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History of Minnehaha County, South Dakota.

Containing An Account Of Its Settlements. Growth, Development And Resources. An 
Extensive And Minute Sketch Of Its Cities, Towns And Villages, Their 
Improvements, Industries, Manufactories. Churches. Colleges, Schools And 
Societies. Synopsis Of Public Records, Biographical Sketches, Portraits of Early 
Settlers And other Prominent Residents. Illustrations Of Public Buildings, 
Residences, Farms And Scenery.
By Dana R. Bailey.
Brown & Saenqer, Ptrs., Sioux Falls
1899.

PREFACE

	In the preparation of this work the chief object sought after was to give 
the people of Minnehaha county a brief account of the principal events which 
made it the most populous and notable county in the state. In doing so, a 
conscientious and unsparing effort has been made to attain such a degree of 
accuracy as will place the book among the authoritative records of what has 
transpired in our local history; and if it shall be so recognized I shall feel 
such a sense of satisfaction as will compensate me in a great measure for my 
labor. For its success as a business enterprise no flattering hopes have been 
entertained.

	The reminiscences of early times; the privations and dangers experienced 
by the pioneer settlers; an accurate review of the social and commercial growth 
and development of the county, together with carefully prepared biographical 
sketches of residents of the county who have made their impress upon her 
affairs, find place in this volume and will furnish an interesting retrospect of 
by-gone days.

	In this labor I have been especially assisted by Miss Anna B. Ericson, who 
has rendered most valuable and faithful services throughout the work.

	I am also indebted for much valuable information to pioneer residents, the 
press, the clergy, the custodians of public records, and the secretaries of 
fraternal and kindred societies, and to each and all I desire to publicly tender 
my acknowledgments and thanks.

D. R. BAILEY.
Sioux Falls, South Dakota, July 6, 1899.

INTRODUCTORY.

	The County of Minnehaha is situated in the southeastern part of South 
Dakota, and is about equidistant from the northern and southern limits of the 
famous Sioux Valley. It is bounded on the east by Rock county, Minnesota; on the 
south, for a distance of seven miles, by Lyon county, Iowa, and by Lincoln and 
Turner counties; on the west by McCook county, and on the north by Lake and 
Moody counties, South Dakota. It is twenty-four miles in extent north and south, 
and thirty-four miles east and west, and contains twenty-four townships, the 
eastern tier being fractional. The general surface is undulating, or what is 
usually termed rolling prairie; except to a limited extent along the larger 
streams where it rises abruptly and is more or less broken. The soil is a rich 
black loam from one to three feet deep, with a fertile porous subsoil. For the 
growing of cereals and vegetables the soil is unsurpassed, and its productive 
properties are not appreciably diminished by successive crops without the use of 
fertilizers. Two valleys along the banks of the Big Sioux river and Skunk creek 
extending nearly through the county, north and south, are worthy of mention. 
They vary from one to three miles in width, with a level, smooth surface, and no 
better or more fertile land can be found in the Northwest. The uncultivated 
portions of these beautiful valleys are covered with a luxuriant growth of grass 
yielding on an average two tons of hay per acre. Strictly speaking, there are no 
natural forests, but fringing the Big Sioux river there is at intervals a large 
growth of trees, which adds greatly to the beauty of the landscape, and also 
affords a large amount of fuel. In addition to this, there is upon nearly every 
section of land one or more large groves of growing trees which were planted and 
cultivated by the early settlers. The county is well watered; the Big Sioux 
river, the largest stream, enters it from the north, ten miles west of the east 
line and flows in a southerly direction until near the south line, where it 
turns upon its course and pursues its windings north, east and south, about 
twenty miles further before leaving the county. At several points it furnishes 
ample power for manufacturing purposes, and at the city of Sioux Falls for a 
distance of half a mile it falls in a series of cascades ninety-one feet, and 
forms one of the most beautiful and picturesque sceneries in the state. Skunk 
creek, another important stream, enters the county from the north, nine miles 
west of the Big Sioux river, and flows in a southerly direction until near the 
south line, where its course turns to the east and forms a junction with the Big 
Sioux. Split rock river, a stream of considerable size, also Slipup, Pipestone 
and Beaver creeks, drain the eastern portion of the county. In the western 
portion there are some small streams, and several bodies of water of sufficient 
extent to find a place upon the maps of the county; but only one of them, Wall 
Lake, located in the southwestern part, is worthy of the name of lake. Good 
water in abundance can also be found anywhere in the county at a depth of from 
twenty to eighty feet. From exclusive wheat raising, which until recently was 
the chief industry of the county, its enterprising farmers are turning to 
diversified farming, and extensive corn and wheat fields can now be seen side by 
side. The raising of all kinds of stock is also engaging their attention, and a 
lively interest is being taken in dairying, and creameries are rapidly 
increasing in number. Fruit raising is still in its infancy, but gives promise 
of good success. One of the peculiarities of the County of Minnehaha is the 
outcrop of the Sioux quartzite in large quantities, especially at certain points 
near the Big Sioux river. It is a fine building stone, and is also being used 
extensively for the paving of streets, varying in color from a light gray 
through all the shades of pink and purple to a deep red, and although as hard as 
steel, owing to its peculiar formation, can be cut into blocks of almost any 
size. Its commercial value is already recognized, but as its merits become 
better known and appreciated it will undoubtedly be more extensively used, and 
become a valuable commodity for export. It is a county with fine roads, and iron 
bridges span the large streams. No county in the state has better railroad 
facilities; the Great Northern, the Omaha, and the Milwaukee lines each traverse 
the entire length or breadth of the county, and the Burlington and the Illinois 
Central roads run into the city of Sioux Falls. Sioux Falls is the largest city 
in the state, and is the commercial center of a large extent of territory. Dell 
Rapids is another important city in the county, situated twenty miles north of 
Sioux Falls. Garretson and East Sioux Falls are also incorporated cities, and 
South Sioux Falls, Valley Spring's and Hartford are incorporated municipalities, 
while Brandon, Corson, Sherman, Baltic, Ellis, Humboldt, Colton, Rowena and Ben 
Clare are properly designated as villages.

