Dako'ta, NORTH and SOUTH, two states of the American Union organised from the former territory of Dakota and admitted into the Union in 1890. The tract is bounded N. by Assiniboia and Manitoba (Canada); E. by Minnesota and Iowa; S. by Nebraska; and W. by Montana and Wyoming.
Area, North Dakota, 74,312 sq. m.; South Dakota, 76,620 sq. m. Four-fifths of the surface is an undulating plain. A belt of high plateau, the Coteau du Missouri, traverses the tract from north-west to south-east; and a similar but smaller ridge or divide lies east of the James River valley. The great river Missouri flows south-eastward across the Dakotas; and the country west of that stream is more broken and better timbered than the rest. In South Dakota lie the Black Hills, a rugged and mountainous region (3200 sq. m.), and well wooded. Their highest point, Harney Peak, is 8200 feet high. The Turtle Mountains in the north are crossed by the Canadian boundary, south of which their area is but 800 sq. m., and their highest elevation 2300 feet. The geological features of the Dakotas are full of variety and interest. A very large proportion of the surface is covered by glacial and alluvial drift, and much of the country bears evidence of having been more than once submerged. During the Silurian age a shallow sea or saline lake must have rolled over it; while there is evidence that at about the end of the glacial period it either was the bed of a great lake or at least was very largely covered with lacustrine waters. At present the lakes are all relatively small, except Devil's Lake, or Minniwaukon, in the north, which, like many others of this region, has no outlet. Its waters are therefore saline, but it is inhabited by fishes of various fresh-water species. About one-third of the area of the tract, chiefly towards the north-west, is believed to be underlaid with beds of workable lignite, well adapted to use as a domestic fuel; and the spontaneous firing of the lignite beds has probably been a large factor in the development of the so-called 'bad lands,' which are covered with rocks of most fantastic shapes. Natural fuel-gas has been obtained by boring at several points. Among the building-stones are quartzite, jasper, and granite in the south-east, and sandstone, marble, and granite in the south-west. Fictile clays, gypsum, cement, chalk, mica, and other useful minerals are found in many places. Medicinal and thermal springs are found in the south-west, where the Black Hills afford much gold and silver, as well as tin, antimony, lead, mica, copper, and other minerals. The tin-mines are the only ones of any extent ever worked in America; and some of the gold-mines are among the most extensive in the world. In the ten years 1877-87 the gold and silver production of the Black Hills amounted to $33,770,000.
The climate of the Dakotas presents some remarkable features. The winters are cold, but so dry and sunny that the cold is usually borne without great suffering, except during the blizzards (see BLIZZARD) which are occasionally experienced. The summer days are warm and often windy, but the nights are ordinarily calm and cool. The climate is everywhere remarkably healthful; malarial diseases are nearly unknown. The rainfall is relatively low, but the copious saline elements in the soil, with the generally level surface and the coolness of the climate, tend to the retention of moisture; hence the rainfall is usually ample for the production of all the ordinary crops. The planting of forests has been greatly encouraged by local and national legislation. The Missouri River is the principal stream; it is usually navigable for eight months in the year. The other important rivers are the James, noted for the fertility of its valley; the navigable Red River, famous for its rich alluvial basin; the Big Sioux, Vermilion, White, Cheyenne, Bad, Moreau, Grand, Cannon Ball, Heart, Little Missouri, Maple, and the Mouse or Souris. The north-east section of North Dakota is tributary to Hudson Bay through the Red River; but the far greater part of the Dakotas belongs to the Mississippi valley. The leading agricultural products are spring wheat of high grade, the staple product of the Red River basin; maize, which does well throughout a large part of the states; flax, raised chiefly for the oil of its seed; oats, rye, barley, buckwheat, potatoes, and hay. Fruit-growing is receiving a rapid development. Hops grow wild and of good quality in certain sections. A very important interest is the rearing of live-stock, the cattle-ranch system prevailing in the less settled districts. The Bad Lands, formerly regarded as worthless, are now especially valued as suitable ground for cattle-raising. A country like the Dakotas, but a few years since the abode of millions of buffalo and countless antelope, must of necessity be well adapted to grazing. The Indian reservations occupy 21,330 square miles (15,370 in South Dakota); in 1898 there were 26,995 Indians. At the end of the century there were in North Dakota 30,000 miles still open to settlement, in South Dakota 20,000. The larger proportion of the incoming settlers are from the older northern states and from Canada; but many come from Scandinavia, Britain, and Germany, and not a few (Mennonites) from Russia. The manufacturing interests of the Dakotas are for new agricultural states singularly diversified and extensive. Railways, including the Northern Pacific line, have been pushed extensively, and their construction has preceded, not followed, the settlement of the country. Abundant provision has been made for the educational needs of the country, and several colleges and normal schools and a universally prevalent system of free schools have been established. Among the principal towns of North Dakota are Bismarck, the capital, Fargo, Wahpeton, Grand Forks, Pembina, Jamestown, &c.; of South Dakota, Pierre, the capital, Deadwood, in the Black Hills, Sioux Falls, Yankton, Watertown, and Mitchell.
Pop. of the territory of Dakota (1860) 4837; (1870) 14,181; (1880) 135,177. Of the state of North Dakota in 1890, 182,719; of South Dakota, 328,808 (in 1880, 36,909 and 98,268 respectively).
History.—The first real and permanent white settlement in Dakota was probably established by French Canadian settlers near Pembina about 1780. Lord Selkirk in 1812, by a mistake, built his fort of Pembina south of the Canadian line; there were fur-trading posts established at least as early as 1808. By a treaty with the Dakota Indians in 1851 a large part of the country was opened to white settlement. The territory was established and organised in 1861. Yankton was the capital until 1883, when Bismarck became the seat of government. During the congressional session of 1888–89 provision was made to admit it into the Union as two states—North Dakota and South Dakota.