| Summary: | History of Divide County Before 1800 Divide County was occupied largely by the Assiniboine (stone-boiler) Indians, a group of very primitive Sioux Indians. The famed Writing Rock in western Divide County may have been from earlier tribes of which there are no records. In about 1849 the western third of what is now North Dakota was called "Indian Country" until 1854 when it was included in the Nebraska Territory. In 1867 all of North Dakota except the very western edge was called Laramie County. In 1873 Wallette County was created out of the territory of the present Divide and Williams County by the territorial legislature. This was put on maps but the county was never actually organized as there were no settlers here. The purpose of having the area drawn into counties was to facilitate the sale of bonds for the Northern Pacific Railroad. By putting in county names it made the area look like a populated region. Wallette County was divided into Buford and Flannery Counties by a line drawn north and south across it in 1883. Then in 1891 the whole area became Williams County. This same year the Homestead Law went into effect and by about 1902 settlers came into this area. In a few years the county was dotted with claim shacks. In 1906 Dr. and Mary Zahl set up a cattle spread and ran a "Half-way" house between Crosby-Ambrose and Williston. In 1910 an election was held to divide the county into two parts because Williston as county seat was too far for the people in the northern part of the county to travel to transact county business and by then the upper third of the county had the required population to become a county. This became Divide County. There are several ideas as to how Divide County got its name. The Continental Divide runs through the county from northwest to southeast. The county divided from Williams County. According to the North Dakota Yearbook published in 1911 a contest was held and George A. Gillmore, Williston attorney, chose the winning name "Divide." Governor John Burke appointed the first county commissioners, Charles D. Perry, Mac Colgan, and Albert H. Makee. Crosby was designated the temporary county seat and Sagerty Hall was designated the temporary courthouse. A bitter fight and some questionable political maneuvers gave Crosby the permanent county seat in the November 6, 1912, election with the largest city, Ambrose and Noonan the losers. The Divide County Courthouse was built in 1917. Commissioners at that time were E. M. Truax, O. K. Otteson, and A. O. Stene. W. E. Vadnais was the county auditor. The Ellison-Williamson Construction Company that received the bid for $104,951 did not complete the job so the county commissioners hired Max Buetow as supt. and bids were let for smaller projects. The courthouse is a beautiful brick building standing at the north end of main street with spacious grounds. The steps are marble with a large Corinthian column on either side of the double front doors. The dome on top houses large clocks that can be seen from either direction. The interior of the courthouse has terrazzo floors and marble trim. The furniture and woodwork is golden oak. From the main floor a spectator can look up into the dome and view four handsome paintings dealing with early history of the county. These were painted by a roving painter, E. Soderberg from an art studio at LaCrosse, WI. One painting shows a farmstead north of Crosby that was owned by a prosperous farmer Hans T. Sorenson. The house still stands. Another painting is a scene of Writing Rock with Indians added, the third is a sod house with family and the fourth is of the Light Coal Mine that was near Noonan. In the Farmer's Room downstairs is another painting of a prairie schooner. Very few changes have been made in the building since it was built. The House-warming held at the new courthouse on the eve of February 20 was pronounced a brilliant social success by all present. It was with a thrill of pride that the citizens of Divide County viewed the well arranged offices and spacious corridors of their new courthouse, while the exquisite taste of the interior decorations satisfied the taste of the most fastidious. The courtroom, one of the largest in the state, was used as a ballroom, while smaller groups gathered in the adjoining offices for card games and other forms of amusement. Much credit for the splendid arrangements is due to Attorney R. J. Kamplin who worked like a Trojan to bring about these results. Miss Theo Perry rendered two vocal solos in her usual pleasing manner, one a knitting song, making an especial hit with the audience. One of the decorators, Mr. Forseth of LaCrosse, Wisconsin, also rendered three solos in a magnificent baritone. The Palen sisters orchestra which furnished the music, as always, delighted their listeners with their truly artistic performance. The local branch of the Red Cross served a delicious cafeteria lunch in the Rotunda and adjoining corridors on the first floor. The affair netted the Divide County Chapter of the Red Cross the sum of $98.15. The committee of the local branch who served the lunch also feel repaid for their efforts as they resulted in securing $82.86 for the branch. A caragana hedge was planted in the courtyard as well as trees and flowers. The hedge has since been removed. In 1920 the population of Divide County grew to an all time high of 9,637. As the thirties came with the depression and poor crops farmers went broke and left Divide County and the state for more prosperous places. In 1970 the population had dropped to 4,564. During the 1920's and 1930's the county commissioners dealt with problems like relief for the poor, paying state institutions for the care of patients from the county, issuing feed and seed loans, adjusting hail insurance payments, paying tree bounty, picking jurors for the numerous trials, paying court expense, approving coroner's inquests, along with the usual problems of building roads. Doctors and undertakers came to the county for bill payment if the family could not pay them. In the 1940's prices rose and sufficient rain fell to make farming a profitable business. This was also the period of World War II and many families were torn as young men and women from Divide County joined the Armed Forces. Sixty- six young people from Divide County gave their lives in this terrible year and in 1945 a large marble monument was placed on the courthouse lawn in their memory. Because of the war effort many people left Divide County to work in the factories on the West Coast. In 1946 Divide became the first county to have a tax supported library though the library had been in existence since 1912. The library grew and was moved several times and in 1974 was combined with the school library and is - 16 Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited in Multi-Page TIFF Editor.
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