Tilden Russell Selmes, Jr., son of Tilden Sr. and Sarah [Benton] Selmes, was born in Concord, Massachusetts on November 10, 1853 . The family moved to Hannibal, Missouri where his father became a wealthy merchant outfitting those pioneers who ventured out to the west unsettled territories. Tilden Selmes, Sr. would eventually serve as Hannibal's mayor.
Tilden graduated from Yale University in 1875 with a law degree. He chose to start his career in St. Paul, Minnesota, the home of the Northern Pacific Railroad. He joined with Walker Blaine for a time to start a law firm, Selmes and Blaine. Walker was the son of James G. Blaine who was a national figure in the Republican Party and eventual presidential candidate. Tilden and Walker had met while both were attending Yale.
Tilden Selmes was among this group of well-educated businessmen who went west in search of riches and excitement, although he knew very little about managing a ranch. Exaggerated advertisements in newspapers and books like The Beef Bonanza; or How to Get Rich on the Plains, by James S. Brisbin, encouraged easterners and even foreigners to invest in cattle and sheep ranching on the Dakota Plains.
The most notable among these was Theodore Roosevelt and the Frenchman the Marquis de Mores, both who purchased ranches in the early 1880s. The Vanderbilt and Rockefeller families made similar investments.
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In 1878, Tilden purchased land 15 miles west southwest of what would eventually become the city of Mandan. The land straddled the Big Heart River and was less than 5 miles south of the eventual route of the Northern Pacific Railroad's west extension of its rail line. He used his earnings at the law firm to stock the ranch and prepared it to raise sheep.
He named the ranch "Chanta Wapka" the Sioux Indian name for "Big Heart" which was also used to denote the Big Heart River.
In January 1879, area residents where shocked when a labor crew lead by NP Railroad engineer Thomas Rosser its appearance in Bismarck to began construction of a rail spur down to the east river bank. No public announcement had been made of either a plan to resume rail line west or the location of the river bridge.
Chanta Wapka was located next to the ranch of John Hager. The Hagar family was also from St. Paul.
Fredrick and Robert Hager had moved to Bismarck during the Northern Pacific rail bridge construction. In March 1881, Fredrick Hager watched from the east river bluffs through a pair of binoculars and witnessed the devastation to east Mandan from flood waters. He understood the implications and seized the opportunity to rush to St. Paul and buy the available properties in west Mandan from the railroad.
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Excerpt from 1884 Mandan Pioneer Immigrant Edition No.21
When the Hager brothers sought investors, Tilden Selmes and law partner Marion Vinton likely benefited from either a prior St. Paul relationship or Hager family connection. Both men invested in the new high-class Inter-Ocean Hotel, to be run by Tilden's ranch neighbor John Hager. Marion also spearheaded the brick construction of the "Vinton Building" one block west of the hotel.
Selmes also diversified his investments. In 1881, he helped establish Mandan's first bank, the First National Bank of Mandan. Initially a Director, we would serve as its president during its third year of operation in 1883. Other stockholders in the bank included Mandan's first-elected mayor James Bellows and prominent businessmen Hiram Lyon and Charles Edgar Haupt. (Haupt and his brother Herman would later become partners with the Marquis de Mores in his stock ranch and meat packing venture near Medora.)
While building his first law practice in St. Paul, he had met and courted the eldest daughter of Charles Flandrau. Flandrau was a prominent attorney and eventual Minnesota Supreme Court justice. His daughter, Martha "Patty" Flandrau, was a belle in St. Paul high society. Unfortunately, she displayed a complete disregard for financial restraint. Both her father and her mother's sister Julia Dinsmore expressed concern to her over her lack of financial awareness.
Her father was, however, successful in convincing her to postpone marriage until she was at least 21. One week after her birthday in August 1882, Patty and Tilden announced their engagement.
Following their wedding on June 7, 1883, Tilden and Patty moved to Dakota Territory. Patty stayed on the ranch with several servants, trying to raise sheep and reportedly horses. The local paper reported Tilden and law partner Marion Vinton joined with Hiram Lyon (who also ranched sheep) in 1883 to send an agent east to Michigan, Illinois and Missouri to purchase premium Merino rams for their respective herds.
But Tilden remained mostly in town to practice law and supplement his income while his many investments and ranching operations became established.
When Patty became pregnant in 1885, she left her husband behind and returned to her family's Kentucky homestead in December 1885 for the birth of their child. Their daughter Isabella was born on March 22, 1886. That summer, Patty and daughter returned to their Dakota Territory ranch to reunite the family.
As reported by the Dinsmore Family website,
"The winter of 1886-1887 was one of the worst in many years. The blizzard of early 1887 ruined the career of many ranchers, Tilden among them. Already in debt, he now made the decision to give up on trying to become a successful rancher, and returned with his family to St. Paul.
Patty was certainly happier in St. Paul, although her happiness quickly translated into spending more money. Once again, her “want of economy” became the main topic of conversation for the extended family. Patty wanted (Aunt) Julia to talk to her father about helping Tilden out in a business way by sending clients his way. She also thought her father should buy a house for her family, since they were having financial troubles. Julia, who had already given the couple money, wrote Patty, “I feel sure your papa will never really help you until he sees that you have come to understand Til’s financial condition and [are] determined to help him yourself.” After much persuasion, Charles did purchase a house for his daughter and son-in-law, though they only lived there for four years.
In April 1887, the Selmes family returned to St.Paul where Tilden took a position as assistant counsel in the legal department of the Northern Pacific Railroad.
Tilden and Patty had happier times. They took long trips to the Bad Lands, the Black Hills, and Yellowstone with friends such as Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt fled to Dakota Territory in 1882 after both his wife and his mother died on the same day. TR would pass through Mandan as he traveled the 150 miles west back and forth by train or horse to his two ranches near Medora. Tilden had met Roosevelt while both waited for a west-bound train in St. Paul. Tilden and Patty entertained TR multiple times at their Chanta Wapka ranch home. Roosevelt mentioned frequently in his letters to both Patty Selmes and other Roosevelt family members his appreciation for the superior accommodations at the ranch compared to local hotels.
Mrs. Selmes and Theodore became very good friends; and remained in touch even after the Selmes left Dakota. In addition, both Patty and later their daughter Isabella developed close relationships with TR's sisters. The family connection helped to launch Isabella's national political career.
Tilden maintained his law license in Dakota Territory through at least 1889. Tilden Selmes and famous Pennsylvania attorney John Christian Bullitt (business aquaintance of NP Railroad investor Jay Gould) sued Stark County on behalf of a client to recover taxes paid under protest. They won on appeal to the Dakota Territorial Supreme Court.
In the early 1890s, Tilden's health began to fail. In 1895 he sought treatment at both Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati and John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. Theodore Roosevelt was among his many visitors. With a diagonsis of liver cancer, Tilden chose to return to the Dinsmore farmstead in Kentucky where he spent the last few months of his life.
Dinsmore Homestead Farm, Kentucky
Tilden died on August 1, 1895 at the Dinsmore farm in Kentucky. He is buried beside his wife in the Dinsmore family graveyard.
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