| Summary: | A Historical Background Prominent among the European nations seeking colonies in the "New World" after Columbus's voyage in 1492 were England, France and Spain. At one time or another, each of these nations laid claim to Wells County, or parts of it. In 1682 LaSalle had claimed for France all the lands drained by the Mississippi and its tributaries and called the vast territory Louisiana in honor of Louis XIV, who was King of France at that time. In the next 75 years England and France fought 4 separate wars on this continent for control of disputed territory in the "New World". France had Spain as her ally in the struggle. At the Treaty of Paris in 1763 which marked the close of the "French and Indian Wars" France was forced to surrender to England the undisputed ownership of all of Canada as well as all the lands in the interior of what is now the United States which were drained by rivers and streams which flowed into Hudson's Bay, Lake Winnipeg, the Great Lakes and the St, Lawrence River. In order to prevent the loss of Louisiana to England also, France ceded that portion to Spain. Not long after, however, France recovered Louisiana from Spain, and Napoleon, needing money to renew the fight with England, offered to sell the whole of Louisiana, including the city of New Orleans to the United States for $15,000,000. Congress finally gave its reluctant approval to the project on April 30, 1803, and the biggest real estate deal in history was completed. 900,000 square miles of land were involved in the purchase, and the cost figured out to be a little less than 4 cents per acre! At this rate, the price paid for the entire state of North Dakota amounted to $1,802,000; for all of Wells County $33,177.60, and for an entire township, such as Oshkosh, the price paid was only $921.60. The boundaries of "Louisiana", as sold to the United States by Napoleon, were never more than roughly indicated on the map of the territory which was to become North Dakota. In Montana, the northern boundary became the same as the Canadian boundary, but in North Dakota the line angled down along the continental divide between the Mouse and Missouri and the James and Sheyenne Rivers. The continental divide in Wells County as shown on the map of the 1966 Geological Survey of Wells County, crosses the county from west to east, running through Pony Gulch, Forward, Manfred, West Norway, Norway Lake and Valhalla townships. Thus residents of the areas to the south and east of the Continental Divide between the James and Sheyenne rivers in Wells County live on land that was once a possession of France and Spain before it became a part of the United States; while those whose homes are west and north of this line have their homes on land that was once a part of the British Empire! Although the first English colonies in the "New World" were founded in 1607 and 1620, expansion was comparatively slow. By 1750 the settled portions of the thirteen English colonies had not reached beyond the coastal plains, and not until 1750 had the population pushed the frontier westward to the Appalachian mountains. At this rate, one would surmise that the march of civilization would not reach to North Dakota in the interior of the continent until at least another century had gone by. However, such was not to be the case. The search for a sea route to China, India, and the riches of the Far East during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries had resulted in the discovery of America. The early explorers, like Columbus, fully believed that they had sailed to the coast of some part of China or India. Subsequent voyages proved that they were wrong, and that two vast continents, North and South America, still barred the way to the fabulous treasure troves of the Far East. The efforts of the explorers now centered upon finding a way around, across, or between the two continents to the Sea of China which lay beyond and would lead them to their goal. The Englishtried the "Northwest Passage" and discovered Hudson's Bay, where they established York Factory as an Indian trading post and claimed the territory adjacent, but they could go no further, and the search for the "Northwest Passage" was at length abandoned. The French sailed up the St. Lawrence and continued on up through the Great Lakes and from there to Lake Winnipeg and the Red River, but this route too, was a dead end. The Spaniards, and later on the French discovered the Mississippi and hopefully followed it downstream, believing that it emptied into the South China Sea. Their quest in this direction too, proved fruitless. The river which flowed to the China Sea must lie further to the west! Expeditions across the interior of the immense wilderness continued, as the search for the westward flowing river continued. Some travelled on foot, others on horseback; still others by boat or canoe. By an accident of geography, the territory which was to become North Dakota lay at the juncture of land and water routes which started out at three widely separated points. The first started in the lands to the south from the territory controlled by the Spaniards and followed the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. The second came from the French settlements and followed the St. Lawrence River through the Great Lakes, to the Red River then westward. The last, taken by the British, came down southwestward from York Factory on Hudson's Bay, across the Assiniboine and Souris Rivers and overland to the Missouri. Each sought a river which would lead them to the western shores of the continent, and each wound up in Dakota territory. The leader of the first white expedition ever to set foot in North Dakota of which we have authentic record was the Frenchman, Verendrye. On October 18, 1738, he set out with a small expedition from the vicinity of what is now Portage la Prairie in Manitoba, and entered North Dakota at the Turtle Mountains, from where he journeyed on to a fortified earth lodge village near the Missouri. There has been much controversy over the site of this "Mantanne" village which Verendrye visited. Dr. Libby, first Secretary of the State Historical Society, Dr. Haxo of the Department of Languages at the University Of North Dakota, and others, located the site on "Crow Flies High Butte" near Sanish, and it was here that the Verendrye National Monument was erected by proclamation of President Wilson in April, 1921. However, subsequent research into Indian earth lodge sites along the Missouri has revealed that there were no such villages in existance as far north as Sanish in -12- Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited in Multi-page TIFF Editor.
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