History of Bismarck, North Dakota History of Bismarck, North Dakota Bismarck is the capital of the state of North Dakota, the county seat of Burleigh County, and the second most populous city in North Dakota after Fargo. The city was formed in 1872 as "Edwinton" after Edwin Ferry Johnson, a chief engineer for the Northern Pacific Railway company, when the railroad reached the eastern banks of the Missouri River. The name was changed less than one year later, honoring German chancellor Otto von Bismarck, in an effort to attract German immigrants. The discovery of gold in the nearby Black Hills in 1874 was the first
Interstate 29 in North Dakota Interstate 29 in North Dakota Interstate 29 (I-29) in the U.S. state of North Dakota runs from the state's southern border with South Dakota near Hankinson to the Canadian border just north of Pembina. The highway runs concurrently twice with U.S. Route 81 (US 81). The first such overlap begins in Watertown, South Dakota, across the state line to Manvel. The other is from exit 203 to the Canadian border. The highway runs somewhat parallel to the Minnesota border to the east and passes through two major cities, Fargo and Grand Forks. I-29 enters North Dakota, with a speed limit