North Dakota Emigration and Immigration

Online Resources

 * 1500s-1900s All U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s at Ancestry; index only ($); Also at MyHeritage; index only ($); includes those with Destination of North Dakota
 * 1800-1953 - at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1894-1954 - at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1895-1956 United States, Border Crossings from Canada, 1895-1956 at MyHeritage; index & images ($); includes those with Destination of North Dakota
 * 1903-1944 North Dakota and Washington, Chinese Passenger Arrivals, 1903-1944 at Ancestry; index & images ($)
 * 1910-1952 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1920-1939 Germany, Bremen Emigration Lists, 1920-1939 at MyHeritage; index only ($); includes those with Destination of North Dakota
 * Germans Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritage; index only ($); includes those with Destination of North Dakota
 * Italians Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritage; index only ($); includes those with Destination of North Dakota
 * Russians Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritage; index only ($); includes those with Destination of North Dakota

Immigrants
Pre-statehood settlers of North Dakota generally came from Norway, Canada, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York, and Iowa. Important but smaller groups came from Germany, England, Ireland, Sweden, Russia, and the older midwestern states of Michigan, Illinois, and Ohio. Many of the Canadian immigrants were of Scottish descent, and most of those from Russia were of German origin. When North Dakota became a state in 1889, about 70 percent of the total population were either foreign-born or the children of foreign-born parents. Immigrants from overseas also made up a large part of the second Dakota boom, which lasted from about 1898 to 1915. At the end of this period, Norwegian immigrants comprised about 20 percent of the state population, and ethnic Germans, including Germans from Russia, another 20 percent. There were substantial numbers of Canadians of English and Celtic origin, Swedes, Danes, Czechs, and many smaller European groups. There also was an important influx of settlers from the other midwestern states during the early twentieth century.