History
Cavalier County was created from the western part of Pembina County in 1873 and named by the Territorial Legislature for
Charles Cavileer, a well know fur trader, customs agent and postmaster. The Spelling has always been Cavalier.
After petitioning the Territorial Governor for permission to organize the county, Patrick McHugh,
W. Hudson Matthews and L.C. Noracong met for the purpose on July 8, 1884. On July 26 the new county
officials met for the second time and chose Noracong as Chairman of the Board with William H. Doyle and Matthews
as Commissioners. The first Register of Deeds and County Clerk was McHugh. W.J. Mooney became
the first Judge of Probate, Charles B. Nelson was the first Cavalier County Supt. of Schools and Clarence
Hawkes the first Sheriff.
The site of the new county seat was chosen at this meeting and named Langdon for Robert Bruce Langdon
of Minnesota, a federal railroad official who never visited the town.
Fifteen townships from Pembina County were added to Cavalier County by vote of their residents in May
of 1885. A census taken at that time revealed 5,029 residence living in nine large townships. The nine
townships names used in 1885 are still used. The current boundaries and township names were standardized
in 1906.
The first court house was built in the fall of 1884 at a cost of $360.00. It was used briefly and then
abandoned for warmer and more centrally located quarters in a downtown bank. A large brick court house
was built in 1895 on the present site at a contract cost of $9,099.00. This building served county
officials until the current court house was constructed in 1957-58.