BISMARCK, North Dakota — North Dakota and South Dakota are celebrating their 125th birthdays on Sunday, and there's still a question over which one actually joined the Union first.
It's one of many lingering issues between the twin states, which have been locked in a geographic sibling rivalry since the Territorial Days.
North Dakota and South Dakota were both granted statehood on Nov. 2, 1889, by President Benjamin Harrison. Newspaper accounts from the time and historians say that, faced with the dilemma of which Dakota statehood paper he'd sign first, Harrison had them shuffled and all but the signature lines in the documents covered.
"It's my understanding that not even he knew which one he signed first," said Mark Halvorson, a historian with the North Dakota State Historical Society.
Some scholars believe the alphabet may have decided the issue, with "n'' preceding "s." North Dakota was admitted as the 39th state and South Dakota as the 40th.
While North Dakota relishes in beating its southern neighbor, South Dakota State Historical Society Director Jay Vogt joked that "they really shouldn't be 39th because we're far more important."
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