| Summary: | Wamduska Township Nelson County in Perspective Nelson County, North Dakota is located within the watershed of the Red River of the North and is bounded on the north by Walsh and Ramsey Counties, on the east by Grand Forks County, on the south Griggs and Steele Counties, and on the west by Ramsey County. Nelson County contains 1,008 square miles of land and 28 townships. The following elements of this chapter will discuss the historical development and prominent physical features of the County to inquire into a portion of the framework of the County today and will be considered in detail throughout formulation of this plan. The great plains, between the Red on the east, the Turtle Mountains and Pembina Mountains on the north and Stump Lake and the Sheyenne River on the south was battle grounds of the Chippewa, Ojibways, Sioux and Cree Indians. In 1731 the first white man of French stock entered the territory of North Dakota and by 1763 this group of Frenchmen were added to the list of warriors. The territory which later became Nelson County was the scene of many bloody battles, but the final treaty was made on the plains of Nelson County near Stump Lake, then called Lake Chicot, which means the place of many stumps. The County was created in 1883 from parts of Grand Forks, Ramsey and Foster Counties and was organized on May 15, 1883 by David S. Dodds, George S. Martin and Francis I. Kane the first Board of County Commissioners, appointed by Governor Ordway. The County was dedicated on July 27, 1883 by James M. Howard and was named by Judson LaMoure after his father-in-law, N.E. Nelson of Pembina County who entered the first homestead and made record in North Dakota. In 1880 no crops were produced and during the first years much of the money pioneers earned was by gathering up buffalo bones and selling them or by trapping gophers and selling their tails. But by 1885,132,525 bushels of wheat and 123,540 bushels of oats were produced. The following year was the best crop prospect in the County but on Aug. 8,1888 there was a killing frost which left not a growing spear alive. A long cold winter lie ahead. A call was sent out to the eastern states for help and carloads of needed articles including groceries, fuel and clothing arrived from Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, and New York. People of Irish, German, Scandinavian, Scottish and English descent, who settled in Nelson County in the early days endured the hardships of deep snows and long winters, spring floods, early frosts, and fruitless years and played an important part in the history of the country and left with them the heritage of Nelson County. The County seat of Nelson County is Lakota. It was named by Governor N.G. Ordway of Dakota Territory for an Indian tribe, the Lakotahs, the Teton Sioux word for "allies" — land of plenty — many heads (otah means plenty) and in the Santee Sioux tongue "dakota." Submitted by Leonard Burkland Harrisburg Harrisburg, a townsite developed on the east end of Stump Lake, had a lot of potential. One reason was the cast of characters involved in its promotion. Included were such knowledgeable and influential men as Captain Alexander Griggs of Grand Forks. Judson LaMoure of Pembina, and Colonel O.M. Towner. The townsite proprietors were C.T Harris, who obtained the land as a squatter, and Hon. George H. Walsh of Grand Forks. The Grand Forks Daily Herald of April 18,1882, carried a Harrisburg ad covering the front page. Part of the text read, "Harrisburg, on Stump Lake, the coming Metropolis of northern Dakota. County seat of Ramsey County and the prospective capital of northern Dakota. The principal watering place and summer resort in the northwest. This town is beautifully located on a fine elevation on the shore of this magnificent sheet of water so well known far and near as Stump Lake. The site is partly composed of a beautiful oak grove, and the balance high, dry prairie, situated about center on the north side. The Manitoba Railroad, keeping on the same side as at Larimore will come straight into the center of the townsite, being in town. (151, Range 60.) "The country for twelve to fifteen miles around is settled entirely by wealthy American and Canadian farmers, making it one of the best surroundings a country could desire. The soil is par excellence, and its rolling surface will never admit of muddy streets. The lake is eighteen miles long by one and one half miles wide, with high bold shores and skirted with timber. We are assured that the Manitoba Railroad Company will make Harrisburg their terminus for this summer." On May 18, 1882 the Herald reported that land for the town, the east half section, Township 151, Range 60 was selected. It was located at a point where the eastern arm of Stump Lake at a point where the hoped-for railroad would cross a creek flowing into the bay. The site was blessed with good drainage, available water and an abundance of fuel. It offered a beautiful view of the lake and possessed a fine harbor for the fleet of small steamers. These steamers would provide transportation service from Harrisburg to settlements around the lake, as well as excursion trips for the hordes of vacationers expected to flock to this primary resort of the northwest. Initial steamers service was to be provided by one or two boats the townsite syndicate planned to buy from operators on Lake Minnetonka, until the syndicate had its own fleet built. Harrisburg was in a position to become the primary trading center for the Sheyenne Valley country to the south. The Fort Totten Trail would bring trade from northwest of Stump Lake, and from the east as far as Adler Township. Its location was also inviting to settlers on the south side of Stump Lake. By the middle of May 1882, a business boom had developed. Eleven businesses had been established or were in the making, including two general stores, two hardware and tin shops, two livery stables, two hotels, a billiard hall, a blacksmith shop, and a saloon. Other plans inlcuded a large Catholic school on land owned by an order of nuns, and Professor Nelson of Minneapolis, Minn., hoped to establish an academy which would become a college as the city and its surrounding developed. As late as May 21, 1882, however, Captain Griggs returned from what the Grand Forks Herald termed a "fruitless trip" to St. Paul, Minn., to secure a railroad station for Harrisburg. He didn't find any key railroad officials in St. Paul with whom to confer. This put in doubt promoters' claim that the Manitoba main line would run from Larimore through the center of the townsite and that Harrisburg would be the junction station for the main line and the Breckenridge, Minn. 422 Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited in Multi-page TIFF Editor.
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