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Roosevelt County - County Hot Seat

Background Info/ Historical Story:

“No story in the formation of Roosevelt county would be complete without first relating some of the background on the formation of Sheridan County. The formation of Roosevelt County is almost like the re-run of an old movie produced about ten years before the final showing. The first attempt at dividing the huge area of land known as Valley came in 1908 when the people in the east and northeast area decided the county seat at Glasgow was too far away for any kind of sufficient contact with its residents. This petition was turned down by the voters; strangely enough the opposition came from the very areas who were at that time promoting division-Bainville and Plentywood. A second attempt to divide the county came in 1910, but this time the petition was turned down by the state because of insufficient valuation in the proposed new area of four million dollars. In a December issue of the 1910 Culbertson Searchlight we read, " COUNTY DIVISION- Several projects on foot in Eastern Valley County." Plentywood had devised a scheme of her own to cut off the northeast end of Valley County which would be composed of 55 townships- making the county 55 miles long running east and west, and 30 miles deep running north and south with Plentywood as the county seat. Medicine Lake wanted the county divided a short distance west of Brockton, but not including Poplar, with Medicine Lake as the county seat. Culbertson wanted the county divided along the lines proposed in 1908 with the dividing line just west of Poplar and running straight north, with Culbertson the county seat.

In April 1912, William Powers of Bainville, assisted by John Lundquist and others, circulated what was to become known as the "Lundquist Petitions ". Dan McKay of Glasgow who had become known as "the county splitter" also assisted with the petitions. The Valley County Commissioners approved the application of these petitions in November 1912, providing such an application was approved by the voters at the next general election. From newspaper accounts, it seems there was little protest over the now proposed county boundary line; the west boundary being as it is now separating Valley and Roosevelt, but running straight North through what is now Daniels County. The big hassle came over what town should have the county seat. Culbert on was a very strong contender because it was the oldest town in the proposed county; Plentywood because it claimed to b the fast growing; Medicine Lake because it claimed to be closer to the middle; Bainville because, with the help of Mondak, had the most population; and Froid had a few influential men who wanted some consideration and seemed to be in a bargaining position. The Indian reservation had not yet been open for settlement and apparently the insufficient white population in the area of Poplar and Wolf Point did not merit them much consideration for a count at this time.”- Roosevelt County’s Treasured Years

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