alternatehistory.com

The Dakota territory accounted for much of the northern reaches of the Louisiana Purchase. Organized as a territory in 1861, it ceded western parts to what are now Montana and Wyoming, leaving the area now occupied by North and South Dakota in the 1880s as a single territory. It was divided yielding two states, both admitted in the same bill that admitted Montana and Washington in 1889.

Suppose it hadn't been divided, and there were a single state known as Dakota? Assuming all else goes approximately as it had:
  • It would have 149, 084 square miles, making it the fourth largest in area behind only Alaska, Texas, and California.
  • It would be home to ~1.61 million people, ranking it 41st, just behind Idaho and just ahead of Hawaii.
  • Probably Sioux Falls would be the largest city.
  • There would have been a flag that may have looked like this from 1912 until 1959:
upload_2017-8-7_20-35-14.png
That's right: 47 stars. What else might have changed?
Top