North Dakota has been called a “farmer’s frontier,” with settlers bringing their families to claim land for farms and settle down. Husbands and wives worked side by side, and children were put to work at an early age. By their early teens, they were harnessing horses and walking behind the plow. Younger children were often responsible for chickens, feeding them and collecting eggs. They were also in charge of even younger siblings when both parents were working in the field. Everyone had a job.
Farms expanded in the early 1900s. By 1920, the average farm in North Dakota had grown to 466 acres. It was no longer possible for a family to do all the work on such a large farm. Farmers came to rely on transient help.
It was a haphazard system. Some workers returned to the same farm every year. Others went from farm to farm, looking for one that needed labor. This wasn’t very efficient. Some farms had too many hands, others, not enough. Governor Arthur Sorlie had a plan to fix that.
On this date in 1925, Sorlie announced that a labor agent would be sent from North Dakota Agricultural College to Minneapolis. From there, the agent could direct workers to the farms that needed them most. Sorlie advised county farm agents and farmers to send their requests to the farm agent in Fargo. Those requests would be forwarded to the Minneapolis agent. Sorlie predicted that 22,000 temporary workers would be needed for the upcoming harvest. The pay rate? Four to five dollars a day.
Transient workers traditionally “rode the rails,” coming up from the South where harvest was already done, and arriving in North Dakota by train. Railroads offered them discounted fares. But in 1925, that began to change.
Thousands of workers were now arriving by car. Fargo reported that 77 percent of workers passing through the city were traveling in “second-hand buggies of questionable vintage.” That made it easier to get where they were needed, and the harvest would soon be underway.
Dakota Datebook by Dr. Carole Butcher
Sources:
- Bismarck Tribune. “Great Army of Workers Coming Here.” Bismarck ND. 7/28/1925. Page 1.
- ND Studies. “Homestead Farms.” https://www.ndstudies.gov/gr8/content/unit-iii-waves-development-1861-1920/lesson-2-making-living/topic-3-farming/section-5-homestead-farms Accessed 7/8/2025.
