Page’s Map of Dakota 1886

Page’s map of the Dakota Territory, published three years before statehood.

The appetite for white settlement in the Dakota Territory was relatively muted until the early 1870’s, as the local Sioux Indians fiercely defended their ancestral homeland against the relentless encroachment of invaders from the east. But the discovery of gold in the Black Hills by George Armstrong Custer in 1874 changed the equation, and soon the territory was flooded with settlers, fur traders, prospectors, and ranchers closely following the rapidly expanding rail network.

Further conflict would erupt with the Great Sioux War in 1876, which saw the death of Custer and Crazy Horse, and ultimately led to the forced relocation of numerous local tribes onto reservations. Several such areas can be seen on this map, concentrated in the north and southwestern areas of the territory. Elsewhere, one can see scattered homesteads, prominent geographic features, and the critically important Northern Pacific Railroad – the fifth American transcontinental line, completed in 1883. The map was published three years later, in 1886, by H.R. Page in Chicago.