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| Pembina County Courthouse, Pembina, ND Although built in 1881 (as a sign reads near the roof line), Pembina wasn't officially designated as the county seat until 1897 [Source: State Historical Society of ND] |
St. Vincent wasn't the only town to lose its standing as its county's 'seat' - Cavalier tried in 1894 to have the Pembina county seat moved from Pembina to Cavalier, putting it to a (failed) public vote. But the fight was far from over.
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| Front Cover of Cavalier's booklet, published during 1910 debate regarding having county seat changed from Pembina to their city Source: State Archives of North Dakota |
Let's take a closer look at Cavalier's arguments...
There were court cases contesting the petitions and elections concerning the matter, but in the end, Cavalier became the county seat of Pembina County in 1911.
Read about some of the very public battle in transcripts of the newspapers of the day, here...
While the centrally-located issue is factually stated and significant for the time, the descriptions of "decaying" county buildings that would "burn like straw" seem no more than exaggerated political hyperbole.
ReplyDeleteI thought the same thing. I still think my hometown St. Vincent, and it's neighbor across the river Pembina, both got their county seats unjustly taken from them...but as they say, it's all water under the bridge now!
ReplyDeleteP.S. That's just my personal and very biased opinion. Arguments can be made that votes were taken and they won fair and square, but something in the back of my mind is suspicious about how truly fair the votes were. No way to know what political machinations and/or back room deals may have went one now.
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