Statehood Day in North Dakota and South Dakota Date in the current year: November 2, 2024

The region that is now the Dakotas had been inhabited by Native American peoples for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans. It was named after the Dakota people; the word “Dakota” is translated from their native language as “ally”.

The first Europeans to set foot in the area were French-Canadian fur traders and explorers from the La Vérendrye family, who came here in the mid-18th century. They developed good relations with the locals and were engaged in hunting and fur trade. French-Canadians claimed the region for France, but they were in no hurry to establish permanent settlements here.

In 1762, France signed a secret agreement with Spain, giving it control over Louisiana. It should be noted that what is now the state of Louisiana was only a small part of the eponymous colony. Current U. S. states that were completely or mostly inside the borders of Louisiana include Louisiana, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Therefore, North and South Dakota were part of Spanish Louisiana from 1762 to 1802.

Upon his rise to power, Napoleon forced Spain to return Louisiana to France and then sold it to the United States. As a result of the Louisiana Purchase, practically all of South Dakota and most of North Dakota were under U. S. control. President Thomas Jefferson sent the Lewis and Clark expedition to the region, and in 1817 the Americans set up a fur trading post near what is now the city of Fort Pierre.

By this time, the Louisiana Territory, which included the Dakotas, had been renamed the Missouri Territory in order to avoid confusion with the state of Louisiana following its admission to the Union. The Arkansas Territory split from the Missouri Territory in 1819, and Missouri was granted statehood in 1821. The remaining lands effectively became an unorganized territory.

The Iowa Territory was established in 1838, the Minnesota Territory in 1849, the Kansas Territory and the Nebraska Territory in 1854, and, finally, the Colorado Territory and the Dakota Territory in 1861. The Dakota Territory included all of present-day North Dakota and South Dakota, much of present-day Montana and Wyoming, and a small part of present-day Nebraska. Subsequently, the area of Dakota Territory was reduced due to the creation of new territories.

The division of Dakota into two parts before admission to the Union was caused mainly by political discord between the Democrats and the Republicans. It was a less favorable deal for the Democrats, since both halves of Dakota were expected to vote Republican, but they agreed to it because the Republicans had the upper hand.

The Dakota Territory was divided into two states, North Dakota and South Dakota, on November 2, 1889. Both Dakotas were immediately admitted to the Union as the 39th and 40th state.