Cass County

Tim Hoheisel, Andrew R. Nielsen

• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Year: 2007
• Print ISBN: 9780738541457
• eBook ISBN: 9781439617069
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

Cass County is flanked on its eastern border by the Red River of the North. Created by retreating glaciers, Cass County is known for its exceptionally flat topography and fertile soils. Archaeological evidence indicates that the county was home to Paleo-Indian groups as far back as 9, 000 years ago. More recently, many different Native American nations foraged and hunted bison in the region. Dakota Territory was created in 1861, and Cass County was organized in 1873 with Fargo recognized as the county seat in 1875. The county is named for George Washington Cass, a former president of the Northern Pacific Railroad, which entered the county in 1872. Cass County is famous for agriculture and its bonanza farms, enormous commercial wheat farms unique to the Red River valley from the 1870s to the 1890s.

One

NORTHWESTERN CASS COUNTY

In northwestern Cass County, seven towns dot the prairie: Absaraka, Ayr, Buffalo, Erie, Page, Tower City, and Wheatland.

Absaraka, the story goes, was named by a local resident, Mrs. John Hay, who noticed crows flying in the area and decided to call it “Home of the Crows,” or in Dakota, “Absaraka.” Other anecdotal evidence claims that the town name is a corruption of an early Hidatsa Indian tribe that inhabited the area called the “sparrow hawk people,” or “Absaroke.” The first white man to own land where Absaraka is located was Chester Thompson. Absaraka had existed since 1881, but Thompson did not have a town site surveyed and platted until 1885. Before that, Thompson offered free lots to anyone who would build a home or business in town. Thompson also donated the lots for a school and church. Absaraka is located on the Great Northern Railway in Empire Township 10 miles northwest of Casselton.

The story of the origin of Ayr is that it was named for Ayr, Scotland, where some early settlers were from. The Park Farm was responsible for donating land that eventually became the town. It was first called Fleming and then Elgin, but since an Elgin already existed on the railway, it was changed to Ayr. F. H. Dickenson was credited with naming the town in 1884. Dickenson managed the elevator alongside the railroad tracks. The first store and school were built in 1884. The population of Ayr has decreased from 107 in 1940 to its current population of 22. Ayr is located about 20 miles northwest of Casselton, and it is credited with being the smallest town in Cass County.

The plat for Buffalo was recorded in Cass County in 1880. It is located about 20 miles west of Casselton. The town was incorporated in 1883, and by that year there were already 36 businesses in town. The first settlers in the area of Buffalo were the H. B. Strand family, who arrived in 1878. Strand was the first postmaster and opened the first business. A Northern Pacific Railroad promotional brochure for Buffalo in 1904 said, “Buffalo, No. Dak. has 600 inhabitants, one hotel, two restaurants, newspaper, graded school, three elevators, three churches, machinery warehouse, one hardware store, two blacksmith shops, four general stores, telephone, and one bank. Produces wheat, oats, flax, and corn.” Buffalo had a population high of 261 in 1950 and currently has a population of 209.

In order to get the railroad to build where they wanted, Frank Williams and George Churchill went to the top of a hill, drove a post into the ground, and painted “Erie, D.T.” on it—which was the name of their hometown: Erie, Pennsylvania. Their scheme worked because in 1881 the Great Northern Railroad built a line through what became the town of Erie. A combined store and post office was built in 1882, and the school district was formed in 1881. In its early years, Erie had a doctor, dentist, hotel, livery barn, three grocery stores, barbershop, pool hall, butcher shop, millinery shop, drugstore, bank, restaurant, post office, machinery shop, furniture store, lumberyard, shoemaker, harness maker, blacksmith shop, three elevators, railroad depot, and gas stations. Erie was built on the Great Northern Railway about 20 miles northwest of Casselton.

The town of Page is in the northwest corner of Cass County, 60 miles by road from Fargo, making it the town furthest from the county seat. Page is located at the intersection of four townships—Rochester, Page, Rich, and Lake—on the old Great Northern Railroad. Page was founded by George Cook in 1882. It had all the amenities of other small towns in Cass County. In the 1960s, the Brass Rail Saloon and Hotel was moved from the town to the Cass County Historical Society museum, Bonanzaville, in West Fargo. Page had a population high of 482 in 1950 and currently has a population of 225 residents. It is about 35 miles northwest of Casselton.

Charlemagne Tower, a director of the Northern Pacific Railroad from Philadelphia, owned the land on which the town of Tower City was built. In April 1879, George Ellsbury surveyed the land and named the town for Tower. Settlement began in earnest shortly thereafter, and by 1881, Tower City had about 500 residents. In 1883, there were three churches, a new schoolhouse, two hotels, a bank, a public hall, a newspaper, a steam elevator, a bed spring factory, and the Tower City Milling Company. In the 1880s, $15,000 was offered to the state of North Dakota if it would locate the capital in Tower City. The offer was refused because Bismarck offered $100,000 and 160 acres of land for the capitol building. The year 1883 marked the population high for Tower City at about 800. The current population is 252, up from a historic low of 233 in 1990. Tower City is 25 miles west of Casselton and about 16 miles east of Valley City, the seat of Barnes County, on Interstate 94.

In 1872, the Northern Pacific Railroad came through the area west of Casselton and built a station named Second Siding. In 1878, a post office and general store were opened with William Turner as postmaster. Hanna Brown from New York was known as the proprietress of the town because she owned the section ...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• One - NORTHWESTERN CASS COUNTY
• Two - NORTHEASTERN CASS COUNTY
• Three - SOUTHEASTERN CASS COUNTY
• Four - SOUTHWESTERN CASS COUNTY
• BIBLIOGRAPHY
• INDEX