	The educational and social advantages of the county are exceptionally 
good, compared with any other county in the state, and we might go further and 
successfully challenge any county in the Northwest of the proximate age, 
population and wealth of Minnehaha, to point to as many educational institutions 
in successful operation. The residents of the city of Sioux Falls are especially 
proud of the institutions of learning located in her midst, evidencing as they 
do the intelligence, liberality and enterprise of her people. She has classical 
and commercial colleges, a Lutheran Normal school, and the All Saints' school 
for the education of young ladies, in addition to the public schools which are 
models of efficiency in the educational field. Public schools are maintained in 
every neighborhood in comfortable, well furnished school houses presided over by 
professional teachers competent to instruct and rapidly advance the pupils. 
Church societies are almost too numerous to mention, the church edifices 
comprising all grades from the imposing cathedral to the pretty little church on 
the prairie, are inviting inducements to immigration.

	In summarizing the advantages the county offers to all classes of people-
capitalists, professional men, mechanics, filters of the soil, and common 
laborers -we point to the remarkable healthfulness of the climate, the 
commercial importance of the location, the fertility of the soil and its 
adaptation to all kinds of husbandry," its good roads and unsurpassed 
transportation facilities, and last but not least, the superior educational, 
religious and social advantages that are enjoyed by the residents of the County 
of Minnehaha.

	In presenting to the public a history of events which, as a whole, have 
transformed the territory comprising the County of Minnehaha from the habitation 
of the Indian to the abode of a prosperous, happy people, as outlined above, the 
writer has met with unexpected difficulties. It is the beginning-the early 
events in the history of all localities, that are sought after and prized by 
those who follow the pioneer. But a large percentage of pioneers move on as 
civilization advances, leaving behind them, at the most, only fragmentary 
records and shadowy traditions of their doings, and the recollections of those 
who remain, seldom harmonize.

	Only such events are chronicled in the early history as appeared to be 
well authenticated. Subsequent to the pioneer stage, it has been largely a 
matter of selection from a wide field of data, and undoubtedly some things 
appear which might have been left out without materially detracting from the 
work, and some events omitted which would have been interesting.

	But as it is, the History of Minnehaha County is submitted to the public, 
in the full belief that it will meet with a kind and appreciative reception.

CHAPTER I.
EARLY HISTORY.

