By Nancy Boerman

In 1903 the first group of homesteaders arrived in what is now Ambrose Township from Barnes County, North Dakota.  Among the earliest were Martin and Clara Severson, Andrew Leland, Paul Kruger, William Sletten, Jessie Grasvick and Letta Gunderson.  They made plans to file claims to land, and the next year the Seversons established permanent residence on their claim, erecting the first shack in Ambrose Township.

By 1906 several places of business had been established in a small settlement in the township known as Soo Valley, two or three miles west of modern Ambrose.  Its residents were aware of the soon-to-be new city and were merely awaiting the announcement of where in the township it was to be located.

The Soo Line Railroad reached Ambrose that summer.  Ambrose Olson was a townsite agent for the branch line and helped to decide on the location of the present city, and it was after him that the town was named.  The land for the townsite was purchased from Bernard Johnson.

With the arrival of the railroad and the location of Ambrose, settlers flocked in by the thousands, and by 1909 not a vacant piece of land could be found within 25 miles of the little village.

Other towns on this branch line of the Soo were started and named Columbus, Kermit, and Imperial.  From a railroad and marketing standpoint, Ambrose was by far the most important town at this time.  It was at the end of the Soo branch line for about six years, so it really mushroomed during that period, when it was the main supply center for thousands of homesteaders in western Divide County and along the edge of Montana.

Building operations began in the winter of 1906, and Ambrose literally exploded in the next couple of years.  The people who came to settle in this area were mostly of the old world stock, including Germans, Swedes, and Norwegians, with the Norwegians by far outnumbering the others.

Early pioneer family names included Hennings, Olson, Severson, Semingson, Haiberg, Bummer, Thompson, Doebriner, Haroldson, Robdahl, Halverson, Thorson, Christianson, and many other “-sons.”

One of the older pioneers who contributed much to the area was M. T. Braatelien, who had come to the territory of Dakota in 1887 and had taken an active part in its division into North and South Dakota and in the election of the first governor of North Dakota.  A carpenter and contractor, he came to Ambrose on the first train hauling freight other than railroad material in 1906 and constructed many of the city's permanent buildings.

Ambrose's location at the end of the railroad, where it served a large territory to the west for grain marketing, also helped to determine its choice in 1907 as the location for another U. S. Customs Office.

The town was incorporated as a village in 1908, and the first village officers were H.  Miller, President; Joe Winters, Clerk; Otto Turbett, Treasurer; A. T. Austenson, Justice of the Peace; H. S. I. Vig, Marshall; and Andrew Almos, Assessor.

The first couple to be married in Ambrose Township is believed to be William Finn and Fannie Hall, early in 1906.  Fannie was one of 30 young ladies who had come to the township at about the same time to homestead, later joining hands and lands with many homestead bachelors in marriage.

Dr. C. I. Rollefson established an office in Ambrose in the fall of 1906, using a 1arge tent as his first office.  As the town grew by leaps and bounds in the next three years, two more doctors came, and by 1908 there were three physicians in the city – White, Pierson and Rollefson.

Ambrose was the biggest city in the county until the summer of 1913 when the Soo Line extended its right of way to Whitetail, Montana and the boom days of Ambrose became a thing of the past.  The disastrous thirties further desecrated the population and a series of bad fires also took a heavy toll. 

One of the most generous tributes ever given a city was paid by the Fargo Forum to Ambrose, Queen City of Divide County, back on November 4, 1911.

The Forum pointed out that Ambrose, population 600, was the largest city in Divide County, and was best known for its public spirited businessmen, and its live wire commercial club of which Charles T. Grace was president at the time and Charles J. Bowler was secretary.

The Forum further stated, “There are many opportunities in the Ambrose country for good farmers, and for those who are seeking good land for a home or an investment, and with good farming there are sure returns, as there is an abundant rainfall there at the time when it is most needed.  Any information will be cheerfully given by the officers of the commercial club.”

The article continued, “Ambrose is known as the greatest little city in the state.  It is the terminus of the Flaxton branch of the Soo railway, fifty-eight miles in length.  It is surrounded by a rich agricultural territory, the resources of which have tended to make the city a thriving market for both American and Canadian grain.  The village of Ambrose was founded in the fall of 1906 and was incorporated as such in the spring of 1907 and incorporated as a city in the spring of 1911, a title which it has well earned.”

A tribute was paid to its school, and the paper mentioned that plans for construction of their $16,000 high school will give Ambrose school facilities unsurpassed by many cities twice its size.

At the time Ambrose had four grain elevators, six general stores, three large hardware stores, two drug stores, two hotels, four restaurants, three large lumber yards, one flour and feed store, three livery and sale stables, two weekly newspapers, and numerous other industries, professional and otherwise.

The city also had a twenty-two piece band of good caliber and three banking institutions.  The story in the Forum concluded with, “The spirit of thrift is evident on all sides, and in the course of time it is destined to become a most important center.”

Now nearly 68 years later, Ambrose, “the Queen City”, has shown the faith of the Fargo Forum story of 1911.  She has battled the elements and hard breaks tooth and nail, and she still remains one of the most beautiful little towns in the world, with hundreds of beautiful trees and other rich foliage rising from every sector of the city.

Ambrose, since that November in 1911, lost a bitter fight for the county seat.  She has been gripped by many terrible, destructive fires, and she has been left with no industry to make her thrive.

So Ambrose never began to mark the prosperity the Forum then predicted.  That's a pity because this heavily wooded city is one of the greenest little spots in western North Dakota.

Exact source of this article to be determined.