Editor's note: This is the second of two stories about the life of Oliver Dalrymple. Catch up on InForum columnist Curt Eriksmoen's previous story on Dalrymple by clicking here.
At one time in the late 19th century, the world's largest cultivated farm was located in what is now North Dakota and was managed by Oliver Dalrymple. At its peak, his farms covered over 115 square miles. Before managing this large Red River Valley farming operation, Dalrymple had experienced both success and failure in farming and he was now determined to be successful. 1873 appeared to be a year of ruination for Dalrymple, who just two years earlier was considered one of the most successful farmers in Minnesota. He wrote that he had “been the largest wheat grower in the Northwest.”
His real estate/farms in 1870 were valued at $150,000 ($3.4 million today) but, in 1872 and 1873, grasshoppers destroyed his wheat crops. In 1873, Dalrymple sold most of his land and invested the money in grain futures just as the Panic of 1873 occurred, wiping out his investments. The Panic of 1873 also caused the Northern Pacific Railroad to file for bankruptcy. The NPRR owned the title of millions of acres west of the Red River so they decided to sell this land at a fraction of the book value.
According to noted historians, James B. Power, the land commissioner for the Northern Pacific Railroad, conceived the idea of bonanza farms. Hiram Drache, in his classic book "Day of the Bonanza," credits Power with developing what he called "the bonanza scheme," whereby, if NPRR bondholders exchanged their bonds for land, they could purchase NPRR land for "as little as sixteen cents per acre." Elwyn Robinson in "The History of North Dakota" wrote that Power originally “persuaded George W. Cass, president of the NPRR to demonstrate the value of the land by putting a large tract into production,” and by encouraging settlers to purchase land at a discount.
In 1875, Cass brought Benjamin Cheney in as a partner to establish the first bonanza farm in the Red River Valley. Cheney was a director of the NPRR and the two men purchased 11,520 acres of railroad land 20 miles west of Fargo, near present-day Casselton. They then contracted with Dalrymple to manage the large farm. Cass and Cheney stipulated that when the capital investment was returned to them, the land was to be divided on a 50-50 basis with Dalrymple. The contract also gave Dalrymple an option to gradually acquire additional land at 40 cents to $5 per acre.
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Dalrymple hired workers that fall to plow up 1,250 acres so that the land would be ready for seeding in the spring. Also, in 1875, John, William, and Elijah Grandin, three wealthy brothers from Pennsylvania who were heavily involved in banking, oil and lumber purchased 28,560 acres, near present-day Mayville in Traill County and hired Dalrymple to manage the farm.
The Cass-Cheney farm and the Grandin farm were the first two bonanza farms in what is now North Dakota. With two large farms to be cultivated, seeded and harvested, Oliver Dalrymple decided it would be helpful to reach out to family members to assist him on this enormous enterprise. He first contacted his older brother, William, to see if he would like to get involved in helping him oversee the operation of the Grandin farm, and William agreed. William had previously been involved in Oliver’s farming operation in Minnesota. The two Dalrymple brothers then contacted a couple of their nephews in northwestern Pennsylvania, Alton and Silas Dalrymple, to manage the day-to-day operation of the farms.
In the spring of 1876, Oliver had his workers seed the 1,250 acres of land that had been tilled the previous fall. All that land was seeded with wheat and, when the grain was harvested that year, it yielded a whopping 32,000 bushels, about 23 bushels per acre, which he sold for 95 cents per bushel. Oliver firmly believed he was in a position that would soon prove to be very lucrative. He had a farmhouse built on the farm, which was the first frame house between Fargo and Bismarck. In 1877, Oliver had 4,000 acres under cultivation and 20,000 acres by 1878.
Even though Oliver was employing the most modern farm machinery on the market, the work was still very labor-intensive. During the peak times at planting and harvest, Oliver employed 1,000 men to work the farms, primarily Norwegians from lumber camps in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Other workers included college students and Scandinavian and German homesteaders who needed cash to keep their own farms going. Each of the seasonal workers was paid $15 to $18 a month, plus board. In rush times, workers were paid from $1.75 to $2.50 a day.
Oliver convinced his brother William to go in on purchasing more land and soon they were managing about 100,000 acres. Even though they were making huge profits, William began to get nervous. In February 1878, William sent Oliver a 36-page handwritten letter expressing his concern. William wrote that in the past six months, he (Oliver) made purchases and decisions that were “folly, aye madness” and that soon they would “be forced into bankruptcy,” resulting in the loss of their Red River Valley land, and their credit would be ruined. William lamented Oliver’s decision to sell their Minnesota farmland and put that money into the grain future’s market that they lost in the Panic of 1873.
William gave Oliver six months to amend his decisions, otherwise, he would be forced to withdraw his partnership in their bonanza farm enterprise. Apparently, Oliver remained steadfast in his decision to expand his farming operation and William sold his shares to Oliver. Records later showed that Oliver’s son, John Dalrymple, was the manager of the Grandin brothers' bonanza farm. A major reason William may have been reluctant to put more money into Red River Valley farming was that he was convinced that a great profit could be made by investing his money in developing a railroad transfer track to Bayfield, Wisconsin, located on Lake Superior.
The Dalrymple farms in 1878 produced another bumper crop and national newspapers reported the great success of bonanza farms. One of the many people who came to witness the Dalrymple farming operation was President Rutherford B. Hayes. He arrived in September 1878 and Oliver gave him a personal tour in a horse-drawn buggy. Hayes was so impressed with Dalrymple’s farming operation he purchased an 840-acre plot of land five miles north of Bismarck in 1879.
By 1879, Oliver was using 400 horses and mules and 100 broadcast seeders during the spring planting season. When that was completed, the men plowed new land and put-up hay for the work animals. During the start of harvest, at least a dozen twine binders were employed in cutting the fields of grain along with a wagon carrying twine and water, and a mechanic with spare parts. Each of the work crews was supervised by a foreman on horseback. Threshing crews consisted of 23 men, 10 teams of horses, a separator, and a steam engine that could thresh 160 acres in a week.
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Oliver divided his holdings into land tracts of 5,000 acres and each of these operations had a superintendent and foremen, stock barns/stables and a granary. The main homestead of each division had a barracks where 50 men could sleep and a kitchen that could feed up to 100 men three large meals a day. Each division was connected by telephone. Oliver continued to expand his farming operation and by 1885, his Cass-Cheney farm had 32,000 acres under cultivation and was yielding 600,000 bushels of wheat a season.
In 1889, North Dakota became a state and soon the boom of the bonanza farms began to subside. The over-planting of one crop, wheat, began to deplete the soil’s ability to produce bumper crops. In 1892, the price of wheat began falling and this was followed by the Panic of 1893 that ushered in a four-year Depression. In 1896, the Cass-Dalrymple partnership dissolved and Oliver began selling off portions of his farm. Oliver Dalrymple died on September 4, 1908, and the operation of the farm fell to his two sons, William and John. The two brothers sold the farm in parcels in 1917, but with the farm depression of the 1920s, there were many repossessions of the land forcing them back into farming.
The Dalrymple farm of 25,000 acres has been passed down three more generations to the family of John “Jack” Dalrymple III, including his many relatives and descendants. Jack also served as governor of North Dakota from 2010 to 2016. Oliver Dalrymple was enshrined in the North Dakota Agriculture Hall of Fame in 1997.
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