The third governor of North Dakota was neither a Republican nor a Democrat, but an independent.

Eli Shortridge was the candidate put forward by the Farmers Alliance in 1892. The Alliance joined with the Prohibition Party in North Dakota and this "fusion," was supported nationally by the Populist Party.

Up to that time, politics in the new state was run by a powerful machine managed by Alexander McKenzie. Because of the exploitation of the farmers by the railroads and banking interests, a political revolt occurred in 1892, and Shortridge, a Larimore farmer, was elected to the highest office in the state.

Eli C.D. Shortridge was born March 29, 1830, in Cabal County, Va., (now West Virginia), to Levi and Elizabeth Ann Love Shortridge. The family later moved to Monroe County, Mo.

At the age of 21, Shortridge left home and worked for five years as a clerk in a general store. He then became clerk of district court while he studied law.

Saving enough money, he married young Sallie McKinney, and, in 1857, his 16-year old wife died in childbirth. Their young daughter, Lila, died a short time later. In 1860, Eli married Dorcas Virginia Brady and purchased a farm near Macon in north-central Missouri.

Shortridge and many other Missouri farmers faced a growing problem in the early 1870s when an increasing number of railroads were built to open up the smaller farming communities to the larger markets out east.

At first, the farmers were heavily taxed to subsidize railroad construction, and later they were charged high fees to have their grain hauled to markets. To give the farmers some leverage, a national farmers' movement called the Grange was established, and Shortridge was described as "the prime mover in that effective organization."

Through the urging of a close friend from Missouri, Oscar M. Towner, who now owned a thriving bonanza farm near Larimore, Shortridge was convinced to pay a visit to the Red River Valley in 1881. Believing he could make a better living in Dakota Territory, Shortridge sold his holdings in Missouri and, in 1882, purchased land eight miles north of Larimore near a wooded area called "Bachelor's Grove."

While farming in Grand Forks County, Shortridge soon realized that many of the problems he experienced in Missouri also existed here; farmers were being financially squeezed by the railroads and large elevators.

In the 1880s, the Dakota Farmers Alliance was formed. According to its constitution, its purpose was to unite the farmers "for their protection against the encroachments of concentrated capital and the tyranny of monopoly." To achieve this, it was believed that they needed to elect farmers to office.

When North Dakota became a state in 1889, the North Dakota Alliance was formed and Shortridge was elected as vice president. Initially, the alliance was successful in purchasing cooperatively at lower prices and getting reduced rates on hail insurance, but was unable to meet the farmers' most important need - a free market.

At the end of June 1891, Shortridge was elected president of the alliance. A year earlier, this organization had joined with the prohibitionists to form the Independent Party of North Dakota.

In 1892, Shortridge was convinced to run for governor as an Independent and was also endorsed at the state Democratic convention.

Shortridge mounted a vigorous campaign, going from town to town charging that "the state government was maintained by and for the corporations." His primary vow was the establishment of a state-owned elevator at either Duluth or Superior.

The incumbent, Republican Andrew Burke, was Shortridge's opponent in the general election.

Shortridge defeated Burke and began his administration Jan. 3, 1893. He addressed the Legislature, telling them that he wanted the railroads and elevators "to play fair with the public." Republicans controlled both houses of the Legislature, but since the majority of the members were farmers, they embraced sensible reforms.

There were some legislators who were loyal McKenzie operatives and found ways to derail important reform bills.

Besides approval and appropriations for a state-owned elevator on Lake Superior, the Legislature also passed large appropriations for a governor's mansion, a penitentiary, colleges and normal schools, and an addition to the Capitol.

Unfortunately, the Panic of 1893, which reduced wheat prices, began shortly after the legislative session ended. The excessive spending approved by the Legislature bankrupted the state treasury. Because of the state's financial crisis, and the fact that neither Minnesota nor Wisconsin would cede sovereignty for a state-owned elevator, Shortridge's promise to the voters was not kept.

Disappointed because he was unable to deliver the elevator to the citizens of North Dakota, Shortridge did not seek re-election in 1894. He was later appointed clerk of the U.S. Land Office in Devils Lake, where he died Feb. 4, 1908.

(Written by Curt Eriksmoen and edited by Jan Eriksmoen. Reach the Eriksmoens by e-mail at cjeriksmoen@;cableone.net.)