Dakota Territory is organized on March 2,…
March 1861 CE
The name refers to the Dakota branch of the Sioux tribes that occupy the area at this time.
The Dakota Territory consists of the northernmost part of the land acquired in the Louisiana purchase in 1803, as well as the southernmost part of Rupert's Land, which had been acquired in 1818 when the boundary was changed to the 49th parallel.
When Minnesota became a state in 1858, the leftover area between the Missouri River and Minnesota's western boundary fell unorganized.
Three years later President-elect Abraham Lincoln's cousin-in-law, J.B.S. Todd, personally lobbied for territory status and the U.S. Congress formally creates Dakota Territory.
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