[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 90 (Thursday, June 30, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S7813]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               100TH ANNIVERSARY OF MERCER, NORTH DAKOTA

 Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I rise today to honor a community 
in North Dakota that is celebrating its 100th anniversary. On July 1-3, 
the residents of Mercer, ND, will celebrate their community's founding 
and history.
  Mercer is a small town of 86 citizens in west-central North Dakota, 
encircled by rolling prairie and enchanting lakes. Despite its small 
size, Mercer holds an important place in North Dakota's history, one 
that long predates the establishment of the town. The community was at 
the crossroads of major events that shaped the early Dakota experience. 
The cultures of three Native American tribes converged here at 
Prophet's Mountain, and their relics still dot the prairies. Early fur 
traders traipsed the Coteau du Missouri, skirting Medicine Hill while 
on expeditions between Canada and the Missouri River. Major wagon 
trains, seeking an overland route to Montana gold fields, rutted its 
terrain. Trails traversed the community, some reaching as far north as 
Canada. At the close of the nineteenth century, lush rangeland at the 
foot of Prophet's Mountain beckoned pioneer ranchers along the Missouri 
River bottomland. Among them was William Henry Harrison Mercer, who 
drove his cattle herds to this area. The largest influx of new citizens 
the community would ever witness--the homesteaders--then followed.
  At the behest of the Northern Pacific Railway Company, the town of 
Mercer was platted July 24, 1905. The first rail traffic arrived on 
November 7, and construction of a depot followed in 1907. Mercer 
Township was organized in 1908, and three supervisors, a clerk, 
treasurer, assessor, two justices, two constables, a road overseer and 
a commission of conciliation were all elected.
  Like many other plains country towns, Mercer has witnessed and 
withstood major upheavals in its struggle to survive. Other than its 
fine citizens, Mercer's proudest asset has been Brush Lake. As early as 
1926, community leaders with vision established the Mercer-Brush Lake 
Community Association, an organization dedicated to the protection and 
preservation of a serene, natural recreational resource for the public 
good. That association was reorganized in 1958 as the Brush Lake 
Community Association, with a membership spanning the entire region.
  I ask the Senate to join me in congratulating Mercer, ND, and its 
residents on their first 100 years and in wishing them well through the 
next century. By honoring Mercer and all the other historic small towns 
of North Dakota, we keep the pioneering frontier spirit alive for 
future generations. It is places such as Mercer that have helped to 
shape this country into what it is today, which is why this fine 
community is deserving of our recognition.
  Mercer has a proud past and a bright future.

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