Golden Valley County, North Dakota: History
In the general election held November 8, 1910, the voters of Billings County chose to separate the western portion of Billings and form a new county. This result was immediately challenged in court; on September 19, 1912, the ND Supreme Court upheld the election result; therefore the legislature completed the county's organization on November 13, 1912.
Golden Valley was called 'Rattlesnake Flats' by early settlers, due to the large number of the snakes found in the area. The region was dubbed Golden Valley in 1902 after a group of land surveyors noticed that the sunlight gave the surrounding grasses a distinct golden color.
The vote in 1910 to create Golden Valley County was 837 for and 756 against. Shortly after the vote was certified, suit was filed against the Billings County Commission to overturn the result. The plaintiffs alleged that the certification of election was improper, and that certain pre-marked "unofficial" ballots printed by supporters of the new county were cast in place of official ballots, and should be voided. The trial court originally ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. The county appealed to the North Dakota Supreme Court, which upheld the county's certification of the election. The court also ruled the pre-marked ballots were invalid, but that the number of invalid votes was not sufficient to overturn the election results. The court's decision upholding the new county was made on September 19, 1912, and Golden Valley was formally organized on November 13, 1912.