	The History of Minnehaha County properly begins with an act of the first 
territorial legislature, approved April 5,1862, and entitled "An Act to 
Establish the Counties of Lincoln, Minnehaha, Brookings and Deuel."

	Section 2, of this act reads as follows: "That so much of the Territory of 
Dakota as embraced in the following boundaries be and the same is hereby 
established as the County of Minnehaha, beginning- at the south-west corner of 
the State of Minnesota; thence west to the south-west corner of township one 
hundred and one, north, of range fifty-three, west; thence due north to the 
north-west corner of township one hundred and six, north, of range fifty-three, 
west; thence due east to the boundary line between the State of Minnesota and 
the Territory of Dakota; thence south on said boundary line to place of 
beginning".

	"Section 5. And be it further enacted, that for judicial and election 
purposes the counties of Lincoln, Minnehaha, Brookings, and Deuel form one and 
the same county, with the county seat at Sioux Falls City, in the County of 
Minnehaha.

	"Section 6. And be it further enacted that the county seat of Minnehaha 
county be established temporarily at Sioux Falls City."

	To trace the series of evolution which made this event possible, it is 
necessary to give the reader some idea of the history of Dakota prior to this 
date, but the writer will confine himself strictly to that portion which relates 
particularly to Minnehaha county.

	Leaving to the ethnological student the unsettled problem of the origin of 
the Indian nations, who for centuries were the inhabitants of this vast country, 
and passing over the period from the seventeenth century, in which is included 
the dispersion of the powerful Indian tribes of the Northwest; the ceding of the 
entire northwestern territory by France to Spain in 1762; the receding to France 
in 1800, and the purchase of the same by the United States in 1803 for fifteen 
million dollars; the gradual development and reaching out of civilization toward 
"The Land of the Dakotahs" first by. trading posts established by fur companies; 
the famous Lewis & dark expedition in 1804 (being the first American explorers 
to ascend the Missouri river into what is now known as Dakota); the 
establishment, in 1808, of the Missouri Fur Company, to which the first 
settlements here may be ascribed; the missionary labors of Father DeSmet in 
1840; the act of Congress in 1849, by which a portion of Dakota was included in 
the new Territory of Minnesota-all of which are parts of the history of the 
country we come to 1851, in which year was enacted what may properly be termed 
"the beginning of the end."

	At Traverse de Sioux, Minnesota, in 1851, the treaty between the United 
States and the upper bands of Dakota Indians was consummated, giving to the 
government a portion of land in which was included that part of the present 
County of Minnehaha lying east of the Big Sioux river. This constituted a part 
of the Territory of Minnesota until May 11, 1858, when Minnesota was admitted to 
the Union and its western boundary was defined by a line running due south from 
the foot of Big Stone Lake to the Iowa state line, leaving a tract about thirty 
miles in width extending from this new boundary to the Big Sioux river to be 
included in the new Territory of Dakota.

	April 18, 1858, a treaty was made by the government with the Yankton 
Indians by which the latter ceded to the United States all lands owned by them, 
except 400,000 acres, the eastern boundary of which was the Big Sioux river, and 
included that portion of Minnehaha lying west of said river.

	The first person to give the world any information in regard to the falls 
of the Big Sioux was Nicollet, who in 1839 was sent out by the government of 
Quebec to treat with certain western tribes of Indians. He wrote a sketch of his 
travels in the Northwest, which was afterwards published, wherein he gave a 
description of the beautiful and picturesque falls of the the river then called 
by the Indians "Te-han-kas-an-data" or the "Thick-wooded-river." A copy of this 
sketch found its way into the hands of Dr. George M. Staples, of Dubuque, Iowa, 
sometime during the summer of 1856. The natural advantages of the falls at once 
struck him, and he took steps to secure possession of the delectable valley.

	At that time speculation in lands and town sites was at high tide, and the 
doctor without difficulty soon organized the Western Town Company of Dubuque, 
Iowa. The following named persons comprised the company: Dr. G. M. Staples, 
Mayor Hetherington, Dennis Mahoney, Austin Adams, S. P. Waldron, William Tripp, 
and a number of others whose names the writer has been unable to obtain. Mr. 
Ezra Millard of Sioux City, Iowa, was employed by the company to ascertain the 
location of the beautiful falls of the Big Sioux, and was instructed to take up 
under the laws of the United States three hundred and twenty acres of land 
contiguous to the falls for a town site in the name of the Western Town Company. 
Early in November of the same year, Mr. Millard accompanied by Mr. D. M. Mills, 
also of Sioux City, started out to obey instructions. They followed the east 
bank of the Big Sioux, and after several days' travel came within sight of the 
promised land.

