First Bridge

Ransom County Notes: The picture Cindy Olson recently posted on the "You are from Ransom County..." site shows something of historical interest. The second meeting of the newly formed county commission in Ransom County, April 16, 1881, dealt with authorizing the building of the first bridge over the Sheyenne River at the north end of main street in Lisbon. The bridge seen here could well have been that bridge.

Early Impressions

Ransom County Notes:  In his diary, Oscar Garrett Wall, a cavalryman with Co. F, 1st Minnesota Mounted Rangers wrote his impressions of the Sibley Expedition’s stay in Ransom County on July 4, 1863.  “This was indeed a strange Fourth of July.  No man in the command had ever before seen one like it.  No mark of civilization had ever been raised in this country.  No surveys had been made.  No white men had disturbed the solitude into which we had entered.  Herds of buffalo were visible in almost any direction.  Aside from these nothing was seen but arched skies and boundless plains.”

Ransom County Notes:  The accompanying map has been highlighted to show two trails leading from the Pigeon Point station to Fort Ransom. The northernmost was known as the low-water trail and became the preferred route for travelers and freighters in dry periods when the Sheyenne River ran low and could be easily forded.  The southernmost or high-water trail added miles and time to the trip, an important consideration with slow moving oxen pulling most of the freight.  The Stevenson wagon train returning empty from Fort Ransom chose the high-water route and found themselves stalled in a three-day blizzard near Okiedan Butte.  It is not known why they didn’t use the low-water trail when they could have forded the river on frozen ice.  The reason is lost on the wind.

Bringing the WORD

Ransom County Notes:  A Catholic priest, Father Stephan, conducted the first services in the county.  In 1878-79, and dedicated to bringing the WORD to settlers, he walked out from Moorhead to perform his priestly duties in settlers’ cabins in which attendees crowded, coming from as far away as twenty miles. 

Gold and Geology

The recent post in my “Ransom County Notes” gathered some interest in the gold mine story near Lisbon.  Here is what a North Dakota geologist John Bluemle in his book NORTH DAKOTA’S GEOLOGIC LEGACY says, “When I mapped the geology of Ransom County in 1970, I visited the mine site…I spent some time studying the apparent mine site and determined that any gold was contained in what is probably a cemented placer deposit, consisting of gravel that was deposited by a preglacial stream or river.  The river probably had its origin in the Black Hills, the likely source area for the gold, and it must have flowed through the area sometime prior to 3 million years ago.”  I will see Dr. Bluemle Thursday night at an event at NDSU and will discuss it further.

A Market for Bones

Those countless numbers of buffalo that passed through our area came to their end either through killing by hide skinners, sporting slaughter where they were shot from moving trains, or just plain old natural attrition.  Their carcasses left to lay on the prairie, their skeletons soon bleached in the hot sun after scavenging birds and animals had picked them clean.

When settlers appeared, they had no opportunity to earn much income from their homesteads the first year and could earn a few dollars by collecting bones and selling them for around $8 per ton.  In the WPA files found in the state historical society, we know a market for bones existed in Ransom County.  Mrs. Alice Beard reported that “about 1888, bone collectors gathered many loads of buffalo bones which were sold in Sheldon and shipped east.  There were so many buffalo wallows, and the ground was covered by bones near these.”

A Multitude of Buffalo

Ransom County Notes:  Before settlement occurred, countless numbers of migrating wildlife passed through the land now comprising the county.  A remarkable example occurring in the early 1860s tells of a military troop commanded by a Colonel Creel who found themselves trapped atop a hill five miles south of present-day Lisbon.  An immense herd of buffalo headed toward the hill, split to pass by on either side of them, and kept the men surrounded for several hours.  The colonel looked in the distance with his spotting glass and saw the horizon filled with animals.

Fences Built

Ransom County Notes:  At first the county had no section lines, township roads, and fenced pastures.  When did fences start criss-crossing the once open range? This news item appeared in the Sheldon Enterprise on April 7, 1885: “Frank Mcilvaine has been hauling barbed wire homewards.  Guess there is to be some fencing done on that farm.”  And, one year later on April 1, 1886: “Barbed wire is going off so fast that Karl E. Rudd ordered his second carload this week.”  The railroad made it possible to receive shipments of a product like this.  The railroad had reached Sheldon on November 4, 1882 and Lisbon on December 22, 1882.

Love Triangle at Pigeon Point

RANSOM COUNTY NOTES - At a place called Pigeon Point in Owego Township an interesting love triangle developed.  The proprietors of this overnight stop, halfway between Forts Abercrombie and Ransom, were a married couple named Nancy McClure and David Faribault.  Nancy favored another man, Charles Huggan, and they conspired to get Faribault very drunk, then ran away to live together in Flandreau, SD.  A great story surrounds the affair, Faribault’s time as a scout in Fort Ransom, pigeons, and more.  Check this spot again at the end of the week for another in a series of Ransom County Notes.

Establishing Ransom County

Ransom County was created by act of the Territorial Legislature, January 4, 1873, from the larger region called Pembina.  Four years later, February 7, 1877, that parcel of land we’ve come to know as Ransom County was established attached to Richland County for the purpose of recording deeds, mortgages, and other legal documents.  Then another four years later Governor Ordway on March 7, 1881 appointed the first county commissioners: Probert, Hanson, and Colton who held their first meeting April 4, 1881.  They placed the county seat at Lisbon.  As for naming the county, it must have seemed natural for them to take the name from the fort.  As for naming the fort after General Ransom, I am certain it came at the recommendation of Ulysses S. Grant who held Ransom in such high regard.  Further thoughts from others are welcomed.

Historic Ransom County

I am presently writing a book about people and events in historical Ransom County. As it develops, and from time to time, I will post little snippets of interest under the heading “Ransom County Notes.” Today: General T.E.G. Ransom, the county’s namesake was wounded in each of four battles in the Civil War. General Grant wept upon hearing of young Ransom's death, and General Sherman kept a photograph of General Ransom on the wall of his office 20 years after the war.

Please contact me by email - lynnbueling@bis.midco.net - I’m open to any suggestions of exceptional people or events set in the early days of Ransom County that you think merit inclusion. The archives are dusty, but gems of history wait to be uncovered. I’ve found many.

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