When Independent Party candidate for governor of North Dakota, Eli Shortridge, was running for the office, one of his campaign promises was to build a state-owned elevator at the “head of the lakes”, the shipping ports of Duluth or Superior! Shortridge was elected governor, serving from 1893 to 1895, but the out-of-state elevator was never built, mainly because of a provision that required state sovereignty over the site. It’s understandable that Minnesota and Wisconsin were reluctant to cede sovereignty over an elevator site in their state to North Dakota! While in office, Shortridge did approve the purchase of a governor’s mansion and was the first governor to live there. He retired after one term and died twelve years later on this date, February 4th, 1908.

Sources:
“History of North Dakota”-Elwyn Robinson
www.wikpedia.org

By Merrill Piepkorn

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