STATES AND TERRITORIES OF THE UNITED STATES (NORTH DAKOTA).

In this post we will looking at North Dakota and its territories, Its past and present governors and current House of representative’s members.

INTRODUCTION.

North Dakota is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south, and Montana to the west. It is believed to host the geographic center of North America, Rugby, and is home to the tallest man-made structure in the Western Hemisphere, the KVLY-TV mast. North Dakota is the nineteenth largest state, but with a population of less than 780,000 as of 2020, it is the fourth least populous and fourth most sparsely populated. The capital is Bismarck while the largest city is Fargo, which accounts for nearly a fifth of the state’s population; both cities are among the fastest-growing in the U.S., although half of all residents live in rural areas. The state is part of the Great Plains region, with broad prairies, steppe, temperate savanna, badlands, and farmland being defining characteristics. What is now North Dakota was inhabited for thousands of years by various Native American tribes, including the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara along the Missouri River; the Ojibwa and Cree in the northeast; and several Sioux groups (the Assiniboine, Yankton, Wahpeton, and Teton) across the rest of the state. European explorers and traders first arrived in the early 18th century, mostly in pursuit of lucrative furs. The United States acquired the region in the early 19th century, gradually settling it amid growing resistance by increasingly displaced natives. The Dakota Territory, established in 1861, became central to American pioneers, with the Homestead Act of 1862 precipitating significant population growth and development. The traditional fur trade declined in favor of farming, particularly of wheat; the subsequent Dakota Boom from 1878 to 1886 saw giant farms stretched across the rolling prairies, with the territory becoming a key breadbasket and regional economic engine. The Northern Pacific and Great Northern railway companies competed for access to lucrative grain centers; farmers banded together in political and socioeconomic alliances that were core to the broader Populist Movement of the Midwest. North Dakota was admitted to the Union on November 2, 1889, along with neighboring South Dakota, as the 39th and 40th states. President Benjamin Harrison shuffled the statehood papers before signing them so that no one could tell which became a state first; consequently, the two states are officially numbered in alphabetical order. Statehood marked the gradual winding down of the pioneer period, with the state fully settled by around 1920. Subsequent decades saw a rise in radical agrarian movements and economic cooperatives, of which one legacy is the Bank of North Dakota, the only state-run bank in the U.S.

NORTH DAKOTA TERRITORIES.

North Dakota is located in the Upper Midwest region of the United States. It lies at the center of the North American continent and borders Canada to the north. The geographic center of North America is near the town of Center. Bismarck is the capital of North Dakota, and Fargo is the largest city. View of western North Dakota Soil is North Dakota’s most precious resource. It is the base of the state’s great agricultural wealth. North Dakota also has enormous mineral resources. These mineral resources include billions of tons of lignite coal. In addition, North Dakota has large oil reserves. Petroleum was discovered in the state in 1951 and quickly became one of North Dakota’s most valuable mineral resources. In the early 2000s, the emergence of hydraulic fracturing technologies enabled mining companies to extract huge amounts of oil from the Bakken shale rock formation in the western part of the state. North Dakota’s economy is based more heavily on farming than the economies of most other states. Many North Dakota factories process farm products or manufacture farm equipment. Many of the state’s merchants also rely on agriculture. Farms and ranches cover nearly all of North Dakota. They stretch from the flat Red River Valley in the east, across rolling plains, to the rugged Badlands in the west. The chief crop, wheat, is grown in nearly every county. North Dakota harvests more than 90 percent of the nation’s canola and flaxseed. It is also the country’s top producer of barley and sunflower seeds and a leader in the production of beans, honey, lentils, oats, peas, and sugar beets. Few white settlers came to the North Dakota region before the 1870s because railroads had not yet entered the area. During the early 1870s, the Northern Pacific Railroad began to push across the Dakota Territory. Large-scale farming also began during the 1870s. Eastern corporations and some families established huge wheat farms covering large areas of land in the Red River Valley. The farms made such enormous profits they were called bonanza farms. White settlers, attracted by the success of the bonanza farms, flocked to North Dakota, rapidly increasing the territory’s population. In 1870, North Dakota had 2,405 people. By 1890, the population had grown to 190,983. North Dakota was named for the Sioux people who once lived in the territory. The Sioux called themselves Dakota or Lakota, meaning allies or friends. One of North Dakota’s nicknames is the Peace Garden State. This nickname honors the International Peace Garden, which lies on the state’s border with Manitoba, Canada. North Dakota is also called the Flickertail State because of the many flickertail ground squirrels (Richardson’s ground squirrel) that live in the central part of the state. North Dakota is in the U.S. region known as the Great Plains. The state shares the Red River of the North with Minnesota to the east. South Dakota is to the south, Montana is to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba are to the north. North Dakota is near the middle of North America with a stone marker in Rugby, North Dakota marking the “Geographic Center of the North American Continent”. With an area of 70,762 square miles (183,273 km2), 69,001 square miles (178,712 km2) of which is land, North Dakota is the 19th largest state.

