Why the United States has two Dakotas instead of just one

Countries & Cities · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: The division of Dakota Territory into two states was not driven by geography or population, but by a calculated political maneuver. In 1889, Gilded Age Republicans orchestrated the split to secure four U.S. Senate seats instead of two, permanently altering the American map to consolidate their party's national power.

Established in 1861, the Dakota Territory originally spanned vast regions of the American West, including parts of modern-day Montana and Wyoming. For decades, the territory grew slowly, hindered by conflicts with the Sioux and economic instability. However, the 1870s 'Dakota Boom'—fueled by the Northern Pacific Railroad and gold discoveries in the Black Hills—transformed the region into a hub for wheat farming and cattle ranching.

Internal tensions defined the territory's final years. The more populous southern region, centered near Sioux City, resented the northern section's ties to Minneapolis and the 1883 relocation of the capital from Yankton to Bismarck. While regionalists argued for division based on these cultural and economic rifts, the ultimate decision to split the territory was a partisan power play. Republicans, eager to expand their influence in the U.S. Senate, pushed to admit both North and South Dakota as separate states.

The political maneuvering culminated in the 1889 omnibus bill signed by outgoing Democratic President Grover Cleveland. By splitting the Republican-leaning Dakota Territory, the GOP secured three new Republican states—including Washington and Montana—while effectively sidelining Democratic-leaning New Mexico. To ensure the states were admitted simultaneously, President Benjamin Harrison famously shuffled the statehood papers to obscure which was signed first, leaving the order unrecorded in history.

This expansionist agenda often ignored the rights of indigenous populations. In 1889, General George Crook utilized coercive tactics to secure land cessions from the Sioux, disregarding tribal leaders like Sitting Bull. By the time North and South Dakota were admitted on November 2, 1889, the territory had been carved up to serve the strategic interests of a party determined to dominate the federal legislature.

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