Hyde County, SD History .....Early South Dakota History ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/sd/sdfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com January 15, 2005, 7:14 pm CHAPTER III Our readers will now pardon us if we leave Hyde county long enouph to say something of the great state of South Dakota, of which we are a part, and in doing this we quote from a statement made by Ex-Gov. Elrod. It was written in January, 1907, and to an outside reader will be of much interest. The Governor said: "The story of the growth and development of the state of South Dakota is most interesting. Its 76,850 square miles is a part of the great Louisana Purchase which Jefferson bought for a mere song, i. e., $15,000,000. South Dakota's corn crop last year brought $16,000,000. The first farms were opened in what is now the state, less than forty years ago, and settlers did not come in great numbers until 1880 and 1883. Dakota territory was divided in 1889 and the state of South Dakota has had a remarkably healthful growth from its admission into the union until now. For many years it was the talk among doubting Thomas's that the climate was too dry and that the state could never become an agricultural state, but our pioneer citizens have demonstrated that wherever the prairie fires are kept out, wherever the plow goes, wherever trees are planted, rain fall increases. Let me ask what is the matter with a state that has produced for eight consecutive years more wealth per capita than any other state? What is the matter with a state that has more money per capita in her banks than any sister state? What is the matter with a state that has fewer idle people than any other state and fewer people per capita in her poor house? South Dakota is the state that leads in all these things. South Dakota is neither too far north nor too far south. Her climate is better, winter and summer, than Kansas and Nebraska, or North Dakota and Montana. Kansas and Nebraska are great States, but a look at the map of the Missouri valley convinces one that the soil, or the land, of South Dakota is better than the land or soil of the states above mentioned. The great Missouri river crosses South Dakota from northwest to southeast and the state is watered and drained by it and its branches A look at the map shows one that the western half of South Dakota is peculiar for two things. It contains the Black Hills, a most interesting 100 square miles of country, famed for its rich valleys and its gold mines which produced during the last year $7,190,000, and secondly the greater part of the western half of the state drains to the north and east and is much better watered than our sister states to the south of us, and there is considerable timber and probably a great supply of lignite coal. In a word those of us who have lived here for twenty-four years are just beginning to realize what a wonderful area of land our state contains. The native grasses of the state are unsurpassed. Cattle and horses and sheep fatten without corn on the grass that produced the famous buffaloes of only forty years ago. Timothy and clover and alfalfa and Kentucky blue grass follows civilization. South Dakota does not claim to be a wheat state or a corn state. She is both, and she is more; she is a mixed farming state. She produces in great quantities wheat, corn oats, barley, flax, potatoes, horses, cattle and dairy products, sheep and wool, and hogs. Last year the state raised 43,000,000 bushels of wheat which sold for $28,000,000; 51,000,000 bushels of corn worth $16,000,000, 42,000,000 bushels of oats worth $9,450,000; 20,000,000 bushels of barley worth $5,400,000; 2,250,000 bushels of flax worth $1,800,000; potatoes worth $4,250,000 and eggs and poultry worth $3,600,000. She sold 33,000 car loads of horses, cattle and hogs and sheep which put $25,000,000 into circulation in the state. It may be of interest to know that 33,000 cars, if in one line or in one train, would reach from Sioux City, Iowa, across our beautiful state of South Dakota, via Yankton, Scotland, Mitchell, Redfield, Aberdeen to Oaks in North Dakota. By the way, there is not a finer stretch of country anywhere than lies between the above named points, excepting other points in South Dakota. Illinois and Iowa and Indiana are called hog states, and Wisconsin is a cow state South Dakota is not a hog state or a cow state; she is both a hog state and a cow state. According to the figures of the United States authority, live stock per capita is valued at $160 and the rich, long settled state of Iowa is second with a valuation of $122. We are just beginning to raise fruit. There is one orchard in Turner county containing 130 acres that produced 24,000 bushels of apples in one season. The state is sure to become a fruit growing state, owing to the invigorating climate. Let me ask the reader if he or she thinks there is anything seriouslv the matter with the climate, or the people of the state that produces all these things. There are other things of equal if not greater importance than cattle and hogs and dollars. The homes, the schools, the churches and the character of the people of a community are the real test after all. The quality of the citizenship of the average South Dakotan is unsurpassed. The first settlers were the pluckiest boys and girls from the other states and from the nations across the ocean. They came here without means, but with the courage and determination that always insure success. The march of the pioneers of South Dakota, like the exodus of the children of Israel, has been from a wilderness into a land of beautiful homes supplied with all the necessaries and many of the comforts of life. How I wish the renter and the small farmer of the eastern states could see what the pioneers of this state have accomplished within the last quarter of a century. If I were a renter and paid annually a big rent to a rich landlord, or had but a few acres, provided always that I had backbone, I would come to South Dakota and buy a farm, if I had a part of the purchase price, and if I had no means, I would go to the end of the railroad, or ahead of it, and enter a homestead. The writer of these