North Dakota

Sharp-tailed grouse

ND has more waterfowl than any other lower 48 state.  Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge is North America's largest nesting ground for white pelicans.  Lostwood NWR has one of the US's highest known populations of sharp-tailed grouse.  

White pelicans

Much of North Dakota was part of the Louisiana Territory, that the US bought from France in 1803.  Lewis and Clark spent their first winter here as they followed the Missouri River.  The US acquired northeast North Dakota from England in 1818.  The Dakota Territory was created in 1861.  

Thanks to the railroad and the US offers of free land to settlers, by 1889 the Dakota Territory had far more people than needed to qualify for statehood, so it was split into 2 states.  Pres. Benjamin Harrison covered up the statehood documents when he signed them so no one would know which state was authorized first.

ND's 3rd governor, John Burke, was a reform candidate and was responsible for laws that were needed to protect smaller farmers and workers.  Still, grain companies and railroads worked to limit the money small farmers got for their crops.  During the early 1900s, farmers formed cooperatives to negotiate better deals.  In 1915, Arthur Townley formed the Nonpartisan League after he lost his farm; 40,000 other angry farmers joined.  By 1918, the League held all but one state office.  (Moral: don't make ND farmers mad.)

Despite political progress, farmers still had to deal with Mother Nature.  During the '20s and '30s, a long drought not only took crops but also cattle, which starved when grass didn't grow.  North Dakota, part of the Dust Bowl, had its topsoil blew away.  Swarms of grasshoppers ate anything left.  By 1936, half of North Dakotans were on relief, more than any other state.  But New Deal programs and returning rain, followed by World War II requiring North Dakota crops, all helped get the state back on its feet.

North Dakota contains the exact center of North America: it's a few miles southwest of Rugby.

ND is equidistant between the North Pole and the Equator.

Nakota horse

ND has an official state honorary equine, the Nokota horse, and an official state march, "Flickertail March."

ND is one of the driest US states, averaging 17" rain per year statewide.

ND has more churches per capita than any other US state.

Judges at all levels of ND's judicial system run on a nonpartisan basis.

ND is the #1 US producer of: spring wheat, durum wheat, barley, oats and flax, navy beans, pinto beans, and sunflowers.

In addition to the usual livestock, ND farmers raise bison, elk, llamas, emus, ostriches, and cassowaries.

ND has one of the largest aerospace training programs in the US.  It has one of the highest high school graduation rates and one of the lowest crime rates among the states.

ND hosts one of the US's largest Native dance competitions at the United Tribes International Powwow in Bismarck.

Dakota prairie grassland

ND also has fewer forested areas than any other state.  However, it has 3 areas designated as national grassland including far more than 1,000,000 acres.

ND has 63 national wildlife refuges - more than any other state - and additional wetland management districts that, combined, contain 550,000+ acres of waterfowl production areas.

High Line Bridge over the Sheyenne River is one of the US's longest (3,860') and highest (162') single-track railroad bridges.  Built in 1905, it's still in use.

High Line Bridge

Angie Dickinson, Louis L'Amour, Peggy Lee and Roger Maris were all born in ND.