BISMARCK  , the

capital of North Dakota, U.S.A., and the county-seat of Burleigh county, on the E. bank of the Missouri river, in the S. central part of the state . Pop . (1890) 2186; (1900) 3319, of whom 746 were foreign-born; (1905) 4913; (1910) 5443 . It is on the main line of the Northern Pacific, and do the Minneapolis, St Paul & Sault Ste Marie railways; and steamboats run from here to lblannhaven, Mercer county, and Fort Yates, Morton county . The city is about 165o ft. above sea-level . It contains the state capitol, the state penitentiary, a U.S. land office, a U.S. surveyor-general's office, a U.S . Indian school and a U.S. weather station; about a mile S. of the city is Fort Lincoln, a United States army post . Bismarck is the headquarters for navigation of the upper Missouri river, is situated in a good agricultural region, and has a large wholesale trade, shipping grain, hides, furs, wool and coal . It was founded in 1873, and was chartered as a city in 1876; from 1883 to 1889 it was the capital of Dakota Territory, on the division of which it became the capital of North Dakota .