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 Normal and Industrial School North Dakota State Normal and Industrial School The North Dakota State Normal and Industrial School at Ellendale was a state-supported institution of higher learning located in Ellendale, North Dakota. Provisions were established for its creation at the North Dakota Constitutional Convention in 1889. The school's original name was the State Manual Training School, and this is reflected in the large molded concrete marquee on the west end of the campus Armory building, which reads "MTS." In 1907, with permission of the state legislature, the school's name was changed to "State Normal and Industrial School" and the term "SNI" was adopted