Shields is an
unincorporated community in
Grant County,
North Dakota, United States. Founded by Nathaniel J. Shields and his wife Mary and their four children in 1896. Shields' population peaked in 1920 with 250 people. Its elevation is above sea level. It has a
post office with the
ZIP code 58569.
History
Shields was established September 16, 1896, when Nathaniel J. Shields established a rural post office in his sod home. Shields and his wife Mary had four children, Mark, Arthur, Maude (Browning), and Laura (Martin) who were the first to live in Shields in the 1880s, when the
Dakota Territory still existed. Nathaniel Shields built St. James Catholic Church in 1890 and other buildings. The government soon designated Shields as a village in 1891. In 1901, the townsite was relocated two miles south, along the banks of the
Cannonball River
The Cannonball River ( lkt, Íŋyaŋwakağapi Wakpá) is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long, in southwestern North Dakota in the United States.
It rises in the Little Missouri National Grassland, in the badlands north of Ami ...
.
The town grew initially, reporting a population of 250 in the 1920s. Shields billed itself as "The Gateway City of Southern Grant County".
[ By 1923, no sod houses existed in Shields; they were replaced by wooden homes. Three of the most famous Native Americans lived near or in Shields at one time, Rain-in-the-Face, ]Chief Gall
Gall (c. 1840 – December 5, 1894), Lakota ''Phizí'', was an important military leader of the Hunkpapa Lakota in the Battle of the Little Bighorn. He spent four years in exile in Canada with Sitting Bull's people, after the wars ended and surre ...
, and Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull ( lkt, Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake ; December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota leader who led his people during years of resistance against United States government policies. He was killed by Indian agency police on the Standing Rock I ...
. The population declined to just 99 in 1950.[ In 2002, it was reported that 15 people called Shields home. Likely in the 1990s, the school building was expanded and turned into a Bar and Grill. In 2014, the school was razed, but the Shields Bar still remains in operation, as the only business left. In 2018, the population was estimated to be less than 10.
]
2002 wildfire
On July 1, 2002, a wildfire destroyed most of Shields, destroying 30 structures and displacing 15 families.[ After the fire, the '']Bismarck Tribune
''The Bismarck Tribune'' is a daily newspaper with a weekly audience of 82,000 unique readers, printed daily in Bismarck, North Dakota. Owned by Lee Enterprises, it is the only daily newspaper for south-central and southwest North Dakota.
Histo ...
'' newspaper ran a headline asking "Is this the end of Shields?", and the local sheriff was quoted saying "There is no more Shields." However, one resident interviewed by the paper said the community would survive.
Climate
This climatic region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Shields has a humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps.
References
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Unincorporated communities in Grant County, North Dakota
Unincorporated communities in North Dakota
Populated places established in 1896