The third supporting question, “What challenges did territory leaders encounter in pursuing statehood?” helps students think through the role state leaders had as they worked to create a new state. How and why was the decision made to split Dakota Territory into two states? Would North Dakota allow women to vote? Would there be a lottery? Prohibition? What incentives would state leaders offer to encourage economic development and recruit new residents? Complete the following task by researching additional sources to build a context of the time period and topic being examined.
Formative Performance Task 3
Using Featured Source A, and additional internet and library resources, students will conduct research and write a summary of how state leaders used policy and laws to influence immigration, settlement, and community building in North Dakota. What does the map of Custer’s reconnaissance of the Black Hills imply about government intentions regarding Native American land claims and treaties? Why do you think there was so much information recorded about soil and water quality?
Learn more about the history of statehood for North Dakota here.
Featured Sources 3
Featured Source A is a primary source. For this section, students will be required to find additional sources themselves. Using school and public library resources, and the internet, they will need to search for newspapers, periodicals, journals, books, interviews, photographs, and other primary and secondary sources to find evidence to support their arguments and claims. Some resources that might also be helpful may include the following:
- Historical maps
- Land usage maps
- Soil type maps
- Water usage maps
- Settlement maps
- Population density maps
| Source A |
Map of Custer's Reconnaissance of the Black Hills (1874)
Source: SHSND 978.39 L945m 1874 This map was made by surveyors who accompanied Lieutenant Colonel (Brevet Major General) George Armstrong Custer and troops of the 7th Cavalry on an expedition to the Black Hills in 1874. It measures 29 by 24 ½ inches. One of the duties of the Army in the American West was to map the terrain. Soldiers accompanied surveyors for the railroads. In addition to protecting the survey crew, they sought information on topography and important natural resources. In 1874, Custer led troops out of Fort Abraham Lincoln on a two-month expedition to the Black Hills in western Dakota Territory. The Black Hills belonged to the Lakota according to the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 and only the Lakota knew the Hills well. The Army wanted to map the area to develop plans for a new military post in that region and to evaluate its resources. There had been long-standing rumors of gold in the creeks of the Black Hills. At least two gold prospectors accompanied the expedition and soldiers spent some of their spare time panning for gold. They found gold—enough to not only keep them coming back for more, but to also encourage the five newspaper reporters who had joined the expedition to publish stories in their newspapers about the wealth of the Black Hills. Custer’s map includes information important to military activity. It notes the quality of soil, the availability of grass and good water, elevations of peaks. You can also find dates and locations of the soldiers’ camps. Though Custer reported finding gold in the Black Hills, the next year a five-month scientific expedition was sent to confirm Custer’s report. This expedition, too, found gold, and in 1876, the gold rush to the Black Hills began. |
