General Info
The area of Cavalier County, North Dakota was inhabited by Sioux ( Dakota / Lakota) & Chippewa Indigenous tribes when in January of 1873, land was annexed by legislature from Pembina County, the organization of the County was affected in July of 1884. Named for an early settler, Charles Cavileer (Cavalier), who was a customs agent and the first postmaster. By popular vote in May 1885, Cavalier County received fifteen townships from Pembina County. At the time, there were 5,029 people residing in nine sizable townships, according to a census. The names of the nine townships from 1885 are still in use. Township names and the current boundaries were standardized in 1906. The first courthouse was erected in the fall of 1884. It was used for a short while before being abandoned in favor of warmer, more convenient accommodations in a downtown bank. On the current site, a sizable brick courthouse was constructed in 1895. Until the new courthouse was built in 1957–1958, this structure housed county officials. The fur trade was instrumental in relations between the Indigenous & European settlers.
