History
Before the arrival of white settlers, present-day central North Dakota was inhabited by the Mandan Native American tribe. The Hidatsa name of Bismarck is mirahacii arumaaguash ("Place of the tall willows"); the Arikara name is ituhtaáwe . In 1872 the future capital city was founded at what was then called Missouri Crossing, since the Lewis and Clark Expedition crossed the river there. The new town was called Edwinton, after Edwin Ferry Johnson (1803–1872), engineer-in-chief for the Northern Pacific Railway. In 1873, however, the Northern Pacific Railway renamed the city Bismarck, in honor of German chancellor Otto von Bismarck, in hopes of attracting German investment. The discovery of gold in the nearby Black Hills the following year was the real impetus for growth. Bismarck became a freight-shipping center on the "Custer Route" from the Black Hills. In 1883 Bismarck became the capital of the Dakota Territory, and in 1889 the state capital of North Dakota.
Read more about this topic: Bismarck, North Dakota
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“It would be naive to think that peace and justice can be achieved easily. No set of rules or study of history will automatically resolve the problems.... However, with faith and perseverance,... complex problems in the past have been resolved in our search for justice and peace. They can be resolved in the future, provided, of course, that we can think of five new ways to measure the height of a tall building by using a barometer.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)
“In every election in American history both parties have their clichés. The party that has the clichés that ring true wins.”
—Newt Gingrich (b. 1943)
“Systematic philosophical and practical anti-intellectualism such as we are witnessing appears to be something truly novel in the history of human culture.”
—Johan Huizinga (1872–1945)