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               Notes on the 1860 Dakota Territory Census
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When Minnesota became a state on May 11, 1858, the vast region of the former western 
counties of Pembina, Mankahta, Wahnahta, Dakotah, and Wabashaw of the old Minnesota 
Territory was left without territorial government until the creation of the Dakota 
Territory on March 2, 1861. 

This great "unorganized territory" between Minnesota and the Missouri River came to be 
known as "Unorganized Dakota."  The western region of present-day North Dakota and South 
Dakota, west of the Missouri River, was still part of the Nebraska Territory prior to 
the creation of the Dakota Territory in 1861.

In the meantime, the 1860 federal census was taken, and "Unorganized Dakota" was 
enumerated along with the rest of the growing nation, even though it was not yet an 
official territory of the United States. 

The 1860 enumeration of "Unorganized Dakota" included settlers in Pembina and old Fort 
Abercrombie in present-day North Dakota, and the communities of Medary, Sioux Falls, 
Vermillion, and the Yankton Agency, in present-day South Dakota. 

Several military forts and trading posts were also enumerated along the Missouri River's 
west bank and northern reaches, even though they were technically in the Nebraska 
Territory, not in "Unorganized Dakota."  These forts included Fort William, Fort Berthold, 
and Fort Clark, in present-day North Dakota, and Dirtville, Fort Pierre, Old Fort George, 
Fort Lookout, and Old Cedar Fort, in present-day South Dakota.  Fort Alexander and Fort 
Union in present-day Montana were also enumerated with "Unorganized Dakota," even though 
these two trading posts were part of the Nebraska Territory in 1860.  The U. S. Army's 
Fort Randall, in present-day South Dakota, was enumerated with the Nebraska Territory.

Two sites in the 1860 census of "Unorganized Dakota" have not been located: Orphan's 
Village, which was presumably in the Red River Valley of North Dakota, and the Old 
Trading House, which was reported to be north of the Niobrara River in present-day 
South Dakota or Nebraska.

The enumeration of the entire 1860 Federal Census of "Unorganized Dakota" was 
completed between June 1 and November 1, 1860 by one single man, Oscar W. 
Streeter of Breckenridge, Minnesota, who traveled the vast territory on horseback 
to complete the enumeration of this first Dakota territorial census.