LIST OF GOVERNORS OF NORTH DAKOTA

The governor of North Dakota is the head of government of the U.S. state of North Dakota. The current officeholder is Republican Doug Burgum. The Governor of North Dakota has the power to sign or veto laws and to call the Legislative Assembly into emergency session. The officeholder, who is also chairman of the North Dakota Industrial Commission, has an ex officio residence. There are no limits on the number of terms a governor may serve.

Governors of North Dakota

#	Image	Governor (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	Party	Lt. Governor (Party of Lt. Gov. noted if not the same)	Notes
1			John Miller (1843–1908)	November 20, 1889	January 7, 1891	Republican		Alfred Dickey
2			Andrew H. Burke (1850–1918)	January 7, 1891	January 3, 1893	Republican		Roger Allin
3			Eli C. D. Shortridge (1830–1908)	January 3, 1893	January 10, 1895	Democratic-Independent		Elmer D. Wallace
4			Roger Allin (1848–1936)	January 10, 1895	January 6, 1897	Republican		John H. Worst	[note 1]
5			Frank A. Briggs (1858–1898)	January 6, 1897	August 9, 1898	Republican		Joseph M. Devine
6			Joseph M. Devine (1861–1938)	August 9, 1898	January 3, 1899	Republican	No Lieutenant Governor	[note 1]
7			Frederick B. Fancher (1852–1944)	January 3, 1899	January 10, 1901	Republican	No Lieutenant Governor
8			Frank White (1856–1940)	January 10, 1901	January 4, 1905	Republican		David Bartlett	[note 2]
9			Elmore Y. Sarles (1859–1929)	January 4, 1905	January 9, 1907	Republican
10			John Burke (1859–1937)	January 9, 1907	January 8, 1913	Democratic		Robert S. Lewis	[note 2][note 3]
	Usher L. Burdick
11			L. B. Hanna (1861–1948)	January 8, 1913	January 3, 1917	Republican		Anton Kraabel	[note 4]
	John H. Fraine
12			Lynn Frazier (1874–1947)	January 3, 1917	November 23, 1921	Republican/NPL		Anton Kraabel (Republican)	[note 5]
	Howard R. Wood (Republican)
13			Ragnvald A. Nestos (1877–1942)	November 23, 1921	January 7, 1925	Republican/IVA
	Frank H. Hyland
14			Arthur G. Sorlie (1874–1928)	January 7, 1925	August 28, 1928	Republican/NPL		Walter Maddock
15			Walter Maddock (1880–1951)	August 28, 1928	January 9, 1929	Republican/NPL	No Lieutenant Governor	[note 1]
16			George F. Shafer (1888–1948)	January 9, 1929	December 31, 1932	Republican/IVA		John W. Carr
17			William Langer (1886–1959)	December 31, 1932	June 21, 1934	Republican/NPL	[note 6]
	Ole H. Olson
18			Ole H. Olson (1872–1954)	June 21, 1934	January 7, 1935	Republican/NPL	No Lieutenant Governor	[note 1]