	Right here the writer will take the liberty to contradict the fiction 
which has been frequently published, that the party upon approaching the falls 
were intercepted by a band of Indians, and although neither party was conversant 
with the language of the other, the travelers could not misunderstand the 
meaning of the Indians who, taking the travelers' horses by the bridle and 
turning them about, silently pointed in the direction from which they had come, 
and that the party immediately hastened back to Sioux City. Such an incident 
happening at the first approach of white men to the falls of the Big Sioux for 
the purpose of permanent occupation, would always add piquancy to the events 
that transpired, and it is with some misgivings whether it would not be better 
to let it stand, that the writer asserts that nothing of the kind took place. 
The fact is, the party had a surveyor with them, and in the name of the Western 
Town Company took undisturbed possession of three hundred and twenty acres of 
land, and D. M. Mills one hundred and sixty acres. The company selected the 
southwest one-fourth of section nine, and the northwest one-fourth of section 
sixteen and Mr. Mills the southwest one-fourth of section sixteen. In a history 
of Southeastern Dakota, published in 1881, the land taken up at this time is 
very differently described, but the description above is correct beyond 
question. Mr. Mills built a log- house above the falls, ten by twelve feet in 
size, and then returned to Sioux City for the winter.

	In May, 1857, the Western Town Company sent Jesse T. Jarrett, John 
McClellan, Farwell and Oleson to the Falls, to hold and improve the town site 
located by the Mills party. They arrived at the Palls about the first of June.

	Meanwhile, in the winter of 1856-7, the Dakota Land Company was chartered 
by the legislature of Minnesota Territory, for the purpose of securing the best 
locations for future towns in the proposed Territory of Dakota, and it is to the 
efforts of this company, that the location of the western boundary of Minnesota 
must be ascribed, they being anxious to have the desirable tract lying east of 
the Big Sioux river included in the new Territory.

	The original incorporators of this company were: W. H. Noble, J. R. Brown, 
A. G. Fuller, S. A. Medary, Samuel P. Brown, James W. Lynd, N. R. Brown, F. J. 
DeWitt, Baron F. Friedenriech, B. M. Smith, Artemas Gale, Parker Paine, Thomas 
Campbell, Judge Charles E. Flandrau, and a number of others. The representatives 
of the company left St. Paul in May, 1857, Dakotaward. They proceeded to the Big 
Sioux river, and in what is now Brookings county located the town of Medary, 
which they intended to be the capital of the new Territory. Continuing their 
journey down the river they located the town of Flandrau, named in honor of 
Judge Flandrau, and then pushed on to Sioux Falls. But in reaching that point 
they found themselves anticipated, and the Western Town Company in possession of 
the prize. However, they were not to be so easily crowded out after all their 
efforts, and in the name of the Dakota Land Company took up three hundred and 
twenty acres of land south of the Falls, which included that present portion of 
the city known as Gale's Sioux Falls; and erecting a log house thereon, near 
where the Burlington depot is now located, named their settlement Sioux Falls 
City. James L. Fiske and James McBride remained to hold their claim, and the 
balance of the party returned to St. Paul.

	The population of Sioux Falls now numbered five souls, Messrs. McClellan, 
Farwell, Oleson, Fiske and McBride, and although representatives of rival 
companies, they dwelt in peace and harmony, fearing only their common enemy, the 
Sioux. They were not troubled, however, until late in July, when the Indians 
rose in great numbers, and threatened the extermination of all the settlements 
on the Big Sioux river.

	We have read in some of the newspaper accounts of the early history of 
Dakota, "that Col. Noble about this time, with fifty men in his employ, while 
locating a road from Fort Ridgley to South Pass was driven back by the Indians." 
This has been denied, and one of the first settlers in Sioux Falls is authority 
for the statement "that Col. Noble was not molested by the Indians, but after 
having- spent fifteen thousand dollars appropriated for the purpose of locating 
the road, endeavored to get another appropriation, but was unsuccessful."

