Cavalier is the largest city in Pembina County, North Dakota, United States. It is the county seat of Pembina County. The population was 1,246 at the 2020 census. Cavalier was founded in 1875 and became the county seat in 1911. Icelandic State Park is located 6 miles west of Cavalier, is also home to Lake Renwick.
Although there's the county to the west of Pembina named Cavalier County, Cavalier is not located in nearby Cavalier County. The Tongue River flows past Cavalier and Cavalier Space Force Station is located approximately 14 miles southwest of the city.
History
left|thumb|Cavalier Air Force Station
Cavalier was laid out in 1875 on open land. The city was named for Charles Cavileer, an early settler in Pembina County (a recording error accounts for the error in spelling, which was never corrected). A post office has been in operation at Cavalier since 1877. Cavalier was incorporated in 1902.
In the early 1970s, the city of Cavalier's population quadrupled in size due to the U.S.' anti-ballistic missile program. This was in preparation of a nuclear attack on the U.S. during the Cold War with the Soviet Union.
Geography
Climate
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.
Cavalier has a warm-summer humid continental climate (Koppen: Dwb). Summers are warm, sometimes hot, while winters are very cold, sometimes severely cold. Precipitation is mostly confined to late spring into early fall and peaks in June. Winter is very dry with little precipitation, almost always in the form of snow.