| Summary: | A PROLOGUE The heritage of people living in a community such as Buffalo, North Dakota, is so vast that it cannot be given by simply stating that Buffalo was founded by the coming of the railroad in 1872 or 1873, nor by the arrival of the first settler in 1878, nor by being incorporated in 1883 or 1884. The history of a land where people were urged to settle, to put down their roots, to establish their homes relates to so many factors. The first of these is the geological background, the second the geographical setting and the third the contributions of the government and of the railroad toward the settling of a new territory. The following description is taken from the Department of the Interior Survey, Guidebook of the Western United States. West of the Herman beach the railway crosses a low broad ridge by a deep cut in glacial till and sand. This cut is four miles long, extending as far as the village. The low ridge through which the cut is made is a faint moraine, making the position of the front of the glacier that occupied the valley of the Red River before it became a lake. (The glacial features of North Dakota are the result of the invasion of the ice sheet that originated west of Hudson Bay. At the time of its greatest expansion this glacier covered all of North and South Dakota east of Missouri River with ice probably hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of feet in thickness.) The low ridge east of Buffalo was formed when the ice front retreated east. The southern part of the Red River Valley became flooded with water, and Lake Agassiz was formed. Just beyond Buffalo the traveler can obtain on the left the first extended view across the prairies and lowlands of the valley of the Sheyenne River. This broad stretch of country is well farmed, and the fields of grain are a sure indication of its prosperity. Just beyond this the railway is located on a broad flat that is only imperfectly drained by the headwaters of the Maple River, and then begins the steady ascent to the summit of Alta Ridge, which can be seen in the distance from Oriska. North Dakota history and geography books give a simplified picture of the land of the state and of the land surrounding Buffalo. North Dakota is exactly in the middle of the North American continent. It is about 1500 miles from a point near the center of the state to any of the shores of the continent. According to geographical findings, North Dakota has been under the sea many times, and each time a layer of silt was deposited. Each time that the land emerged from the waters, an erosion of the soil and rock would begin causing the uneven surface even before the glaciers came. The surface of the land resembles three broad strips of prairie. The lowest strip of prairie is on the eastern side, known as the Red River Valley. The next natural region is the Drift Prairies, or Drift Plains. The third strip of prairie is known as the Missouri Plateau, or the Great Plains, extending to the Rocky Mountains. The soil in the Red River Valley is probably the most fertile in the world, suitable for raising the wheat grown there, giving it the name of the Bread Basket of the World. The American Buffalo, or bison, one of the native animals of the area, roamed freely over the prairies. At one time they could be found in enormous numbers all over the state. Early immigrants reported seeing buffalo bones scattered on the prairies when they came to the Buffalo area. The third element in the history of the area concerns both the government and the railroad. They go hand-in-hand in the matter of settlement of the land, but perhaps the provisions made by the government should be listed first. With land in the area being sold at times for as much as $1200 an acre, it is hard to realize that the same land at one time could be obtained without any money changing hands. In this year of the Buffalo Centennial, it is almost impossible for some to realize the situation as it existed a little over one hundred years ago. Probably the earliest of the ways to obtain land was provided by the Preemption Law of 1841. A person could get a quarter section of land from the government by paying $1.25 an acre, living on the land about fourteen months and making some improvements before getting the final title. The Homestead Act of 1861 allowed a person over twenty- one years of age who was a citizen, or was desirous of becoming one, to file on 160 acres of public domain for a filing fee of ten dollars. The person then had to live on the land for five years, and make some improvements before filing for permanent title. There were conditions called a "commutation of a homestead," by which a homesteader could gain title after six months by paying $1.25 an acre or double that amount in railroad land areas. Under certain conditions a person could actually get 320 acres from the government by combining the provisions of both acts and by swearing that the land was for his own use. A third way to get land was through outright purchase. Sometimes it seemed to be the easiest way. There were many reasons for complaints against any of the three ways since there was a great deal of land speculation by land companies and others who could turn a deal to their own advantage. The Homestead Act did not fulfill the full purpose for which it was intended. THE SIBLEY EXPEDITION: In the year following the Minnesota Massacre, 1863, the government sent General H.H. Sibley and General Alfred Sully with their forces to retaliate by driving the Indians out of the Dakota Territory, where they had escaped. General Sibley led a military expedition starting in Minnesota which crossed to the high prairies of North Dakota. Nearly 4,000 Minnesota volunteers were under Sibley's command and clashed with the Indians of the region. Sibley marched his column up the Minnesota River, past Browns Valley, then to the Maple Valley where the site of his camp at Buffalo Creek is marked about two and one-half miles west of Buffalo just before the creek crossing. A marker was placed at the area of the encampment by Dakota Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, in 1927. The plaque on the marker states, "August 16, 1863, General Sibley marched over this spot with 3400 soldiers on his return after driving the Indians across the Missouri River." The point of land on which the marker stands was part of the farm belonging to Richard Titus, Buffalo, North Dakota, and the deed to it was given by him at the time of the DAR dedication. There was some denunciation of government for their action in sending the troops, saying that the campaigns of Sibley and Sully were both expensive and useless. This evaluation was partially correct, as those on the expedition were foot soldiers while the Indians they were pursuing were mounted and could easily outdistance the army. The armies advanced so slowly that most of the hostile Indians had little trouble avoiding them. Although the expedition included minor skirmishes, those who did lose their lives suffered for actions in which they had not had a part. Perhaps the expedition did accomplish something in that a new area was covered and the advantages of the new territory were made known to those who were interested in seeking a new life. Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited with Multi-Page TIFF Editor.
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