Randy Hoffman

The Complete History of Bismarck, North Dakota Randy Hoffman

From the local author of The Bismarck-Mandan Encyclopedia... Follow the comprehensive historical journey of Bismarck-Mandan, North Dakota from an isolated frontier town on the edge of civilization, to its seemingly unlikely assumption as capital, to its role as a pivotal city that encompasses government, education, healthcare, agriculture, energy, and commerce.

Bismarck is an anomaly. It's a big city inside a small city. It stands apart with its historically big-level ideas and legends. Bismarck was put on a pedestal upon formation as Edwinton in 1872, when George Sweet first secured a townsite on behalf of Northern Pacific Railway at the point where its northern transcontinental railroad would span the mighty Missouri River. Many touted it as the next great city, and it had the components to realize that destiny. It is that ambitious hope that catapulted Bismarck's achievements and consigned it as a great city.

Bismarck owes its existence to the railroad, but it owes its importance to the many men and women who rendered it significant. Bismarck owes its prominence as a government center due to the efforts of Alexander McKenzie and Alexander Hughes lobbying for Bismarck to become capital of Dakota Territory. Had Linda Slaughter not established Bismarck's first school, the city may not have the educational magnitude it does today. Had it not been for the Benedictine Sisters establishing Saint Alexius, the first hospital in Dakota Territory, or Doctors Quain and Ramstad founding what is today part of Sanford Health, Bismarck wouldn't have among the largest concentration of healthcare providers per capita in the Midwest. George Stark first seeded agriculture, still North Dakota's backbone. Entrepreneurs that created million-dollar empires like Harold Schafer, Harley McDowell, Asa Fisher, Arthur Lucas, Edmond and Alexander Hughes, Philip Meyer, and the Wachters incubated Bismarck as an economic epicenter.

Bismarck is great because of the people who made it so.