Trails to the Past
Trails to the Past of North Dakota is excepting any donations of genealogy materials that you may have such as marriage announcements, news articles, old obituaries, births, (you do not need the birth certificate) just the information, and biographies. If you have any of these items please contact me Marie Miller the North Dakota State Administrator.
Golden Valley was originally part of Billings County. Voters elected to separate from Billings County in 1910, but litigation prevented formal organization of the county until 1912. The territory in the surrounding area was colloquially referred to as, Rattlesnake Flats, due to the large number of the snakes found in the area. The region was dubbed Golden Valley in 1902 after a group of land surveyors noticed that the sunlight gave the surrounding grasses a distinct golden color.
The vote in 1910 to create Golden Valley County was 837 for and 756 against. Shortly after the vote was certified, suit was filed against the Billings County Commission to overturn the result. The plaintiffs alleged that the certification of election was improper, and that certain pre-marked "unofficial" ballots printed by supporters of the new county were cast in place of official ballots, and should be voided. The trial court originally ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. The county appealed to the North Dakota Supreme Court, which uphled the county's certification of the election. The court also ruled the pre-marked ballots were invalid, but that the number of invalid votes was not sufficient to overturn the election results. The court's decision upholding the new county was made on September 19, 1912, and Golden Valley was formally organized on November 13, 1912.
The cities of Golden Valley are Beach, Golva, and Sentinel Butte. The Townships are those of Beach, Bullion, Delhi, Elk Creek, Elmwood, Golva, Henry, Lone Tree, Pearl, Saddle Butte, Sentinel, and Trotters.
Adjacent Counties
McKenzie County (north)
Billings County (east)
Slope County (south)
Fallon County, Montana (southwest)
Wibaux County, Montana (west)
