North Dakota Emigration and Immigration

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Immigrants

Pre-statehood settlers of North Dakota generally came from Norway, Canada, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York, and Iowa. Important but smaller groups came from Germany, England, Ireland, Sweden, Russia, and the older midwestern states of Michigan, Illinois, and Ohio. Many of the Canadian immigrants were of Scottish descent, and most of those from Russia were of German origin. When North Dakota became a state in 1889, about 70 percent of the total population were either foreign-born or the children of foreign-born parents. Immigrants from overseas also made up a large part of the second Dakota boom, which lasted from about 1898 to 1915. At the end of this period, Norwegian immigrants comprised about 20 percent of the state population, and ethnic Germans, including Germans from Russia, another 20 percent. There were substantial numbers of Canadians of English and Celtic origin, Swedes, Danes, Czechs, and many smaller European groups. There also was an important influx of settlers from the other midwestern states during the early twentieth century.

References

North Dakota Research Outline.Salt Lake City, Utah: Intellectual Reserve, Inc., Family History Department, 1998, 2001.

NOTE: All of the information from the original research outline has been imported into this Wiki site and is being updated as time permits.