Donald Stevenson (April 12, 1833 - 1908) was a cattleman and politician in

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

, US. A state assemblyman, he was also the first elected Emmons County treasurer.

Early years

He was born in the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Sco ...

, came to Canada in 1833, was educated in the common schools of that country, and settled in

Douglas County, Minnesota Douglas County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 39,006. Its county seat is Alexandria. Douglas County comprises the Alexandria, Minnesota, Micropolitan Statistical Area. Dougl ...

Career

Stevenson came to the

Red River Valley The Red River Valley is a region in central North America that is drained by the Red River of the North; it is part of both Canada and the United States. Forming the border between Minnesota and North Dakota when these territories were admitted ...

long in advance of any of the settlements, excepting that at Pembina and Walhallalong before Bismarck, Fargo, Wahpeton or

Grand Forks Grand Forks is the third-largest city in the state of North Dakota (after Fargo and Bismarck) and the county seat of Grand Forks County. According to the 2020 census, the city's population was 59,166. Grand Forks, along with its twin city o ...

had any inhabitants. He was at Pembina in 1863, engaged as an army freighter in charge of a train of 300 wagons with supplies for Hatch's battalion. The old ox yokes and chains found by early settlers in Ransom County were remains of his train, lost in freighting to old

Fort Ransom Fort Ransom is a city in Ransom County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 91 at the 2020 census. Fort Ransom was founded in 1880 with the first merchants arriving in 1878. Geography Fort Ransom is located at (46.521154, -97.92914 ...

in 1868. He was an army contractor at old

Fort Abercrombie Fort Abercrombie, in North Dakota, was an American fort established by authority of an act of Congress, March 3, 1857. The act allocated twenty-five square miles of land on the Red River of the North in Dakota Territory to be used for a military ...

and located at Bismarck in 1872, engaging in contracting at

Fort Rice Fort Rice (Lakota: ''Psíŋ Otȟúŋwahe''; "Wild Rice Village") was a frontier military fort in the 19th century named for American Civil War General James Clay Rice in what was then Dakota Territory and what is now North Dakota. The 50th Wisconsi ...

Fort Abraham Lincoln Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park is a North Dakota state park located south of Mandan, North Dakota, United States. The park is home to the replica Mandan On-A-Slant Indian Village and reconstructed military buildings including the Custer House. ...

Fort Stevenson Fort Stevenson was a frontier military fort in the 19th century in what was then Dakota Territory and what is now North Dakota. The fort was named for Thomas G. Stevenson, a Civil War general who was killed in the Battle of Spotsylvania. It was buil ...

and Ford Berthold, and also at

Fort Keogh Fort Keogh is a former United States Army post located at the western edge of modern Miles City, Montana, Miles City, in the U.S. state of Montana. It is situated on the south bank of the Yellowstone River, at the mouth of the Tongue River (Montan ...

, Fort Custer,

Fort Buford Fort Buford was a United States Army Post at the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers in Dakota Territory, present day North Dakota, and the site of Sitting Bull's surrender in 1881.Ewers, John C. (1988): "When Sitting Bull Surrendere ...

and other points in the Northwest, long before the days of railroad extensions. In 1877, he put in 3,800 tons of hay at Fort Keogh in 64 days at $28 per ton. His hay and wood contracts at that time amounted to US$104,000. In 1876, he was engaged in freighting to the

Black Hills The Black Hills ( lkt, Ȟe Sápa; chy, Moʼȯhta-voʼhonáaeva; hid, awaxaawi shiibisha) is an isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States. Black Elk P ...

and arrived at Big Meadow just after Billy Budge's battle with the

Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota language, Dakota: Help:IPA, /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribes and First Nations in Canada, First Nations peoples in North America. The ...

. Retiring from contracting and freighting, Stevenson became a cattle grower, having a herd of several hundred cattle west of the Missouri, southwest of

Mandan The Mandan are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains who have lived for centuries primarily in what is now North Dakota. They are enrolled in the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation. About half of the Mandan still res ...

. In 1806, was appointed postmaster at

Osakis, Minnesota Osakis ( ) is a city in Douglas and Todd counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 1,771 at the 2020 census. History The city took its name from nearby Lake Osakis. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the ...

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

, was county commissioner for seven years in Douglas county, and two years in

Emmons County, North Dakota Emmons County is a county in the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of the 2010 census, the population was 3,301. Its county seat has been Linton since 1899. History The county was created by the Dakota Territory legislature on February 10, 1879, ...

, and then served as postmaster. He was a member of the 1897

North Dakota Legislative Assembly The North Dakota Legislative Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of North Dakota. The Legislative Assembly consists of two chambers, the lower North Dakota House of Representatives, with 94 representatives, and the upper North ...

. He was inducted into the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame in 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevenson, Donald Members of the North Dakota House of Representatives 1833 births 1908 deaths County treasurers in the United States Scottish emigrants to pre-Confederation Canada Pre-Confederation Canadian emigrants to the United States People from Douglas County, Minnesota People from Emmons County, North Dakota County commissioners in Minnesota 19th-century American politicians American people of Scottish descent Minnesota postmasters County commissioners in North Dakota North Dakota postmasters