Faulk County, SD History .....Chapter V The First Settler 1909
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CHAPTER V.

THE FIRST SETTLER.



    At the present date it has been decided that Hiram Rose was the first white

man to locate in Faulk county. In the Autumn of 1881 he made a location and

erected a shanty upon the shore of Scatterwood Lake in township 120, range 66,

and remained there through the winter of 1881 and 1882. But if we are correctly

informed, it was more for the purpose of trapping and hunting than for a

permanent location. In April of 1882, D. S. Smith, Alexander LaFoon and T. H.

McMullin from Hillsboro, Missouri, arrived at Redfield in Spink county and

started out on a tour of observation, the object in view being a permanent

location. Although Mr. McMullin was the first to move his family into the new

settlement, the town was named after Mr. LaFoon. The long years, and influential

and commanding positions filled, placed D. S. Smith of Faulkton, in line to

claim the honor of being the first pioneer settler in the county. The LaFoon

settlement received important additions from Wisconsin, while a party from

Charles City selected the present county seat on the bank of the Nixon and put

forth desperate effort to secure for their settlement the honor of becoming the

leading town in the new and important county. Among the men of qualities who

were members of the LaFoon colony, were: J. H. Bottum, J. W. Johnston, F. A.

Seaman, Dr. J. P. Rathbun, I. Allen Cornwell, W. H. Race, Hon. F. M. Byrne,

Judge C. H. Derr and J. P. Turner, who have remained, and are active and

influential citizens of  Faulkton at the present day.



    The first settlers of Faulkton were mostly from Iowa, and came here in the

spring of 1882.



LOOKING BACKWARD.



    It is impossible for us to realize the changes that a few years bring into

our every day life, save as they enter in and become a part of it, and not even

then, unless some written record is made to recall them to mind. Only a quarter

of a century has passed since the full consciousness entered into the minds of

men that Faulk county, South Dakota, was really a goodly land, to be sought out

as a home for civilized men.



    Government surveyors who made preliminary surveys, gave no word of

encouragement to induce the homeseeker to even “come to see.” Only one small

body of water (Scatterwood Lake) was known to exist within all its borders. The

western line of the county was on the divide between the waters of the James and

Missouri rivers, and, lying at the foot of the coteaux, had the appearance of a

low region of country, while in reality it was nearly 1,000 feet higher than the

eastern line of the county.



    In the spring of 1882 the tide of emigration set strongly toward Dakota

Territory. A party of three, leaving the Chicago & Northwestern railroad at

Redfield, started out on a three days' trip in a westerly direction. The trip

was one of most remarkable surprises. A beautiful expanse of rolling prairie

covered with luxuriant grasses lay out before them. A creek of delicious spring

water—God's best gift to man—proclaimed it a "goodly land," much to be desired

by any intelligent homeseeker. Not only the rich, luxuriant grasses, but the

deep trodden paths, proved it to have been the feeding place of vast herds of

buffalo for many long years.



    The report that these first explorers, Alexander La-Foon, D. S. Smith and T.

H. McMullin gave, soon brought others. Before the winter of 1883-4 nearly all

the land in the eastern half of the county had been located. LaFoon, Faulkton

and DeVoe had become active enterprising centers, around which intelligent and

industrious homeseekers were located. In March, 1884, C. H. Ellis, Chas. V.

Ellis, Joseph McGregor and Rufus Richie, who came from Michigan to Beadle county

in 1882, located on the line of the railroad survey made by the Chicago &

Northwestern railroad in township 117, range 72. The Ellisville post-office was

soon established, and before the season ended, most of the land in ranges 70, 71

and 72 had been taken. As late as 1882, the buffalo, antelope and coyotes had

full range in Faulk county. In June, 1884, it was transformed into homes and

farms, with all that makes up happy communities.





Additional Comments:
From:



HISTORY OF

FAULK COUNTY

SOUTH DAKOTA

CAPTAIN C. H. ELLIS



TOGETHER WITH BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PIONEERS AND PROMINENT CITIZENS



ILLUSTRATED

19O9





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