240 



DAKOTA. 



DAKOTA. Territorial Government The fol- 

 lowing were the Territorial officers during the 

 year: Governor, Nehemiah G. Ordway, suc- 

 ceeded by Gilbert A. Pierce ; Secretary, James 

 H. Teller; Treasurer, William H. McVay ; Au- 

 ditor, George L. Ordway ; Superintendent of 

 Public Instruction, W. II. H. Beadle; Attor- 

 ney-General, Alexander Hughes. Supreme 

 Court: Chief - Justice, Alonzo P. Edgerton ; 

 Associate Justices, William E. Church, Sand- 

 ford A. Hudson, Seward Smith, William H. 

 Francis, and C. S. Palmer. 



Growth. The population in 1880 was 135,- 

 177; in 1882 it was reliably estimated at 210, - 

 000; in 1883, at 330,000; and in 1884, at 400,- 

 000, of whom perhaps 250,000 are in southern 

 Dakota and 150,000 in northern Dakota. The 

 tide of immigration that set in four years ago 

 still continues. The returns show that nearly 

 12,000,000 acres of land in Dakota were dis- 

 posed of by the Government during the fiscal 

 year ending June 30, 1884. Of this about 

 6,000,000 acres were to settlers and private 

 parties, and 5,000,000 on claims to the rail- 

 roads, hereafter to be adjudicated. 



The Black Hills. The region known as the 

 Black Hills, in the southwestern part of Da- 

 kota, remote from the other settled portions 

 of the Territory, exhibits a growth during 

 the past year not at all inferior to that which 

 characterized it before. It is largely devoted 

 to mining, being very rich in gold, silver, 

 mica, lead, copper, iron, etc. The gold ship- 

 ments for the year ending June 30 amounted 

 to $4,500,000, a slight increase over the year 

 previous. The silver shipments, extending from 

 July to December inclusive, amounted to $2,- 

 000,000. Litigation closed the principal silver- 

 mine on Jan. 1, so only the shipments for the 

 half year can be given. Recent developments 

 have disclosed the existence of large bodies of 

 a very high grade of silver-ore in what is known 

 as the "Carbonate Camp." Tin mines were 

 discovered in the autumn of 1883, and some 

 progress in developing them was made in 1884. 

 The entire bullion production in three years 

 has been estimated as follows : In 1882, $2 - 

 855,127; in 1883, $2,823,000 ; in 1884, $2,986,- 

 847. Very little has been done in the way of 

 developing minerals, with the exception of the 

 gold and silver ores. Something has been 

 done, however, in the way of producing mica, 

 the shipments of this mineral for part of the 

 last year averaging $3,000 a week. The agri- 

 cultural development of the region during the 

 past year has been very rapid. The neighbor- 

 hood of the Hills is settled by thriving farm- 

 ers, with farms in good condition, and in many 

 instances with fine improvements. Lumber 

 and building material are cheap, and the prices 

 of products comparatively high. Substantial 

 school-buildings are being erected in nearly 

 every settlement. 



Crops and Stock. The crops of 1884 have been 

 estimated as follows: Wheat, 30,000,000 bush- 

 els; flaxseed, 3,000,000 bushels; corn, 2,500,- 

 000 bushels ; barley, 2,000,000 bushels; oats, 

 10,000,000 bushels. The stock interest in the 

 " Bad Lands" is developing rapidly, and there 

 are probably 150,000 head of cattle now rang- 

 ing on the grazing lands of western and south- 

 western Dakota. 



Timber. The principal part of the timber in 

 southern Dakota is along Missouri river, and 

 consists of 'soft maple, cottonwood, oak, ash, 

 hackberry, elm, and some black- walnut. Along 

 the Big Sioux there is considerable timber. 

 Some good-sized bodies of timber are found 

 along the^ Vermilion and James rivers; but 

 they are isolated and generally several miles 

 apart. Some very fine bodies of timber are 

 found in ravines that make down from the roll- 

 ing prairies to the streams or bottom-lands. 

 On many of the lakes there is considerable 

 timber. The Black Hills are covered with a 

 heavy growth of pine-timber. Good coal in 

 vast quantities is found in the Black Hills; 

 and on Missouri river and other streams, a 

 few hundred miles above Yankton, large veins 

 of it crop out. 



Financial. The receipts for the year 1884 

 were: 



Balance in treasury Dec. 1, 1888 

 From counties 

 Kailroad-tax, 1883 

 Telegraph Company tax, 1884 

 Sale of laws ....... * 



$208,854 75 

 214,081 04 

 127,836 87 

 738 90 

 1,207 00 

 10,102 23 



1,540 00 

 1,119 05 

 2,997 00 



Tax on insurance companies ................... 



Warrants on general fund for credit Insane Hos- 



pital fund ........................ ........... 



Warrants on general fund for credit North Dako- 



ta University rand .......................... 



Bonds from citizens of Grand Forks, construc- 



tion of observatory ................ . ........ 



Sale of bonds authorized for construction of va- 



rious institutions ........................... 



Total . .................................... $650, 763 56 



The disbursements were : 



Paid Auditor's warrants ....................... $156,907 04 



Paid counties proportion of railroad-tax ........ 79,199 83 



Paid interest on bonds ........................ 18,704 25 



Exchange, etc ................................. 2S9 08 



Paid warrant on construction fund ............. 176,995 60 



Balance in treasury Dec. 1, 1884 ............... 218,667 5ti 



Total ..................................... $650,768 56 



The total bonded indebtedness of the Terri- 

 tory is $392,500, bearing interest at 5 and 6 

 per cent. The current demands upon the Ter- 

 ritory have been paid on presentation since 

 March 25, 1882. The assessed valuation of 

 property in 1883 was $69,154,909.82. The 

 valuation of southern Dakota in 1884 was 

 about $44,500,000, and of northern Dakota, 

 about $39,500,000. The valuation of the Ter- 

 ritory in 1882 was $44,701,479.35. There are 

 thirty banks in the Territory, with an aggre- 

 gate capital of $7,551,990. 



Railroads. The following shows the miles 

 of railroad in operation in Dakota, Dec. 31, 





