Editing Morton County, North Dakota (section)

==Early history==
The county was created on January 8, 1873, by the [[Dakota Territory]] legislature, using territory that had not previously been included in any county. The county organization was not completed at that time, but the new county was not attached to any other county for administrative or judicial matters. Its organization was completed on November 5, 1878.<ref>{{cite web|title=Dakota Territory, South Dakota, and North Dakota: Individual County Chronologies |url=https://publications.newberry.org/ahcb/documents/DAKs_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm |website=publications.newberry.org |publisher=The [[Newberry Library]] |date=2006 |access-date=April 27, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=County History |url=https://www.nd.gov/government/state-government/county-history |website=www.nd.gov |publisher=State of North Dakota |access-date=April 27, 2025}}</ref> It was named for [[Oliver Hazard Perry Morton|Oliver Hazard Perry Throck Morton]] (1823-1877), governor of [[Indiana]] during the [[American Civil War]] and later a [[United States Senate|United States Senator]]. Portions of the county were partitioned off on February 10, 1879, causing the county organization to be not fully organized.<ref>The territorial legislature removed the eastern part of Morton County, including Fort Abraham Lincoln and the adjacent military reservation, attaching it to [[Burleigh County, North Dakota|Burleigh County]]. Lincoln, the civilian settlement north of Fort Abraham Lincoln, was county seat 1878 to 1879 until it was reassigned to Burleigh County.</ref> This lasted until February 28, 1881, when the organization was again completed. The county's boundaries were adjusted in 1881 and in 1887. In 1916, a portion of Morton County was partitioned off to create [[Grant County, North Dakota|Grant County]], setting Morton County's boundaries to their present configuration.

After the Northern Pacific Railroad announced the location for the western approach to its Missouri River bridge, a new settlement appeared in December 1878. Initially the US Post Office designated the riverside settlement "Morton" after the corresponding county. The Morton post office later moved to the city center 3 miles west.<ref>{{cite book|last=Patera|first=Alan H.|title=North Dakota Post Offices 1850-1982|year=1982|publisher=The Depot, Burtonsville MD|page=56}}</ref> The county was reorganized in 1881 after the detached land was returned to Morton County by the 1881 legislature. The town, eventually renamed Mandan, was named the county seat.<ref>{{cite web|title=Certification of the 1916 division of Morton County North Dakota Creation of Grant Count |url=http://www.solbergfarms.com/MortonCoDivCertificate.htm |publisher=SolbergFarms |url-status=live |date=2006 |access-date=April 27, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080703161958/http://www.solbergfarms.com/MortonCoDivCertificate.htm |archive-date=July 3, 2008}}</ref>