Marshall County, SD History - Books .....Railroads - Towns 1886
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Book Title: History Of Marshall County, Dakota

RAILROADS — TOWNS.

    In the fall of 1883 the Dakota & Great Southern Railway was surveyed through
our county, and the following summer was graded; but not until this summer,
1886, did we realize our fondest anticipation — the railroad. The cars reached
the new town site of Langford in Hickman township, one mile north of county
line, July 1st; and are now laying the track at the rate of one and one-half
mile per day. This road is now under the management of the C. M. & St. P. R. R.,
and extends from Andover to Harlem, in Sargent county, a distance of fifty-seven
miles. This road extends through Marshall county from south to north, about ten
miles east of the west county line, or very nearly through the center from east
to west. Another railroad, connecting Aberdeen, in Brown county, and Duluth, has
been surveyed through our county, grade stakes set and grading commenced. It
runs diagonally across the northern part of Marshall county and crosses the
Milwaukee road between four and five miles north of Britton. With two railroads
giving us about sixty miles of railroad in the county, and an outlet in all
directions, our railway facilities are all that could be desired. No more long
journeys with heavy loads, requiring two or three days and exposure to all kinds
of weather, for the old pioneers of Marshall county; the railroads are at our
doors, and after harvest, will be ready to carry our produce to market. With our
railway facilities and magnificent agricultural resources, capital and
immigrants will seek the gem of ""Jim" River Valley — Marshall county.

    Commencing at the south county line we have Langford, just platted, and as
yet has but a few houses; but business places are being built as fast as
possible, and there is considerable excitement among business men in the rush to
establish themselves. (See Hickman township).

    Britton, the county seat, is about fourteen miles north of Langford, along
the line of railroad, and is situated on a commanding site. (See Miller township).

    Newark is ten miles north of Britton, and is located in a good farming
country. (See Newark township).

    There is a probability that two more towns will be located in the county on
the Aberdeen & Duluth railroad.

FIRST CHILD

born in Marshall [county, so far as the author could ascertain, is Minnie Roehr,
of Newport, born July 14, 1883.

FIRST DEATH

outside of Fort Sisseton, was Mr. Shorey, of Victor, who suicided January 1,
1883. He was a bachelor and, in all probability, had an attack of insanity when
he committed the deed.

SCHOOLS.

    A "tenderfoot" would be surprised to see the numerous, neatly painted and
furnished school-houses in Marshall county. Well may we feel proud of our
school-houses, and the fact that we have a class of citizens that appreciate
education. There are at present thirty-four school-houses and twenty-seven
licensed teachers in our county. To appreciate the progress made in this
direction, let the reader bear in mind that three years ago there was not a
single school-house in Marshall county; the above figures show that we have
averaged ten school-houses built each year.

    Our school-tax is somewhat burdensome at present as we must support our
schools by direct taxation; the reserved school sections 16 and 36 in each
township will not be available until our Territory becomes a State; after which
we will have one of the richest perpetual school funds in the Union.

SCHOOL GOVERNMENT.

   . Each school township has a director, treasurer and clerk, and each school
district a moderator. Pupils in a township can go to any school most convenient,
and the school age is from seven to twenty-one years. Women are allowed to vote
at school meetings.

    School-houses are built by bonding, the bonds are issued in denominations of
$100 and $500 bonds, redeemable after eight years and payable at the expiration
of fifteen years; semi-annual interest at the rate of eight per cent, per annum.
The bonds can not be sold for less than ninety-five per cent, of face value, and
usually sell at par or at a very small discount, which shows that eastern
capitalists have confidence in our future.

RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS.

    As yet there are no churches in the county, but religious services are held
in school-houses and private houses. Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherns, German
Evangelical Association, Congregationalists and Catholics have church services
in all parts of the county. The Welsh settlers of Hickman and Lowell townships
have their regular Sabbath school and church service in their native language. 

FIRST SABBATH SCHOOL AND CHURCH ORGANIZATION.

    The writer is indebted to Mrs. A. A. Warren for the following:

    In June, 1883, a Sunday school was organized in Lowell township, at the
house of A. A. Warren, where it was held each Sunday after that till October,
when it was held at the house of Rev. G. L. Beach. The same month a Presbyterian
church organization was formed; Rev. G. L. Beach, pastor.


NATIVITY AND CHARACTER OF SETTLERS.

    A large percentage of our settlers are native born Americans, from Michigan,
Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota, and in fact from every northern state
from Maine to California, and representatives from every province of British
America. Newark has a native from the far-off arctic Iceland. Perhaps
twenty-five per cent, of the settlers are Scandinavians and Germans; of Germans
there are perhaps only a dozen families. Wales and England have a few
representatives; the Welsh are mostly in Hickman and Lowell townships. The
writer has personally visited each township of the county collecting material
for these pages, and has generally been treated with courtesy and hospitality,
for which the citizens have his thanks. It would be difficult to find a class of
settlers anywhere that are better informed, educated and intelligent, than the
citizens of Marshall county.

MILITARY AND INDIAN RESERVATIONS.

    The military reservation lies in the eastern part of Marshall county and
contains about 128 square miles or 82,000 acres of land. Fully one-third of this
area is splendid farming land, while the other two-thirds are good grazing and
farming lands. There are numerous lakes, of which Skunk, Four and Nine Mile
Lakes, are the largest. There is still considerable timber in the vicinity of
the lakes and in the gulches. All the heavy timber has been used at the fort
during the last twenty years. The scenery is grand and picturesque in many
localities, especially in the vicinity of Ft. Sisseton.

