History of Bismarck, North Dakota real impetus for growth. In 1883, Bismarck became the capital of the Dakota Territory and, in 1889, of the state of North Dakota. The first well-documented inhabitants of what is now Bismarck were the Mandan Nation. The remains of Chief Looking's Village, one of the Mandan towns, is now a park within the city limits, while another six to eight town sites, including On-a-Slant Village, Large-and-Scattered Village, and Double Ditch Village, made up the homeland of the Mandan Nation from about the mid-1500s to the late 1700s and surround present-day Bismarck for a few miles to the north and south.
North Dakota State Hospital North Dakota State Hospital The North Dakota State Hospital, on the southern rim of the James River valley overlooking Jamestown, North Dakota, has since 1885 been North Dakota's primary institution for treating the mentally ill and confining the criminally insane. The North Dakota territorial legislature authorized a "hospital for the insane" in 1883. On May 1, 1885, the State Hospital opened, four years before North Dakota was granted statehood. Along with the University of North Dakota, it is the only institution in North Dakota to predate statehood. The first superintendent was Dr. O. Wellington Archibald, who had previous worked for