Dakota Datebook
February 1, 2023 — On this date in 1940, for the first time since 1899, the Post Office of Fayette in Dunn County had a new postmaster. Isabelle French was born in Augusta, Maine in 1858 and came to Dakota Territory in 1881 to marry Frank Little whom she had known back in Maine. In 1896, with financial help from a friend and partner from Minnesota, they moved to Dunn County where they established a ranch in the rolling hills, with the nearest neighbors over ten miles away.
It was a thrilling experience for a polished, dignified lady from the East to leave the costal, forested hills of her home and come to the windswept grasslands of western Dakota.
However, it was quickly discovered that their ranch was a convenient stopping place on the route to Dickinson for supplies for other local ranchers, so an inn and store was soon erected to accommodate the many travelers. When local cowboys complained that there was no mail in the area, Isabelle petitioned for a local post office and President McKinley appointed her the first postmaster. The name Fayette was chosen to honor Franks’ partner from St. Paul, Dr. Fayette D. Kendrick.
The creation of a post office was of major importance in the sparsely populated areas of the state for it offered a central location for nearby ranchers and farmers to congregate, get their mail, and for local government to operate. Twice a week a onehorse buggy brought in the mail from Dickinson.
Due to the sparse population of the area, Fayette never developed much beyond the buildings erected on the Little Ranch and Frank opened a land office in Dickinson where he spent much of his time while Isabelle ran the ranch, post office and store. Like most country stores, the Fayette Mercantile Company carried everything that could be needed for ranch life, freighting in the materials from the railroad in Dickinson.
On February 9, 1940, Isabelle would have reached the mandatory retirement age of 82 so she reluctantly turned over the job, in name only, to Miss Anna Fisher but remained active until her death on June 7, 1946. Over the forty-one years things had changed very little at Fayette. Anna, who had worked for the family since 1905, assumed her duties in the same sod building built in 1900.
“Dakota Datebook” is a radio series from Prairie Public in partnership with the State Historical Society of North Dakota and with funding from Humanities North Dakota. See all the Dakota Datebooks at prairiepublic.org, subscribe to the “Dakota Datebook” podcast, or buy the Dakota Datebook book at shopprairiepublic.org.