36 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
North Dakota comprises an area of 70,837 square miles. It was 
admitted to the Union in 1889, and at the census of 1910 it had a 
population of 577,056. It is primarily an agricultural 
North Dakota. State, but from time to time, as conditions have 
changed, there has béen a corresponding change in 
its leading industries. At the time of the first permanent settlement 
the whole State consisted of one vast open range which furnished 
grazing in abundance for the herds of wild animals that roamed over 
it. The white man saw the natural fitness of the region for grazing, 
and soon cattle, horses, and sheep were feeding in place of the deer 
and buffalo. 
In the Red River valley farming early received a great stimulus 
from the officials of the Northern Pacific Railway, and before many 
years this valley, from its head to the Canadian line, was one vast 
sea of wheat. Farming was also carried on in other valleys to a 
minor extent, but for a long time the region west of Missouri River 
was considered suitable only for grazing, as the annual rainfall (16 
inches) was thought to be too small for raising crops. The discovery 
in recent years that by proper methods of cultivation most of the 
moisture in the soil could be conserved and rendered available for 
agriculture has worked a wonderful change in the appearance of this 
country, for now almost all the land is under fence and the region west 
of Missouri River contains many fine farms and thriving towns. 
The principal crops are wheat, oats, and flax, and the raising of 
domestic animals is still an important industry. According to the 
census of 1910 the value of all farm products for the year 1909 was 
$205,000,000, of which $180,000,000 was produced directly from the 
crops and $14,000,000 from domestic animals. During the same year 
the value of manufactured products amounted to $19,000,000. 
North Dakota is well supplied with lignite. This is a low-grade 
fuel, but it is of very great value for domestic use on these treeless 
plains. Almost every section of land in the part of the State lying 
west of Missouri River is underlain by lignite, and it is estimated 
that the State contains 697 ,900,000,000 tons of this fuel. In 1913 
Fargo is the most important town in the Red River valley and the 
largest in the State of North Dakota. It was named for William G. 
Fargo, of Wells, Fargo & Co.’s Express. Fargo is the 
Fargo,N.Dak. — seat of the North Dakota Agricultural College and 
crs “ne. Experiment Station and is noted as one of the great 
St. Paul 252 miles,  farm-machinery markets in the United States. The 
climate of Fargo is about the same as that of the Red 
River valley as a whole. The winters are frequently severe, the 
mercury registering 40° below zero, and the summers are hot, ranging 
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