Lost Dakota

44.4740671°N 111.05°W / 44.4740671; -111.05

For the musical group, see Lost Dakotas.

Lost Dakota was a small, uninhabited portion of land that was left over after the division and organization of the large former Dakota Territory into new territories in the late 19th century, which was overlooked by the federal government for years.[1]

Geography

Lost Dakota was approximately 11 square miles (28 km2) in size, roughly a third the size of Manhattan. The exclave was located at the tripoint between the current states of Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana.[2] Lost Dakota was located 360 miles (580 km) west of the territory, which by then consisted of the current Dakota states. Its borders ran along the Continental Divide, parallel 44°30' North, and the 111th meridian West.

History and current status

Officially, the land was still a remote part of the Dakota Territory; however, it had been forgotten by the government, wiped from any potential public view that it could have had for around five whole years due to faulty maps and surveys.[3][4] It has retrospectively been speculated to have been a superb tactical area for criminals to escape the law from, due to its forgotten location and lack of development; however, there is no evidence proving that criminals ever sought refuge in the exclave.[4][5] In 1873, it was annexed and thereby incorporated into Gallatin County, Montana Territory,[6] and has remained part of that county in the state of Montana ever since. Lost Dakota is extremely distant from settlement to this day and is completely undeveloped. It is without a street, road, or even a footpath as of 2010, and lacks any signs or maps to locate the uninhabited area.[7][8] It is also reportedly "plagued" by grizzly bears.[9]

See also

References
  1. Beyond 50: American States That Might Have Been. NPR. Retrieved June 22, 2013.
  2. "These Actual Proposed States Tried To Be In America, But Just Couldn't Make The Cut. | What's Happening?!". Retrieved 2020-04-22.
  3. "THE "LOST" DAKOTA TERRITORY" (PDF). MSU Library.
  4. "Antique Prints Blog: Shaping the Trans-Mississippi West: 1866-69". 26 June 2013.
  5. Forgotten state of Lost Dakota, archived from the original on 2021-12-15, retrieved 2020-04-21
  6. 17 Stat. 464
  7. "Visit the 3rd Dakota". Lost States. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  8. Michael J. Trinklein. (2010) Lost States: True Stories of Texlahoma, Transylvania, and Other States That Never Made It. Quirk Books. ISBN 1594744106.
  9. "Lost Mines of the Black Hills, Dakota Territory". Oroblanco's New Cabin. 2009-02-24. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
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