19			Thomas H. Moodie (1878–1948)	January 7, 1935	February 2, 1935	Democratic		Walter Welford (Republican/NPL)
20			Walter Welford (1868–1952)	February 2, 1935	January 6, 1937	Republican/NPL	No Lieutenant Governor	[note 1]
21			William Langer (1886–1959)	January 6, 1937	January 5, 1939	Republican/NPL		Thorstein H. H. Thoresen	[note 5][note 6]
22			John Moses (1885–1945)	January 5, 1939	January 4, 1945	Democratic		Jack A. Patterson (Republican)	[note 5]
	Oscar W. Hagen (Republican)
	Henry Holt (Democratic)
23			Fred G. Aandahl (1897–1966)	January 4, 1945	January 3, 1951	Republican		Clarence P. Dahl	[note 4]
24			Norman Brunsdale (1891–1978)	January 3, 1951	January 9, 1957	Republican		Ray Schnell	[note 5]
	Clarence P. Dahl
25			John E. Davis (1913–1990)	January 9, 1957	January 4, 1961	Republican		Francis Clyde Duffy
	Clarence P. Dahl
26			William L. Guy (1919–2013)	January 4, 1961	January 2, 1973	Democratic-NPL		Orville W. Hagen (Republican)
	Frank A. Wenstrom (Republican)
	Charles Tighe (Democratic-NPL)
	Richard F. Larsen (Republican)
27			Arthur A. Link (1914–2010)	January 2, 1973	January 6, 1981	Democratic-NPL		Wayne Sanstead	[note 4]
28			Allen I. Olson (b. 1938)	January 6, 1981	January 1, 1985	Republican		Ernest Sands
29			George A. Sinner (1928–2018)	January 1, 1985	December 15, 1992	Democratic-NPL		Ruth Meiers
	Lloyd Omdahl
30			Ed Schafer (b. 1946)	December 15, 1992	December 15, 2000	Republican		Rosemarie Myrdal	[note 7]
31			John Hoeven (b. 1957)	December 15, 2000	December 7, 2010	Republican		Jack Dalrymple	[note 5]
32			Jack Dalrymple (b. 1948)	December 7, 2010	December 15, 2016	Republican		Drew Wrigley	[note 1]
33			Doug Burgum (b. 1956)	December 15, 2016	Incumbent	Republican		Brent Sanford

MEMBERS OF REPRESENTATIVES TO THE U.S. HOUSE FROM NORTH DAKOTA.

The following is an alphabetical list of members of the United States House of Representatives from the state of North Dakota. For chronological tables of members of both houses of the United States Congress from the state (through the present day), see United States congressional delegations from North Dakota. The list of names should be complete (as of January 3, 2015), but other data may be incomplete. It includes members who have represented only the state both past and present, as the Dakota Territory encompassed in addition South Dakota, and parts of present-day Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. List of members of the U.S. House of Representatives

