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National Bank Notes > North Dakota

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Devils Lake, Ramsey County NB, W5886
Fr. 633 $10 1902PB
Grade: PMG Ch. VF 35    

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Here is a nice example of the town's third national bank, chartered as Merchants National Bank, which remains unknown. This bank was chartered in 1901 and this example is one of just seven surviving notes reported from the 6,855 sheets printed. The overall quality is nice but there is an errant blue ink mark on the face. The stamped signatures of Blanding Fisher, President and Felix Howard Routier, Cashier are clear but light. Blanding Fisher was born on 16 September 1882. He was the son of Charles Mason Fisher and Jessica Mina Blanding. He appeared on the census of 1 June 1900 at Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., ND and remained there through April 1930. He was chairman of the North Dakota Bankers Association from 1924-1925. Devils Lake is the county seat of Ramsey County; the population was 7,141 at the 2010 census. It is named after the nearby body of water, Devils Lake, the second-largest body of water in North Dakota after the artificially created Lake Sakakawea. The present site of Devils Lake was historically territory of the Sioux or Dakota. The Sioux were relocated to the Spirit Lake Reservation. The name "Devils Lake" is a mis-translation of the Sioux name Miniwaukan chante, which separately translate as mni (water), wak an (spirit), and chante (bad). Early European-American settlers thought this meant "Bad Spirit Lake", or "Devils Lake." In fact, the "bad" referred to the high salinity of the lake, making it unfit to drink, and "spirit" meant the mirages often seen across the water. Devils Lake is an endorheic, or closed, lake (no outlet river or streams) and as such, the lake tends to be much higher in salinity than are lakes with outlets to river systems, similar to the Great Salt Lake in Utah. This city was founded in 1882 as Creelsburgh, named for Lieutenant Heber M. Creel, a West Point graduate and topographical engineer stationed at nearby Fort Totten. Its name was later changed to Creel City and expanded by the Great Northern Railway. When the village was incorporated in 1884, the name was changed to City of Devils Lake and then shortened to Devils Lake. It has been from its beginning the major city between Grand Forks and Minot, reaching a peak population of 7,441 in 1980. Among the native sons of Devils Lake is William Lewis Guy, Governor of North Dakota from 1961-1973.

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