History of Bismarck, North Dakota Dakota. Some Bismarck citizens raided Jamestown for the state records. After the state records were back in Bismarck, construction of the capitol was completed in 1884, and talk of moving the capital city of North Dakota to Jamestown stopped. The first hospital for the Dakota Territory, Saint Alexius, was founded in 1885. Like most of the country, the 1890s were hard times for North Dakota. The Panic of 1893 was the nation's worst economic hardship to that point, and North Dakota's strong agriculture-based economy was directly affected. To make things worse, Bismarck was struck by a severe fire in August
North Dakota State Auditor with the state's constitution in 1889, the state has seen a total of 16 State Auditors. The first eight State Auditors all served within the first 25 years of the office's creation, but since then Auditors such as Robert W. Peterson, who served for 24 years, have served for longer spans of time. The office has been held by the state's Democratic Party only two years; that was from 1893 to 1894 when Arthur W. Porter was elected. All other auditors have been from the North Dakota Republican Party. It is the only statewide office in North Dakota to have