| Summary: | Lakota has grown within the short space of a year to be a considerable town, and with the railway interest in its favor will for years, probably, be the best business point in the county. It contains a bank, a lively newspaper, the Nelson County Times, several well stocked stores, a hotel, a good courthouse, thoroughly furnished, a blacksmith shop, two lumber yards, a livery stable and a considerable number of dwellings. The first building erected was an office for the town site company. The citizens are a wide awake class and will make their town all that energy and industry can accomplish. Lakota covers 160 acres. Michigan City is situated about eleven miles east of Lakota. It is the oldest town in the county, the earliest improvements having been commenced in October 1882. There are in the place a number of mercantile establishments, several hotels, a weekly paper, the Capital, several lumber dealers, and various mechanics. This place is far enough away from the -present county seat to be a good business point. Mapes is another town five and a half miles east of Lakota. This place was commenced early in June 1883, and is building up quite rapidly. Petersburg is a post office in the northwest corner of Town 152, Range 57, on the railway. Wamduska is a new town finely situated on the lake of the same name. It is about midway of the lake and has a commanding view of lake, hill and plain, and must some day become a great resort for pleasure seekers. It was laid out in April 1882 and has a hotel, a number of stores and altogether some fifty buildings. Harrisburg is another town located at the eastern extremity of the lake. The town site is beautiful one at the head of a long, narrow bay, which projects from the main body of the lake in a northeasterly direction for about three miles. It is the point of convergence for several wagon roads and surrounded by a fine country. Other post office are Baconville, Adler, Aneta, Lee, Bue, Ottofy and Crosier. By Erling Rolfsrud Almost all North Dakotans have heard of the spectacular French nobleman, the Marquis de Mores, who owned a ranch and built a meatpacking plant at Medora — where his chateau still stands — and who was acquitted of murder in one of the most dramatic court trials in the history of the state. Few North Dakotans, though, have ever heard of the unassuming thrice-titled Scotsman and descendant of Robert Bruce who drove a buckboard and delivered butter to Lakota townspeople. This nobleman, John Sutherland Sinclair, had lived on his Nelson County farm for several years before his neighbors discovered that he was actually Lord Beridale of Scotland, and Baronet of Nova Scotia, that he owned an ancient castle, and had a right to a seat in Parliament. It was while he was delivering butter that he inherited the third title, that of Earl of Caithness in northern Scotland. Only his genteel manners and the quality of his impeccable attire hinted of the fact of his noble lineage. A special accent of his courtly appearance was a bright red silken sash. But in giving his name he used no other title than “Mr.” Arrived in North Dakota in 1884, Sinclair established himself on his 3,040 acre Beridale Farm six miles northeast of Lakota. He erected imposing buildings, one of them a creamery. In that pre-milking machine day, he had a herd of 55 dairy cows producing about 50 pounds of butter daily. He shipped most of his butter to Montana markets, and delivered the rest personally to private customers in Lakota. With a team of his fine horses hitched to his buckboard, this Lord Beridale, Baronet of Nova Scotia, and seventh Earl of Caithness, brought butter to the back doors of Lakota homes. It was his habit to stop on his way to town to inquire of his farm neighbors whether he might perform some errand for them while he was in Lakota. A large crew of men was necessary to operate the dairy business, to care for a stable of thoroughbred horses, and to till the large grain fields. Many of his workers came from Scotland, their transportation paid for them by the Earl. A platform atop the granary served as a lookout from which Sinclair, with field glasses, could view his entire farm and watch the progress of field work. Here, in the early spring, he could see his 30 mules, four to a gang plow, turning over the soil. Through the growing season he would frequently mount the platform to survey his greening acres, to observe the large-scale hay making. In harvest time he spent much time driving his buckboard over the fields, bringing meals and refreshment to his crew. In 1905, John Sutherland Sinclair sold his Beridale Farm and Lakota neighbors honored him with a farewell banquet. He returned to Scotland, and after making some improvements on his estate in Aberdeenshire, came back to this continent. For a time he lived in the Peace River territory of Canada, then went to California where he served as secretary of a copper mining corporation. He lived quietly at the Balboa Hotel in Los Angeles, for three years. Following injuries in a traffic accident, he died and was buried at Forest Lawn. At the time of his death, there were only three persons in California who knew that he was a thrice-titled Scotch nobleman. Nelson County Taken from North Dakota Magazine. Few counties in North Dakota bear the enviable record shown by Nelson during the past quarter of a century, during which time farming operations have been extensively carried on. From the earliest authentic records when the first settler established his sod cabin until the present day when more than one handsome farm residence costing thousands of dollars each dot the splendid lands of Nelson County, there has not been what can be called a crop failure. Bountiful harvests year after year have been the rule. Farmers who came here in the early days with no capital except their industry and stout hearts, are today numbered among the prosperous residents. So productive is the soil of Nelson County that time and again has the experiment been repeated where the crop from one season’s work has paid for the entire quarter section. In some respects this county, situated in the northeastern part of the state, is fortunate that large holdings are now practically of the past. While a few large farms are still in existence, all of them without exception are open for farmers, and can be purchased on exceptionally easy terms. The soil is rich and productive with a clay subsoil which holds moisture and insures good crops even though the rainfall should fall below the usual amount. Wheat and flax here as in other counties of the state have been wealth producing crops and have made the farmers practically independent. For the past twenty-five years there has been a gradual improvement and development within the county, but it has been during the past five or six years that a decided impetus has been shown. New farmers with capital to back them and large experience in other states have heard of the bountiful products of this territory and have made this place their permanent residence after careful 1414 Scanned with a Czur book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited in Adobe Acrobat Pro
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