    Pierre Bottineau, a Frenchman and uncle to Chas. Dugas, of Day county, was
for many years a government scout, and well acquainted with Dakota. In 1864 he
acted as guide for the military commission sent out to locate a fort west of the
Sisseton reservation; the present site was selected in July the same year. At
the time the fort was built the site was nearly surrounded by lakes and looked
like an island; since then the water in the lakes surrounding the fort has
receded. The commanding position of the fort with its timber and lakes makes a
grand scenery. These lakes were known by the Indians as Kettle Lakes, where
they, long before the advent of the white man, held their councils and feasts.
Chief Renville informed the writer that, along in the fifties, the lakes
referred to were higher than has been known since. It appears that the continual
evaporation has materially decreased the volume of water in the lakes.

    The barracks and barn are built of substantial stone; the hospital and
officers' quarters of brick manufactured on the premises and of hardwood, sawn
on the reservation. There are usually from eighty to one hundred soldiers,
including officers, stationed here. In 1884 the white soldiers and officers were
removed to Ft. Totten, and colored troops, with white officers from Ft. Hale,
now occupy the fort. The colored soldiers are of all shades, from the nearly
white to the blackest of black Africans; but all speak good English and
apparently an intelligent class of soldiers.

    The government usually keeps from two to four Indian scouts at the fort.
When a prisoner or deserter has but twelve hours the start his chances are
indeed small to escape; the scouts, like bloodhounds, follow the trail, and in a
day or two run in the rascal or bring him in a corpse. Last June a colored
servant stole Capt. Vander Horck's favorite pony, old Prince, and skipped, and
has not been captured. In 1883 old Prince was stolen in open daylight, by a boy
fifteen years old, and run into Brown county. Chas. Vander Horck followed him,
secured Prince, but let the boy escape in Waverly township.

    The soldiers have no arduous duty to perform, and there is no apparent
reason why the fort should not be abandoned and the reservation thrown open for
settlement.

    Capt. Vander Horck is a native of Germany, and has for eight years been Post
Trader at the fort. He is an old time soldier and took an active part fighting
Indians during the Minnesota massacre (see closing paragraphs of Indian
reservation).

INDIAN RESERVATION.

   The writer having occasion to go to the agency on Sisseton reservation spent
a night with Chief Renville, and made the following notes:

    Chief Renville was born on the east side of Big Stone Lake in Minnesota,
sixty-one years ago. He is six feet tall, with regular features, showing traces
of Caucasian blood. He is a descendant of a French trader by that name, and is
an intelligent, shrewd man. He, like a few more of his tribe, still clings to
polygamy, having three wives. He is the father of twenty children of whom
fifteen are living. During the late Minnesota massacre he with quite a number of
friendly Indians of his tribe did much to save white people and hunt hostile
Indians. He was chief scout under General Sibley, and in 1866 was elected chief
of the Sisseton and Wahpeton tribes, and has documents showing his appointment
as chief by our government for his valuable services rendered during the outbreak.

    Red-feather, hereditary chief, being the son of Standing Buffalo, is living
upon the reservation and quietly cultivating his farm.

    These tribes made a treaty with the government ceding their lands in
Minnesota, and accepting their present reservation. They have received in
annuities nearly a million of dollars for their ceded lands, and now receive
only appropriations from congress. This should cease, as they are as able to
support themselves as any fifteen hundred souls in any other locality. Their
reservation contains nearly one million acres of land. Chief Renville thinks
that they will sell the government the west half of their reservation and put
the money on interest. The east half of the reservation contains the best land,
timber and water.

GOVERNMENT.

    Thanks to Col. Thompson, Indian agent, for information concerning the
Indians and their government.

    The Indians adopted a constitution January, 1884. The government of the
reservation consists of a legislature, comprising council and house of
representatives, all chosen by the people. The reservation is divided into ten
districts. Each district is entitled to one councilman and two representatives.
The executive power is vested in the chief (who is chief during life) and the
headmen of the tribes.

    The judicial power of the reservation is vested in a supreme court
consisting of five judges. Each of the ten districts has also a justice of the
peace.

   There is also a committee on education of five members. All male Indians who
are twenty-one years old are legal voters.

    The agent stands between the Indians and the government and sees that
everything goes right. It sometimes happens that the agent and a large number of
Indians get at loggerheads, perhaps a majority of Indians siding with the agent
while the other side is active in their endeavors to remove him. The agent
informed the writer that as a rule the Indians are not given to quarreling among
themselves nor thieving. Many of them live in comfortable houses, while others
live in small log huts and usually farm from ten to fifty acres. In the spring
one of their number will kill a cow or beef of some kind, and his neighbors come
with their teams and put in his crop in a day, and have a jolly time feasting
This is repeated until each one has his crop in the ground.

    Twenty years is comparatively a short period of time in which to civilize a
savage race of people. The Indians upon the reservation have made a wonderful
progress during this period. They retain but two of their practices, viz: A
grass dance, in which most of their toilet is dispensed with and the aboriginal
costume is donned. They keep up a dismal sound upon an excuse for a drum and in
a circle keep up a performance by courtesy called a dance. They have these
dances more frequently when a few of the leaders desire to put some scheme on
foot and gain favor. After dancing they have a pow-wow, and generally the chief
is invited but not always. In these powwows the wily leaders endeavor to work up
the feelings of their neighbors and friends.



Additional Comments:
HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY, DAKOTA.
ITS TOPOGRAPHY AND NATURAL HISTORY, SKETCHES OF PIONEER SETTLERS, WITH THE NAMES
OF ACTUAL SETTLERS, WHERE THEY ARE FROM, AND WHERE THEY LIVE; ALSO THE MILITARY
AND SISSETON RESERVATIONS.
BY
GEORGE HICKMAN.
BRITTON. DAK.: J. W. BANBURY, PUBLISHER. 1886.


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