BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA

Bismarck is the capital of North Dakota and county seat of Burleigh County. The city’s population was estimated in 2018 at 73,112. In 1872 European Americans founded a settlement at what was then called Missouri Crossing, so named because the Lewis and Clark expedition crossed the river there on their exploration of the Louisiana Purchase in 1804-1806. In 1873, the Northern Pacific Railway renamed the city to Bismarck, in honor of German chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Railroad officials hoped to attract German immigrant settlers to the area and German investment in the railroad. It is the only U.S. capital named for a foreign statesman.