Front:
|NORTH
DAKOTA
FEB
21
1989
58501
25
North Dakota 1889
ND
Back:
NORTH DAKOTA STATEHOOD
First Day of Issue: February 21, 1989
First Issue Location: Bismarck, North Dakota
North Dakota is situated exactly in the middle of North
America. It is bounded on the north by Canada, on the
south by South Dakota, on the west by Montana, and on
the east by the Red River of the North, which separates it
from Minnesota. As far as anyone knows, the first white
man to set foot in North Dakota was Pierre Gaultier de
Varennes, a French explorer and fur trader who entered
the area in 1738 seeking a water route to the Pacific
Ocean. In 1797, Charles Chaboillez established a fur
trading post in North Dakota for the North West Com-
pany. In 1801, the Hudson's Bay and XY companies also
opened posts there. Uprisings discouraged settlers for a
time, but gold-seekers, the extension of the railroad, and
fertile land eventually brought settlement to the Flicker-
tail State. The area went through numerous territorial
changes in its evolution toward statehood. The region
was part of eight different territories before it was admit-
ted to the United States as North Dakota, the thirty-ninth
state of the Union, on November 2, 1889.
No. 89-4
©1989 The Maximum Card Collection
A Division of Unicover Corporation Cheyenne, WY 82008-0007
Original painting by Ed Little