	However, the attitude of the Indians was of such a threatening character 
that the Dakota Land Company withdrew Fiske and McBride from Sioux Falls. 
McClellan, Farwell and Oleson, were now left in sole possession, and recognizing 
the fact that they were in no position to defend themselves, and deeming 
discretion the better part of valor determined to withdraw from the scene for a 
time. They placed their personal effects in a canoe, and starting from the foot 
of the falls navigated the Big Sioux to its mouth. The Sioux Valley was once 
more deserted by white men, but not for long.

	On the 17th day of August, 1857, the Western Town Company sent Messrs. J. 
T. Jarrett, J. L. Phillips, W. W. Brookings, S. B. Atwood, A. L. Kilgore, Smith 
Kinsey, John McClellan, Callahan and Godfrey from Sioux City, Iowa, to Sioux 
Falls. D. M. Mills also joined them at Rock river. This party took with them 
machinery for a saw mill, tools and implements for building, and a large stock 
of provisions, which were transported by a team of horses and several ox-teams. 
They were obliged to travel slowly, the teams being heavily laden, and it being 
often necessary to bridge the streams to be crossed on the way, so that it was 
not until the 37th of August, after ten weary days, that the party arrived in 
sight of the Falls.

	To those of the party who now came for the first time, the scene was 
inexpressibly grand and beautiful, and all joined in three rousing cheers. An 
encampment was made north of the island, and the next day each member of the 
party selected a claim for himself.

	On the 29th of August, four of the party, Jarrett, Mills, Atwood and 
Godfrey, started back to Sioux City, for more provisions, leaving the others at 
work.  In about ten days Jarrett returned, accompanied by Dr. Staples, one of 
the directors of the company.

	When the party first set out, Jarrett was appointed by the company the 
agent in charge, but being a man particularly unfitted for the position, he at 
once became involved in trouble with some of the other employes, and Dr. Staples 
having been sent out with authority to make a change, removed Mr. Jarrett and 
appointed W. W. Brookings, agent.

	The men worked untiringly, building a saw mill, a stone house and a store.  
The two last mentioned structures were located on what is now north Phillips 
avenue, near three small houses. Upon the map showing the survey made in August, 
1859, this stone house is located on the northwest quarter of section sixteen, 
and was called the "Dubuque House," but the fact is, it was located on the 
south-west quarter of section nine, near the south line of the section, and was 
on what is now lot twelve or thirteen of block twenty-five in Syndicate 
Addition.

	Several of the party went back to Sioux City, leaving only six men in the 
settlement. These pursued their labors undisturbed by the Indians, save once, 
when some of the men run across a small party near the settlement, but they 
retreated as hastily as the settlers, and so caused no alarm.

	On October 10, however, towards evening, about a dozen Indians rode down 
over the bluffs, and terrifying the men with their yells, surrounded the one 
pair of oxen which had been left, and before the astonished settlers came to 
their senses, had driven them away.

	Four of the men undertook to follow the Indians, leaving two to guard the 
camp, but their efforts to rescue the oxen were unavailing, and they soon 
returned to spend an anxious night. The Indians were known to be hostile and 
another and more serious attack was momentarily expected.  With the breaking day 
their fears were somewhat allayed, and the arrival of Mr. Brookings, who had 
been absent for some days, helped to encourage them. The days passed away 
uneventfully until the middle of October, when the Dakota Land Company sent a 
party of seven men to look after their interests, and the entire population now 
began to make preparations for passing the winter at the Falls.

	At the time winter set in they were in a fairly comfortable condition, 
having besides the saw mill and store building, three dwelling-houses, one of 
them the stone one already mentioned. The men who spent the winter at the Falls 
were as follows:  Messrs. W. W. Brookings, J. L. Phillips, John McClellan, L. B. 
Atwood, A. L. Kilgore, Smith Kinsey, Charles McConnell, R. B. McKinley, S. D. 
and E. M. Brookings, representing the Western Town Company, and James L. Fiske, 
James McBride, James W. Evans, James Alien, William Little, James McCall and C. 
Merrill representing the Dakota Land Company.

