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 Secretary of State University. From the creation of the office with the state's constitution in 1889, to 2015 there had been 14 Secretaries of State, the least number among any of the state offices created in that year. This is attributed to the 34-year tenure of Ben Meier, which was the longest of any state-level Secretary of State in the US. the office had been held by the North Dakota Republican Party at all times except the period 1989 to 1992, when the state's Democratic Party was in office. The Secretary of State originally served a two-year term, but this was extended to