List of members

Member	Party	Years	District	Notes
Fred G. Aandahl	Republican	January 3, 1951 – January 3, 1953	At-large	Elected in 1950 Retired to run for U.S. senator.
Mark Andrews	Republican	October 30, 1963 – January 3, 1973	1st	Elected in 1963 to finish Nygaard’s term Retired to run for U.S. senator.
January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1981	At-large
Kelly Armstrong	Republican	January 3, 2019 – present	At-large	Elected in 2018
John M. Baer	Nonpartisan League	August 10, 1917 – March 3, 1921	1st	Elected in 1917 to finish Helgesen’s term Lost re-election to Burtness
Rick Berg	Republican	January 3, 2011 – January 3, 2013	At-large	Elected in 2010 Retired to run for U.S. Senate
Quentin N. Burdick	Democratic	January 3, 1959 – August 8, 1960	At-large	Elected in 1958 Resigned when elected U.S. senator
Usher L. Burdick	Republican	January 3, 1935 – January 3, 1945	At-large	Elected in 1934 Retired to run for U.S. senator.
January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1959	Elected in 1948 Retired
Olger B. Burtness	Republican	March 4, 1921 – March 3, 1933	1st	Elected in 1920 Lost re-nomination to Lemke
Kevin Cramer	Republican	January 3, 2013 – January 3, 2019	At-large	Elected in 2012 Retired to run for U.S. senator
Byron Dorgan	Democratic	January 3, 1981 – December 14, 1992	At-large	Elected in 1980 Resigned when appointed U.S. senator
Asle Gronna	Republican	March 4, 1905 – February 11, 1911	At-large	Elected in 1904 Resigned when elected U.S. senator
Thomas Hall	Republican	November 4, 1924 – March 3, 1933	2nd	Elected in 1924 to finish Young’s term Seat redistricted and lost re-nomination
Louis B. Hanna	Republican	March 4, 1909 – January 7, 1913	At-large	Elected in 1908 Resigned when elected Governor of North Dakota
Henry C. Hansbrough	Republican	November 2, 1889 – March 3, 1891	At-large	Elected in 1889 Retired to run for U.S. senator.
Henry Thomas Helgesen	Republican	March 4, 1911 – March 3, 1913	At-large	Elected in 1910 Died
March 4, 1913 – April 10, 1917	1st
Martin N. Johnson	Republican	March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1899	At-large	Elected in 1890 Retired to run for U.S. senator.
Thomas S. Kleppe	Republican	January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1971	2nd	Elected in 1966 Lost re-election to Link
Otto Krueger	Republican	January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1959	At-large	Elected in 1952 Retired
William Lemke	Nonpartisan League	March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1941	At-large	Elected in 1932 Retired to run for U.S. senator.
William Lemke	Republican	January 3, 1943 – May 30, 1950	At-large	Elected in 1942 Died
Arthur A. Link	Democratic	January 3, 1971 – January 3, 1973	2nd	Elected in 1970 Re-districted and lost subsequent election
Thomas Frank Marshall	Republican	March 4, 1901 – March 3, 1909	At-large	Elected in 1900 Retired to run for U.S. senator.
Patrick Daniel Norton	Republican	March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1919	3rd	Elected in 1912 Retired
Hjalmar C. Nygaard	Republican	January 3, 1961 – January 3, 1963	At-large	Elected in 1960 Died
January 3, 1963 – July 18, 1963	1st
Earl Pomeroy	Democratic	January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2011	At-large	Elected in 1992 Lost re-election to Berg
Rolland W. Redlin	Democratic	January 3, 1965 – January 3, 1967	2nd	Elected in 1964 Lost re-election to Kleppe
Charles R. Robertson	Republican	January 3, 1941 – January 3, 1943	At-large	Elected in 1940 Lost re-nomination to Lemke
January 3, 1945 – January 3, 1949	Elected in 1944 Lost re-nomination to Burdick
Don L. Short	Republican	January 3, 1959 – January 3, 1963	At-large	Elected in 1958 Lost re-election to Redlin
January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1965	2nd
James H. Sinclair	Republican	March 4, 1919 – March 3, 1933	3rd	Elected in 1918 Lost re-nomination to Burdick
March 4, 1933 – March 3, 1935	At-large
Burleigh F. Spalding	Republican	March 4, 1899 – March 3, 1901	At-large	Elected in 1898 Retired
March 4, 1903 – March 3, 1905	Elected in 1902 Lost re-nomination to Gronna
George M. Young	Republican	March 4, 1913 – September 2, 1924	2nd	Elected in 1912 Resigned when appointed to the US Customs Court