Denis Carrigan Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1721-1722 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. II (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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	DENIS CARRIGAN, president of the First National Bank, Custer City, 
is a native of Canada, born in the city of Montreal, on the 31st of 
October, 1845. Mr. Carrigan spent his childhood and youth in his native 
place, receiving a good education in the schools of Montreal, and 
remaining there until twenty years of age, when he left home to achieve 
his fortune and carve out his own destiny. In 1866 he went to Omaha, 
Nebraska, and entered the employ of the Union Pacific Railway Company, 
remaining with the same until the line was constructed as far west as 
Sidney, Nebraska, which point was fixed upon as a terminal of a division 
of the road. Believing that in due time a thrifty town would spring up 
at this place, and seeing as he thought exceptional opportunities for 
business advancement, he severed his connection with the company and 
erected a store building on the present site of Sidney, which aside from 
the railroad was the first improvement in the town. Buying a stock of 
general merchandise, he was soon in the enjoyment of a profitable 
business, which continued to grow in magnitude as the population of the 
town increased, and in the course of a few years he found himself on the 
high road to prosperity. 

	In the spring of 1876, when the Black Hills were opened for 
settlement and Custer City sprang into existence, Mr. Carrigan started a 
branch store at the latter place, under the management of S. M. Booth, 
the venture proving remarkably successful. After running the latter 
store until 1879 he exchanged it for valuable real estate in Custer 
City, he meanwhile continuing his business at Sidney, which by the time 
indicated had grown largely in volume and earned him a fortune of no 
small proportions. In addition to the local trade it supplied various 
points in the Black Hills with merchandise, thus doing an extensive 
wholesale as well as a large retail business and proving profitable far 
beyond the original expectations of the proprietor. In connection with 
his mercantile interests, Mr. Carrigan also devoted considerable 
attention to live stock, having come into possession of a fine ranch 
about thirty-two miles west of Sidney, where he kept large herds of 
cattle, from the sale of which he realized liberal returns. 

	In the fall of 1880 Mr. Carrigan disposed of his mercantile and 
real-estate interests in Sidney and the following spring moved to Custer 
City, where in November of the same year he established a private bank, 
of which he was sole proprietor and business manager, this being the 
first financial institution not only in Custer City, but in the southern 
part of the Black Hills country. Mr. Carrigan managed the institution 
under the name of the Bank of Custer until 1890, in October of which 
year it was reorganized as the First National Bank of Custer City, he 
being elected president, which relation he still sustains. In addition 
to his position as executive head of the bank, Mr. Carrigan is also the 
principal stockholder and the institution under his able management has 
been successful from the beginning, the business at this time being 
large and far-reaching and second to that of few banks in the state. 

	Mr. Carrigan is a safe and conservative financier, familiar with 
every branch of the business in which he is engaged, and is well 
informed upon monetary questions in their relations to the varied 
interests of the country. In addition to banking he has done 
considerable in the line of real estate, owning at this time a large 
amount of city property, besides his ranch, in which he still has 
valuable live-stock interests. A staunch supporter of the Democratic 
party and an untiring worker for its success, he has steadily and 
persistently avoided partisan politics and refused to accept office, 
although he at one time consented to serve as county commissioner, and 
also acted for a number of years as school treasurer. 

	Mr. Carrigan is a thirty-second-degree Scottish-rite Mason, also a 
Knight Templar, and. for a number of years has been a zealous member of 
this ancient and honorable fraternity. Mr. Carrigan owns a beautiful 
home in Custer City, the presiding genius therein being a lady of 
beautiful character and varied culture, to whom he was united in the 
bonds of holy wedlock on May 24,1871, the ceremony having been 
solemnized in the city of Cheyenne, Wyoming. Mrs. Carrigan, who before 
her marriage bore the maiden name of Louisa McWhinnie, is a native of 
Illinois, but has spent the greater part of her life in the west.