lines, without money, landed at the end of the track on a construction train where the thriving little town of Clark now stands, in 1882. He still owns the land he preempted and $50 an acre wouldn't buy it and there isn't any mortgage on it. When you get a good piece of laud, improve it, do not mortgage it, except for purchase money in case you buy it. Do not sell it, but keep it. It will be the safest asset you can leave your family. It will be there after the storms, after the panic, after the bank failure. The Schools of South Dakota are the pride of all our people. The common schools, the Normal schools, the School of Mines, the Agricultural College, the State University, are each and all in a healthful growing condition. The Agricultural college at Brookings with James Wilson, Jr., at the head of the farming department is beautifully located and is an inspiration to every stock grower who sees it. The Agricultural Experiment Farm at Highmore is the most helpful institution a state can give its farmers. It is doing for Hyde county and the state generally a vast amount of good. Our permanent school funds amounts to $4,707,000 every cent of which is drawing interest at the rate of 5 per cent and we have 1,960,000 acres of choice school lands unsold. The penal and charitable institutions of the state are modern. Neatness and economy and efficient management are characteristic of every one of them. There is neither waste nor graft in a public institution in the state. We are just beginning to grow. Our people now have something to do with as fast as hands and money can make improvements they are being made. A sure index of a good country is when railroads build in it. A thousand miles of new rairoad are being built in the state at a cost of many millions of dollars. Three or four new steel bridges are being built across the great Missouri river that Lewis Clark ascended a hundred years ago. Each will cost about $1,250,000. Along these new roads, homes and farms, towns, villages and cities will spring up and the prairies which have been known onl by the buffalo and the Indian will bring forth wheat and corn and all the products of the farm. Truly, "Man proposes, but God disposes." The financial affairs of the state are in a most flattering condition. The banks are full of the people's money and there has not been a bank failure within the state during the past two years. The state is practically out of debt. The bonded indebtedness is but $212,000 and the money is in the sinking fund to take up these bonds as soon as they are due. For several months past the state treasurer has been trying to get the owners of these bonds to take their money, but most bondholders only want their interest. He did succeed in getting the owner of $25,000 of these bonds to take his money and thus saved the state in interest $2000. The state has outstanding emergency warrants in the sum of $250,000 and has cash on hand amounting to $40,000; so the indebtedness of the state is but $212,000. Many of the counties of the state are out of debt. Money is plentiful and taxes are low. It is needless to say that the present administration stands for economy. The watchword of every state institution and every department of the state is first, efficiency and secondly, economy. South Dakota is a bee hive. There is work for every man, woman and child. What the state needs is people, and what a great many people need, is a home. There is room for thousands in South Dakota. If you are interested, come and see. The railroads sell half fare tickets every Tuesday. In a word, if you want work, if you want a home, come to South Dakota; but do not come unless you are an optimist and have the blood in you that knows no defeat. Storms will come and they will come again, but the sun will shine brighter tomorrow than it does today." *************************** Following this we will add that Hyde county lies in about the center of the state, is bounded on the north by Potter and Faulk counties, on the south by buffalo county and the Missouri river, on the east by Hand county and on the west by Hughes and Sully counties. The county contains eight hundred and seventy-four square miles or 552,960 acres. It is one of the youngest of Dakota counties and when these pages are perused its short, but eventful career will convince the reader that this county is one of the most progressive and inviting. It will not be long before every acre of wild prairie will be transformed into waving fields of agricultural enterprise and all will be thrifty farms and several prosperous towns. The surface of Hyde county land is generally rolling prairie with occasional ranges of low bluffs. The prairie rolls everywhere in the county to an extent that drains the land without creating swamp or marsh. The character of the soil is such that it cannot be surpassed by any agricultural region in the United States. It is one to five feet deep and for small grain, such as wheat, oats, barley, rye, buckwheat, etc., is well adapted, and the yield of corn and potatoes is simply enormous. The soil is rich, deep and durable, and with proper care and cultivation is almost inexhaustable. Stock raising in Hyde county is a safe and lucrative business. The grass and hay producing qualities of the soil are of the highest character and any farmer here can make a great success of hogs and corn in fact many are doing it. The climate differs from that of eastern states in a very few particulars. The summers and winters are milder than in the east, that is to say, the heat is not so oppressive in the summer, nor are the winters so steadily cold. In the spring and autumn the mornings and evenings are delightful and refreshingly rool and the climate may be justly considered one of the most healthy, being a dry and exhilarating atmosphere well adapted to persons having catarrah, bronchial or lung difficulties, There is not a climate anywhere free from all objectionable features, but we cannot but conclude that Hyde county possesses that which is fine and healthy, Additional Comments: HISTORY OF HYDE COUNTY SOUTH DAKOTA FROM ITS ORGANIZATION TO THE PRESENT TIME BY JOHN B. 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