SD - Bohemian Immigration

	This excerpt is from “History of Dakota Territory” by George W. 
Kingsbury, subtitled South Dakota Its History and People, edited 
by George Martin Smith, Vol. I, pp 530-531.

	Transcribed by Joy Fisher, http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00001.html#0000031

            Bohemian Immigration

	A large colony of Bohemians, numbering about five hundred 
families, from Chicago and vicinity, through their advance agents Frank 
Bem, Vac Janda, and others, selected a location in Bon Homme and Yankton 
counties, and in the vicinity of the old Town of Niobara, Nebraska, in 
July, 1869. These agents had visited other portions of Nebraska and 
Dakota, and finally settled upon this locality as offering the best 
lands for farming purposes, with the most promising prospect for 
development of the country. The tract of land selected in Dakota 
embraced a little over four townships, in Southwestern Yankton County 
and Southeastern Bon Homme County, about equally divided between these 
two counties. The settlement began in the neighborhood of Lakeport, ten 
miles west of Yankton. The colonists reached Yankton in September, 1869, 
and all, with few exceptions that settled in town, selected their claims 
during the fall months, and many of them made small improvements, going 
so far as to construct sod houses that would furnish them a winter 
dwelling and enable them to get to work early in the spring. The 
approaching winter proved unusually severe, and the spring of 1879 was 
tardy in its advent. Those of the colonists who lived in their hastily 
constructed sod houses suffered hardships, and many of them were sick 
and unable to do any sort of work. The citizens of the towns opened 
their purses and relieved the most needy. Doctor Burleigh, whose large 
farm near Bon Homme adjoined the Bohemians, displayed his generosity by 
going among them and administering to those who needed medical 
assistance; he also loaned them, without charge, a large number of cows, 
also horses and wagons and did a great deal for their comfort and for 
the relief of their pressing necessities. It was claimed that the colony 
numbered not less than twelve hundred men, women and children, a very 
large proportion settling on this Dakota tract. Vac Janda settled, with 
a number of others, at and around the old Town of Niobara, Nebraska. The 
following year the colonists set to work in earnest, broke up a large 
amount of land, built farm buildings and raised a quantity of sod crops. 
They were an industrious class of people, a large proportion of good 
farmers, and quite enterprising. It may be stated too that as a class 
they were well provided with money, and some of them were reputed to be 
quite wealthy. The colony in time prospered remarkably, and has 
continued prosperously. Their settlement is now one of the wealthiest, 
best improved and most productive portions of the territory that was. 
Many of the farms are adorned with fine orchards and substantial modern 
residences and up-to-date improvements, with all the accessories needful 
in profitable farming. Many of the original colonists have passed away, 
but their descendents as a rule maintain the old homesteads and are 
annually adding to the productions, the beauty and wealth of the 
settlement.

	The Bohemian settlement extended about twelve miles northwest, and 
the same west of Yankton into Bon Homme County. Their first buildings 
were rude, but their improvements were substantial, and two years after 
their colony was founded, they were raising large crops of grain and had 
begun the starting of herds of fine cattle. Being well experienced in 
fruit culture, they began experiments with apple and cherry orchards at 
an early day, and have been very successful in this direction. Their 
settlement now abounds with fine orchards and they have already been 
compelled to seek a market for their fruit outside the territory.