William D. Driskill Biography


	This biography appears on pages 866-867 in "History of Dakota 
	Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. V (1915) and was 
	scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				WILLIAM D. DRISKILL. 

	William D. Driskill, of Spearfish, who throughout practically all 
of his active life has been engaged in the cattle business, is a native 
of southwestern Missouri, his birth having occurred near Keithsville, 
December 25, 1855. His parents were John J. and Minerva (Peevey) 
Driskill, the former born in the vicinity of Sparta, Tennessee, in 
1831, and the latter in Keithsville, Missouri, in 1830. John J. 
Driskill was throughout his life a farmer and stockman and emigrated 
with his family from Missouri to San Marcos, Texas, and still later to 
Brown county, that state, where he passed away November 3, 1896. 

	William D. Driskill is the fifth in the order of birth in a 
family of nine children and as a boy attended school in Hays county, 
Texas. At the age of twenty years he became a cowboy upon the trail 
leading from Texas to Kansas and was so employed for six or seven 
years. He engaged in the cattle business in southwestern Kansas' upon 
the free range, from 1876 to 1882 and in the spring of 1883 came to 
South Dakota. He drove a herd of cattle from Kansas to this state and 
established himself as a rancher in the vicinity of Spearfish. He 
continued to raise cattle there until 1913 and he is now contemplating 
going back to Texas, where he expects to again engage in ranching. 
During his life he has handled hundreds of thousands of cattle and 
understands all phases of the business, having been connected therewith 
since his twenty-first year.

	Mr. Driskill was married on the 20th of December, 1880, to Miss 
Winona Creigh, who was born in Guadalupe county, Texas, a daughter of 
Charles L. and Ellen (Moore) Creigh, both natives of Virginia. The 
father, who was a surveyor in early life emigrated from Virginia to 
Texas, where he engaged in farming, owning and operating a large 
plantation in the southwestern part of the state. He died there in 1862 
and his widow passed away there in 1869. They were the parents of four 
children, of whom Mrs. Driskill is the third in order of birth. She has 
become the mother of two children. Tillman E., who was born March 8, 
1882, married Miss Ella King, of Omaha, Nebraska, and is engaged in the 
livestock commission business in that city. He has two children, Dallas 
and Leigh. Edith L., who was born February 5, 1892, became the wife of 
Harry Schloredt, who is engaged in the mercantile business in Sundance, 
Wyoming. 

	Mr. Driskill is a staunch supporter of the democratic party but 
has never desired to hold office. Fraternally he has belonged to the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows for more than thirty years, as he 
became a member in Spearfish in 1884. He has resided in Spearfish for 
many years and that his life record is an honorable one is attested by 
the fact that those among whom he has lived for so long a time hold him 
in high esteem.