Burlington was established in 1883, the first town in all of Imperial Ward County. It has remained and grown on its original site near the Souris and Des Lacs Rivers.
It was here that a group of travelers, Joseph L. Colton and James Johnson accompanied by J. J. Rogers arrived at the fork of the Souris and Des Lacs River, April 30, 1883. Joseph Colton established "Squatters Rights" to the land near this junction and his son-in-law, James Johnson, settled on adjoining land.
Here they camped and one of the discoveries they made was the presence of lignite coal. The building of a camp fire upon an outcropping of lignite here in the spring of 1883 is credited with first having acquainted the pioneers here with developing the fuel on a large scale. These men were surprised one morning to find their camp fire of the previous night still burning. Upon investigation they learned that their wood fire had ignited a blackish mineral lignite in the earth beneath it. All lignite mines in the Burlington vicinity were underground. Burlington became the first center for lignite mining in the county. The oldest or first mine is Davis mine.
In the summer of 1883, Colton and Johnson erected a two story building to be used as a store and hotel. It was the first hotel in this region and probably the first store. It was the first west of Devils Lake, north of Bismarck and east of Buford. It was also the first framed building in this same territory. The building became known as the "Forks". Lumber and other supplies were shipped by river boat on the Missouri as far as Fort Stevenson and from there, were brought by wagon. The first stock of merchandise arrived the same way. When the Colton-Johnson womenfolk came that same year from Lisbon, they traveled by rail to Bismarck, by boat to the fort and were met at the fort with team and wagon.
Johnson immediately petitioned for a post office. He secured approval for one in August, 1883. The intention was to call the town Colton. The post office department objected, there being another town named Colton in Dakota Territory. It was decided to call the place Burlington, after the home town of Frank Hatton, assistant postmaster general. The name of Burlington became official on Feb. 28, 1884. Mr. Johnson became the first postmaster. No mail was delivered by the government until the following year when Burlington became the end of a route served overland via Villard.
In 1884 Colton started the first newspaper in Ward County, "The Burlington Reporter". He Brought printing equipment from Lisbon. This same newspaper, after passing through many hands and having many names, became "The Minot Daily News".
The very first school in Ward County was managed by Mr. Colton, who maintained it until the township was organized. So much interest was shown in the project that he decided to build a real schoolhouse. The building would serve as a school, church and a courthouse. This building served the purpose until 1904. A vote affirmed that the courthouse should be repaired, but the repair took place in constructing a new courthouse in Minot; Burlington lost the county-seat.
The winter of 1883-1884 was a pleasant one for most of the settlers. A considerable amount of social life developed, by way of passing time. Johnson, in his reminiscences, stated: "We used to fix up a four horse sleigh that would accommodate about twenty people and go from one place to another and have a good time. Wherever the room was big enough we would have a dance. Otherwise we would visit, play cards, tell stories and do tricks."
The first law enforcement organization was formed in 1884 and named "The Burlington Regulators". This was organized to protect the settler from claim jumper, horse thieves, prairie fires or any other evils that might threaten.
In 1885 Burlington and Harrison Townships were surveyed. It cost $800 per township to get a special survey. Mr. Colton, Mr. Johnson and a Mr. Scott got the work done. The rest of the county was not surveyed until later, so settlers held land by Squatters Rights.
The first load of grain sold by a farmer in Ward County was hauled to Devils Lake in spring of 1885 by James Johnson. It took five days to get that load of grain from Burlington to Devils Lake.
In the spring of 1906 James Johnson invited the members of the newly organized Ward County Old Settlers Association to meet and camp on a tract of land near Burlington known as "No Man's Land'. This spot continued to be a meeting place of Old Settler Association. This spot is referred to as "The Old Settlers Campground or Park". The land was deeded to Burlington Township as a recreational spot. The township deeded it to Ward County for a park and thus came into existence the first county park, not only in Ward county but the state. It was dedicated to the memory of James Johnson and officially named "Old Settlers Park".
The little group of travelers who arrived at the Forks in 1883 now rest in the little cemetery near the spot where they camped that night, but what they did for their community, county and state lives on.
