2243 UNITED STATES (North Dakota) - North Dakota map

Located in the Upper Midwestern region of the U.S., and bordered by the  Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Montana, North Dakota is the 19th most extensive but the 4th least populous and the 4th least densely populated of the 50 United States. Conclusive in this respect is the fact that the state largest city is Fargo, with about 115,863 inhabitants. The state capital is Bismarck , founded in 1872 and capital city since the State was created from Dakota Territory.

The western half of the state consists of the hilly Great Plains, and the northern part of the Badlands to the west of the Missouri River wher is located the state's high point, White Butte (1,069m). The region is abundant in fossil fuels including natural gas, crude oil and lignite coal. The Missouri River forms Lake Sakakawea, the third largest man-made lake in the U.S. The central region of the state is divided into the  Drift Prairie and the Missouri Plateau, and the eastern part consists of the flat Red River Valley.

Prior to European contact, Native Americans inhabited North Dakota for thousands of years (the Mandan people, the Dakota people and the Yanktonai , the latter two tribes of the Lakota peoples). The first European who reached the area was the French-Canadian trader La Vérendrye, in 1738. In 1762 the region became part of Spanish Louisiana until 1802. It was settled sparsely by European Americans until the late 19th century, when railroads were constructed. 

Organized in 1861, the Territory of Dakota was split and admitted to the Union as the states of North and South Dakota in 1889. After WWI the unrest among wheat farmers led to a radical political movement centered in the Non Partisan League (NPL), which tried to insulate North Dakota from the power of out-of-state banks and corporations. Anti-corporate laws, still in force today, were passed that virtually prohibited a corporation or bank from owning title to land zoned as farmland. 

In the late 1970s there was a boom in oil exploration in western North Dakota, as rising petroleum prices made development profitable. In recent years the state has had a strong economy, with unemployment lower than the national average. On the other hand, it is one of the top resettlement locations for refugees. However, 90% of the population is formed from white Americans, from which 47.2% have German ascendents, and 30.8% Norwegian descendents. North Dakota has the most churches per capita of any state.

About the stamps

The first stamp, depicting Black widow spider,, are part of the series Insects and Spiders, about which I wrote here.  

The other two stamps are part of the series Hudson River School, designed by Derry Noyes and issued on August 21, 2014. This 12th issuance in the American Treasures series features details of paintings by four renowned Hudson River School artists:
• Distant View of Niagara Falls (1830) by Thomas Cole
• Summer Afternoon (1865) by Asher B. Durand - It's on the postcard 2243
• Sunset (1856) by Frederic Edwin Church
• Grand Canyon (1912) by Thomas Moran - It's on the postcard 2243

References
North Dakota - Wikipedia

Sender: Denise
Sent from Greenvale (New York / United States), on 23.02.2015