1/24/2010:
Towner County, North Dakota, was organized on this date in 1884, with Cando as its county seat. The county was named for Oscar M. Towner of Larimore, North Dakota. Towner gained notoriety as president of the Elk Valley Farming Company and for founding the enormous Elk Valley bonanza farm just south of Larimore during Dakota Territory's early years. He was also a member of the Territorial Legislature in 1883, a Civil War veteran, and an ambitious promoter of Dakota real-estate. His business ventures led author Virginia George to pen a short biographical account of his life in 1961. At its height, the Elk Valley bonanza farm encompassed eight to nine thousand acres of land. The city of Towner, located in McHenry County, is also named for this prominent businessman.
Dakota Datebook written by Jayme L. Job
Sources:
http://www.nd.gov/content.htm?parentCatID=83&id=County%20History
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Oscar-M-Towner-Entrepreneur-promoter/dp/B0007FN7LM
http://www.northdakotacountymaps.com/towner.shtml
http://files.usgwarchives.org/sd/andreas/grand-f.txt
http://www.archive.org/stream/fortyyearsinnort00arno/fortyyearsinnort00arno_djvu.txt
http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/transactions/3/bonanzafarming.shtml