| Summary: | Four Countries Lay Claim to Area in its History This area was first claimed by England when King Charles in 1670 granted a charter to the Hudson Bay Company. The Hudson Bay Company claimed the area in the United States drained by the Red River of the North and the Mouse River and their tributaries. In 1682 North Dakota was virtually divided between France and England, for France laid "claim to the area drained by the Missouri River in that year. Spain also held interest in this area. It should be noted all of the boundaries were loosely held due to the lack of population and the lack of knowledge as to what this vast territory consisted of. In 1803 the United States purchased the great territory known as Louisiana. The Hudson Bay Company still had control of the regions that drained to the north which included the Olga area, but when the 49th parallel was agreed on as the border between England's holdings and the United States they withdrew to north of the border. The Louisiana Purchase in 1812 was reduced by the admission of Louisiana as a state and became known as the Missouri Territory. In 1834 all of the Olga area along with all of North Dakota east of the Missouri River was included in the newly organized Michigan Territory. But in 1838 it became Iowa Territory and in 1849 Minnesota Territory. When the state of Minnesota was created in 1858 North Dakota remained unorganized for three years. In 1861 President Buchanan signed the bill creating the Dakota Territory. As you can see this area changed hands and boundaries many times until North Dakota came about in 1889 when the Dakota Territory was divided into two states. Olga Area had Many County Borders Cavalier County is almost as bewildering in its organization as a political division or part of one. The Olga area was first included in Pembina County which was a part of the Minnesota Territory in 1849. When Minnesota became a state in 1858 this area was organized until the Dakota Territory came about in 1861. That year brought about the organization of Kittson County which apparently at the time was the only county with white inhabitants, few of which were United States citizens. St. Joseph (Walhalla) was named the temporary county seat. In 1863 the act which established Kittson County was repealed because it was "in Indian territory and outside territorial jurisdiction". Then in 1867 the area was included in a new Pembina County with it's county seat at the settlement of Pembina. Pembina County saw many boundary changes and divisions until a part of it became known as Cavalier County. When statehood came about in 1889 Cavalier County saw more changes and at one point based on state records a map shows an enlarged Pembina County with Cavalier County entirely eliminated. Space will not permit dealing in detail with changes in county borders which surrounded the Olga area. But the facts cited reveal that Cavalier County has had a somewhat hectic history as a political division. Olga, the oldest town in Cavalier County, dates from 1882. Pioneers in the Olga area include many names currnetly found in the Olga area. Most of the people living in this community can trace their heritage to more than one of the following families: Beauchamp, Charbonneau, Marcelin, Menier, Gauthier, Belanger, Carrier, Clairmont, Brillon, Cuffe, Dunnigan, Brady, Benoit, Gendreau, Brusseau, Plante, Carriveau, Dorval, Dumas, LaMere, Pion, Chale, Winter, Robillard, Cleary, Gratton and O'Brien. There were many others also, but these names will for the most part be familiar to all. Olga was named for its township, which was named by Ernestine Mager (the first school teacher in this district) for a Norwegian princess she admired. The reference to a legendary Miss Prairie is one that has been passed down through the years. Certainly she was not the first teacher at the town of Olga as the first teachers were Father St. Pierre, H. E. Dorval, E. J. Fox and Fred Borusky. Since the name of the township was also Olga, we would suppose that she was an early teacher somewhere in the district, possibly in the vicinity of Beaulieu or the settlement known as Young near Concrete. In the year of 1882, Father Cyrille St. Pierre headed a party of devout French-Canadian Catholics to the area. Fr. St. Pierre came from eastern Ontario and was at one time assigned to the parish from which a number of Cavalier County pioneers came; these were families like the McGauvrans, Dunnigans, McKerchers, Browns, O'Briens, and others with an Irish-Scotch-Canadian background. However, when he did come to the Olga area, he 30 Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited with Multi-Page TIFF Editor.
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