose; among whom were President Villard, President Grant, Carter Harrison and Sitting Bull.
You also doubtless remember, that a band stand was erected on the main street in Bismarck, directly north of the Northern Pacific depot, which was subsequently used for some years as an exhibit of products of North Dakota. I took Sitting Bull and his wife, together with his nephew, One Bull, into same, where General Grant and his wife, together with President Villard and his wife, came to meet and shake hands with Sitting Bull and his family. I acted as interpreter for the Indians on that occasion. During that day, Sitting Bull's time was occupied almost constantly in writing his name and selling the autographs for $1.50 each, which autographs, together with those he had sold on the previous day to the Rufus Hatch party, approximated $150.00, which he had realized from his signature. He would not sign his name for any person on that occasion without receiving $1.50 for each autograph. I, however, succeeded in having him write his name on a piece of paper for General Grant, President Villard, Secretary Teller, and ex-Secretary Schurz. The trip from Mandan to Bismarck, on this occasion, was the first time Sitting Bull had ever been on a railroad train, and, in fact, very few of the Indians of the party had ever seen a railroad train before, and the large gathering of strangers in Bismarck on that occasion, together with the cordial reception and hospitality of the people of Bismarck to the Indians, made a favorable impression upon them and, I am quite convinced, aided greatly in their subsequent, amiability and efforts to meet the wishes of the Government.
2.
The picture I received in your letter of the Ioth instant, was taken by D. F. Barry, photographer at Bismarck, on July 4, 1889. When I again, at the request of officials of North Dakota, and of the City of Bismarck in particular, took a party of Indians-men, women and children, about five hundred in number-to be present upon the occasion of the convening of the constitutional convention for the State of North Dakota, the members of the said constitutional convention being escorted by these 500 Indians of the Standing Rock Reservation, two troops of cavalry and two companies of infantry from Fort Yates, and two
420
EARLY HISTORY OF NORTH DAKOTA
companies of infantry with a section of battery from Fort Lincoln, together with certain militia companies from different parts of the state.
I had prepared the Indian part of this procession with a view to its historical aspect, by having the Indian section in five platoons; the first platoon being composed of but three Indians, namely: Bearded Chin, as chief of the lower Yanktonai Sioux of the Cannonball District, who was dressed up to represent "Brother Jonathan," Black Bull, a prominent Indian soldier of Chief Two Bears band of Yanktonai, carrying the United States flag, and an Indian named Red Horse, carrying a banner on which were the words, "March of Civili- zation." These three men were about ten yards in advance of the next platoon, whose banner was, "Dakota as a Territory," which platoon was comprised of the Indians, both men and women, in full Indian costume, behind which they had ponies and dogs hitched to travois, led by women and children as though marching on the plains. Following this platoon at about a distance of ten yards came the next platoon, which was composed of a section of thirty U. S. Indian police in new uniforms, and upon their banner, which was carried alongside of the U. S. flag, were the words, "Law and Order." About ten yards behind this third section, came the judges of the Indian police court, namely: John Grass, Chief Gall and Chief Mad Bear. Upon their banner was the scale and weights and the word "Justice." About ten yards behind this section came about two hundred Indians, chiefly young and middle-aged men and women, all of the men being dressed in new hats and linen dusters, and the women dressed entirely in white, women's style, and as the day was exceedingly warm many of them carried umbrellas. Their banner, which they carried alongside of the U. S. flag in the front column, held the words, "State of North Dakota, 1889."
Sitting Bull appeared in the column of the Indians representing "Dakota as a Territory." He was on foot and marched in the front rank of the column near the middle.
Every want of the Indians was fully supplied by the committee who had charge of looking after the welfare of the Indians, and that day is frequently spoken of yet among the Indians of the Standing Rock Reservation.
It was unfortunate that some accident occurred to Photographer Barry which prevented him from taking the picture that he desired, and the picture you have, shows the Indians as they were coming from the south side of the railroad track, where they were encamped, to the main road, to take their places in the procession, and does not do the occasion full justice, but as you saw the parade yourself, you can supply much that is lacking in the picture. Sincerely yours, JAMES MCLAUGHLIN.
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS
Sitting Bull was the son of Four Horns, a sub chief of the Unckapapa Teton division of the Sioux, born on Grand River, South Dakota, in 1834. As a boy he was known as Jumping Badger and counted his first coup on a fallen enemy when fourteen years of age, having accompanied his father on the warpath against the Crows, and then took the name of his father, changed to Sitting Bull in 1857. He gained prominence as a warrior by a raid on Fort Buford in 1866, and there- after made constant war on the frontier posts or on the Crows or Shoshones,
MARCH OF CIVILIZATION
DAKOTA ASA
TERRITORY
Photo by D. F. Barry
MARCH OF CIVILIZATION
Sitting Bull, preceded by Black Bull carrying the United States flag, at Bismarck, July 4th, 1889, at the assembling of the Constitutional Convention.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.