Charches.—The strongest denomina tions in the State are the Roman Catho lic; Lutheran, Independent Synods; Methodist Episcopal; Presbyterian; Reg ular Baptist; Congregational; and Lu theran, General Council.
Railroads.—The total railway mileage of main track line in 1919 was 1,445. There were about 360 miles of secondary main line and about 3,400 of branch lines. The roads having the longest mileage are the Northern Pacific, the Great Northern, and the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie.
Finances.—The receipts for the year ending 1918 amounted to $7,571,519 and the disbursements to $7,688,133. There was a balance at the end of the year of $1,369,607. The State has a bonded indebtedness of $412,000.
Charities and Corrections.—The chari table and correctional institutions in clude a reform school at Mandan, a peni tentiary at Bismarck, hospital for the insane at Jamestown, school for deaf at Devils Lake, institution for feeble minded at Grafton, school for the blind at Bath Gate, and tuberculosis institute at Dunseith.
State Government.—The governor is elected for a term of two years and re ceives a salary of $5,000 per annum.
Legislative sessions are held biennially and are limited in length to 60 days each. There are 49 Senators and 113 Repre sentatives. There are 3 representatives in Congress. In 1920 the State govern ment was Republican.
History.—The first permanent white settlement was made in 1780 by a party of French Canadians, near Pembina. Fur trading posts were established early in the 19th century and Lewis and Clark spent the- winter of 1804-1805 in the present town of Mandan. In 1810 Lord Selkirk built a fort at Pembina, suppos ing it to be British soil. The region was first opened to settlement by a treaty with the Dakota Indians in 1851. In 1861 the Territory of Dakota was organ ized with Yankton as capital, and in eluding Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. The territory was divided into North and South Dakota, and these admitted to the Union as States in 1889. In No vember of that year the State govern ment was formed and the first legis lature convened.