When the Great Northern was built in 1886-1887, Burlington was by-passed allegedly because of a spat between two women, one of them the wife of the chief surveyor. Then in 1888 the county seat was lost in a much criticized election. The business places continued to serve the settlers who were coming in and settling all around. The post office served patrons all up the valleys of the Souris and Des Lacs. Coal mines were opened in a large surrounding territory. The Soo Line was built in 1893 and a station was located at Burlington. This proved very beneficial for the mining industry as it gave a means of transporting coal. Much of the coal was sold to farmers and businesses and was hauled directly from the mines. The town had a large mining population until the late twenties when some of the mines were worked out. The competition from strip mines became strong and there was also some labor trouble. The thirties were bad years and the Federal Government had to provide some help as it did elsewhere. Through the efforts of A. Madsen and Robert Oliver and others, the Federal Rehabilitation Corporation put in an irrigation project and constructed 35 homesteads for the benefit of the miners so they could support themselves when there was no work in the mines. This project has been turned over to the state and was used primarily as homes for veterans and later sold to interested persons.
history
among the first
James Johnson and Joseph L. Colton settled at the fork of the Mouse (Souris) and Des Lacs rivers in 1883 and they established Burlington, Johnson may be considered the father of Ward County. The First school, newspaper, store and lignite mining in the county were all Colton Enterprises. The county nearly made its debut with the name of Colton.
A bill was sponsored for creation of the new county at the legislative session of 1885 by Gen E.A. Williams, a veteran legislator, Burlington was named the county seat of the new county, which was to be christened Colton. While the bill was pending before the committee on counties, Colton was lobbying in its behalf, he suggested the name be changed to Ward, in honor of Mark Ward of Brule County, who was chairman of the committee on counties. Maps of that time show Ward's neighbors were Renville, Wynn, Mountrail, Garfield, McHenry, Bottineau, Flannery, Buford, Wallace and Allred. Boundary lines were to change frequently in the early days and several of these neighboring counties soon disappeared from the map. On April 14, 1885, came the creation of Ward County and it became known as the official birthday of Ward County. In 1887 five townships form Renville and two from Wynn county were added to Ward. Wynn had a brief existence and was absorbed by Bottineau, McHenry, Ward and Renville Counties.
When Ward County was created, Burlington was well in the center of the territory it embraced, The first settlers had considered Burlington the logical spot for a thriving community and also for the county seat. When the Great Northern came into the valley in 1886 and did not chart its course by way of Burlington, a new town was built. The new terminal was located in this new town called Minot.
For nearly two years the matter of moving the county seat to Minot was discussed, and in the fall of 1888 it crystallized into definite form. A bitter fight was waged for weeks before the election in November when it was to be voted upon. Varied tactics and much whisky were resorted to by both sides to help swing votes. When it was all over there were 499 votes for Minot and 134 for Burlington. Minot was the new county seat. At their first meeting, County Commissioners adopted a seal for Ward County. It consisted of a tree with two cows on the right side and a plow with a team of horses on the left.
The post office of Burlington was established in 1885 and by 1889 there also were post offices at Des Lacs, Logan, Lone Tree, Echo (later Sawyer), McKinney and Minot. James Johnson of Burlington was the county's first postmaster and Olaf Larson of St. Carl (east of Minot) was the second to be named.
James Johnson also was appointed in1885 as Clerk of District Court, the appointment being made by Judge William H. Francis of Bismarck. It was before Johnson that many of the first settlers who had squatted on land filed on claims as soon as the land was surveyed. Others received their citizenship papers from him.
The coming of the Great Northern Railway to Minot in the fall of 1886 and its extension west in the following year marked an epoch in the history of Ward County. In 1893 when the Soo Line came to Minot and pushed on to Portal to connect with the Canadian Pacific, it meant development of new portions of the county and the birth of additional communities. Two important railway systems formed a link between the county and the great outer world.
When all of Ward County had been thrown open to homesteading in 1896 there was a rush of new settlers and many others came in the early 1900's. For 19 years Imperial Ward Reigned as the largest county in the state. In 1908 a plan was proposed for dividing Ward County in four parts on lines corresponding to the present boundaries of Burke, Mountrail, Renville and Ward. Also proposed was the division of Ward County into two parts. The northern portion to be named Lake County and the southern portion to retain the name of Ward .Both proposals were on the ballot at the general election in November, 1908. The results indicated that Burke, Lake and Renville counties had failed to receive a majority vote, Mountrail county had been created. A long period of litigation followed which carried to the state supreme court and did not end until June, 1910. When everything was settled, Mountrail, Buke and Renville counties as they now exist had joined the procession of North Dakota counties. In the division, Ward had achieved its famous "gooseneck," in the Kenmare vicinity, which gives it a distinctive appearance on the state map.
other early history
Joseph L. Colton and James Johnson arrived at the forks of the Des Lacs and Mouse(Souris) rivers in the spring of 1883. As they passed along the hills about one half mile below what is now known as the Speedway Junction, they noticed coal cropping out of the hill side. They stopped their team and dug some of the coal out and took it with them.
