Clark Co., SD - Description and History, 1884 This file is a complete transcription of the descriptive information about Clark County as found in A. T. Andreas' "Historical Atlas of Dakota", 1884. Clark County This county lies along the great Cateau, extending northwest and southeast between the James River and the bend waters of the Minnesota and Big Sioux rivers. It is a region of small lakes and marshes, interspersed among rolling prairie lands and broken ridges and hills. The only streams of and importance are those flowing from the western and central portions of the county into the James River in Spink and Beadle counties. This region is considerably eroded and broken. The greater portion of the lakes and marshes lies to the east of this and covers the county throughout all the eastern and northern portions. This county is among the largest ones of the Territory, including thirty-two full congressional townships and one fractional, but nearly full, in the northeast corner, adjoining the Sisseton and Wahpenton Indian Reservation. The total area is equal to 1,188 square miles, or 760,320 acres. A large proportion of the county is good tillable land, and most of the marshes will eventually be drained and become valuable. The soil has the general characteristics of that of southern Dakota. The Winona & St. Peter branch of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway passes through the county near the center, east and west. The Dakota & Great Southern Railway traverses it north and south, dividing it into nearly equal parts. The first settler is said to have been John Bailey, who located at Bailey Lake, now Julian, in 1878. The earliest land entries around Clark, the county seat, were made by M. V. P. Hutchinson, S. J. Conklin, Frank Hoskins and Mrs. M. E. Greenslet, all on the same day, in September, 1979. The Chicago & Northwestern Railway was extended westward from Watertown to Redfield in 1882. Previous to this time the settlement of the county had been very gradual; in fact, only a few scattered settlements were in existence ; but the complementation of this important line opened the country to immigration, and its progress has since been rapid and continuous. The county was organized on the 23rd of May, 1881, and the town of Clark made the county seat. The first officers were: Commissioners, M. V. B. Hutchinson, John Bailey, James Hosmer ; Sheriff, Melvin Walt ; Register of Deeds, J. A. William's ; Clerk of Courts, E. F. Conklin ; Treasurer, R. W. Day ; Judge of Probate, S. J. Conklin ; Superintendent of Schools, Walter Hern ; Assessor, David Hern ; Surveyor, S. Yoemans ; Justices, S. J. Updike, William M Tripp. The following are the present officers ; Register of Deeds, C. G. Sherwood ; Clerk of Courts, E. F. Conklin ; Judge of Probate, F. G. Bohn ; Sheriff, Z. T. Anderson ; Corener, W. H. Miller ; Treasurer, Fred Ware ; Superintendent of Schools, S. N. Brown ; Surveyor, S. E. Wightman ; Assessor, D. W. Hern. Clark--This town is situated within a mile of the geographical center of the county, on the Wiionna & St. Peter branch of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway at the point where the Dakota & Great Southern Railway line proposes to make its coming of the Chicago Northwestern Railway. The town was settled in the fall of 1882, yet it is now a busy and growing commercial center, with first class business buildings, churches, schools, newspapers, mercantile houses, shops and all the accompaniments of a full fledge city. Among its institutions and business establishments may be mentioned two churches, Congregational and Methodist Episcopal ; two banking houses ; three good hotels, the Clark House, the Robinson House and the Northwestern Hotel ; an open hall ; about twenty-five mercantile houses and two lumber firms. It also contains seven attorneys and real-estate dealers, several physicians and an elegant public school building recently completed. The town has a large number of good buildings, including the office of the Pilot, the Clark House, the two banking offices, the Commercial block, one of the best in the Territory ; the Robinson House, the Northwestern Hotel and others. For a town of only a few months existence it is a surprise even to Dakotains, and promises to become one of the best towns in this portion of the Territory. Newspapers---Clark County has two enterprising newspapers which deserve more than a passing notice. The Clark County Pilot, was established by E. F. Conklin, who came to the county when it was almost wholly unsettled, and begun publication of his paper on the site of the present town of Clark ten months before there was any movement made to build a town, in the early part of 1881, and though for a long time his remuneration amounted to a very insignificant sum, he persisted in his enterprise and had at length the satisfaction of seeing his efforts crowned with success. the office of the Pilot is fit for the sactum of a metropolitan daily ; business in and the paper is prosperous. The paper is a fine five-column quarto, handsome in general appearance, ably conducted and every way an institution for the people of the county to be proud of. On the 21st, of March 1883, the proprietor issued a splendidly illustrated edition, showing the improvements of the thriving city of Clark. The Clark County Review, published by Messers Johnson & Haskins, is also a fine appearing, well conducted, wide awake representative Dakota newspaper. It is also a five-column quarto, having a good advertising patronage and large subscription list. It was established in the early part of the year 1882. The paper is a credit to its publishers, and worthy the best support the people the county can give it. Raymond, situated in the township of the same name, eleven or twelve miles west by north of Clark, is a fine growing town, favorably situated on the Chicago & Northwestern Railway, contiguous to the county line, and in a fine position to command a heavy trade from both Clark and Spink counties. It is a region well watered by numerous branches of the James River, with no large competing towns nearer than Clark. Elrod, is a station on the Chicago & Northwestern Railway, seven miles east of Clark, with a good country around it. Other post offices are: Pitrodie, Willow Lake, Merton, Carlton, Reefton, Julian, Frisby, Gros, Lilly, and Egeland. Besides the railway mail service, Clark and most of the offices are several twice a week by coaches on routes from DeSmet, Huron, and Groton, the latter in Spink County. The county is subdivided into eighteen school townships.