After finding the river junction they felt they had found the place they were looking for and that night they camped by the Des Lacs river where the Burlington Park is now. Mr. Johnson later donated this land as an "Old Settlers Park" and it was referred to as "No Mans Land". That first night the coal which had been dug from the hillside was used on the campfire, and the coal was still hot in the morning.
The first coal mine was started by Joseph Colton right where the coal was cropping out. This was in the fall of 1884. There were only about five settlers near there at that time so mining didn't amount to much. By 1886 there were more settlers and the demand for coal was growing. Most of the settlers had brought wood stoves with them and they used the coal to hold the fire overnight. Most of the stoves were "kalamazoo" models and these required some changes to keep the coal from falling through the grated which were designed for wood.
As more people came into the area Colton had a man staying at the mine full time. He would dig coal and leave it in the mine until costomers came and then bring it out with a wheelbarrow running on planks. One ton was about the limit for any customer as wood was plentiful and free for everyone.
In 1892 when the Soo Line Railroad was coming into Minot. A man by the name of L.M. Davis came in Mr. Johnson's office, he said he was interested in opening a good coal mine. Mr. Johnson told him of their experiences with the early mines and that he felt there was plenty of coal in the Burlington area.
After drilling several test holes, Mr. Davis purchased land from Mr. Johnson in1893. The Soo Line also purchased additional land and installed a passing track which would hold around 40 cars. Mr. Davis immediately hired an engineer and surveyor by the name of J.S. Wallace, a very competent Scotsman with a knack for handling men. After completing a survey of the slope he started the digging at the main entrance. The tipple went through a small hill across a ravine and then into the main entrance as they needed plenty of room for 2 tracks and at least 25 mine cars. When the tipple was complete the Soo Line brought in the spur line past the tipple and around another hill making room for 20 cars ahead of the loading chute. The track was made so the cars could be rolled past the loading chute easily.
The miners were not allowed to use any explosives in making the main entry so as not to weaken the front of the mine. After they reached the full face of the coal, they made a double track, one for empties and one for loaded cars. They also erected a barn which held four horses and a horseman was employed to care for the horses as they came from the mine. At first only two horses were used to gather the cars but as the distance to the coal became greater, all four were used. There was a loud steam whistle at the mine which was blown at noon and at 5pm and this caused many a runaway team. The teams often turned into the Johnson farmstead to circle until someone caught them.
The next thing Mr. Davis built was a large boarding house where most of the miners were fed until they began building houses of their own. There was also a company store which handled almost anything the miners needed. Mr. Wallace built a nice home over a hill from the mine. Mr. Forest Sovel was put in charge of the store and a phone line was strung on the telegraph poles from Minot making the first telephone in the area.
As the city of Minot grew along with the surrounding territory the need for coal also grew. The Soo Line installed a platform at the mine and made it a flag station and called the station Davis. At this time Davis was getting bigger then Burlington. The townsite of Davis can be found on some early maps of the area between Burlington and Minot.
Since the demand for coal was mostly seasonal, something was needed for the men to do to hold them during the off season. Mr. Davis found he had some of the best clay in the state right where he had cut through a hill for the tipple, so he set up a brickyard. The yard was a great success and many of the old buildings in Minot are made from that brick. The kilns were erected right on the RR spur and they loaded brick right into cars. The Soo Line at this time was running around 25 cars of coal out of the mine every other day. Part of the coal was used in a power plant in Minot which furnished steam to most of the buildings on main street.
About this time a man named Sandy Cunningham thought he would open a mine at the head of main street in Burlington. He immediately ran into a nice spring which was used many years for drinking water for Burlington. He moved out to "Hunnewell Coulee" where he put down a shaft mine. He reached a full face of coal at about 40 feet. After getting the shaft in with power, he was pushing a car toward the shaft thinking the cage was up, but it was down. When he tried to hold the car, he went down the shaft with the car and was killed. The death was the first in the mines and his mine was never finished.
By this time Burlington townsite had moved from along the tracks to where it is now and it was growing fast. There were 4 teams loading coal into cars on the Soo Line all day long and some at night. Besides loading at Burlington there was also a mine called Tasker Coal Co., about 5 miles west of Burlington where the Hwy 2 & 52 junction is and it was producing a lot of coal. There was a large boarding house at this site where they had dances.
Burlington held on quite well until the late twenties when some of the mines were playing out. A fire started in the upstairs of the Butcher shop which eventually burned all the buildings up to the Johnson Building. Then came the dirty thirties and both banks closed and shortly after the hotel caught fire and it wasn't long until Burlington and the coal business was a thing of the past.
The Davis Coal Co. became Northern Briquetting Co.. D.M. Davis died in 1914 and after his death the company soon folded and the land was purchased by Harvey and George Johnson to again become Johnson farm property.