	At this time the Sioux Falls settlement was under the jurisdiction of the 
Territory of Minnesota, and in what is known as Big-Sioux county, which then 
comprised not only the present County of Minnehaha, but also a large portion of 
the adjacent region, and in December the governor of Minnesota appointed the 
following officers for the county, Sioux Falls being the only settlement: James 
Alien, register of deeds; James Evans, sheriff; James L. Fiske, judge of 
probate; W. W. Brookings, district attorney; J. L. Phillips, justice of the 
peace; Wm. Little, James McBride and A. L. Kilgore, commissioners, but there are 
no records showing that the officials qualified or acted under their 
appointment.

	In May, 1858, Minnesota was admitted to the Union, thus leaving all the 
country west of it in an unorganized condition. During this spring a number of 
other settlers came, among them the first white woman who came to the Territory 
to settle. This was a Mrs. Goodwin, who came early in May with her husband. Soon 
after, Charles White with his wife and daughter came.

	In the latter part of June, the Indians again rose and drove all the 
settlers from the upper part of the Sioux Valley, including the settlement at 
Medary, burning" all buildings and destroying property. They sent a message to 
the settlement at Sioux Palls, demanding its immediate evacuation, but by that 
time the population numbered thirty-five able-bodied men, who were not to be 
easily driven from the place they had hoped to make a home. A consultation was 
held, and it was decided to take measures for defense. A sod fort was built 
surrounding the house already mentioned as being near where the Burlington depot 
now stands, and here at night the people gathered, and a guard was detailed, the 
men serving in turns. Scarcely were these preparations completed, when a 
delegation of Indians visited the Falls and advised the people to leave.

	The settlers pluckily "held the fort" until the excitement was over, and 
the Indians once more quieted, but it is not to be wondered at, that many of 
them had too great a dread of passing through another period of such suspense 
and fear, and when they could at last withdraw without leaving their companions 
in danger, they did so, and the population of Sioux Palls City was materially 
reduced.

	A few years ago, a clipping from a newspaper, published some time during 
the seventies, came into the writer's possession, and as it is a copy of a 
letter written by one of the occupants of Fort Sod, in June, 1858, giving a 
graphic account of the life led in Sioux Falls at that time by thirty-five men 
and one woman, it is transferred to this work. If this should happen to arrest 
the attention of any of the occupants of old Fort Sod, it would undoubtedly 
surprise them that they had forgotten so much of the sufferings they had passed 
through. But here it is just as we have it:

                                        Cleveland, Ohio, March 8th, 1875.

	Friend Taylor: In looking over ancient home letters, I found the enclosed 
to my father which may give you an idea of what trials and difficulties the old 
settlers at Sioux Falls labored under seventeen years ago, when they tried to 
make homes there.

	Supplementary to the letter should be added, how we were confined six 
weeks at the old Fort, and how our provisions ran out-with the exception of a 
barrel of caked musty flour, which we chopped out and then pounded for use, and 
how we lived on that fresh pickerel and pike without lard or salt-and how we 
daily grew poor in flesh and weak in spirits, and how at last Dewitt, and a 
companion (Brown, now at Fort Edwards, N. Y.) made their appearance with a horse 
and buggy bringing a sack of flour, a half bushel of beans, some pork, sugar and 
coffee; having circumvented the Indians by taking a roundabout route through 
northern Iowa, and how the half starved garrison marched out in battle array, 
rivaling Falstaff's army, to welcome. Even more could be said, but have you not 
ex-Mayor Dewitt, as a fellow citizen of yours to apply to for additional facts, 
and Major Evans to corroborate them.

                         Fort Sod, Sioux Falls, D. T., June 17th, 1858.

	Dear Father: We are in a state of excitement at the present time. Last 
Sunday ahalf-breed, who had been acting as interpeter at Medary reached here, 
stating that one hundred lodges of Indians (Yanktonais) had arrived at that 
place and ordered our townsite men away.

	Mr. Dewitt was at first disposed to fight them, but his men-a dozen or so 
in number- thought the odds were against them and refused to do so.

	The consequence was the Indians forced all hands out of the houses, took 
what provision they wanted and burnt every building down. Dewitt and men have 
all gone to Agency or to St. Paul.

	The Indians sent word by the half-breed, for us to leave the country 
forthwith and that they would be down here in the course of a week and would 
drive us off, if we had not left. Mr. Dewitt also told the half-breed to tell us 
to go to St. Paul or any other convenient place at once.

	On the receipt of this intelligence, we called a meeting of all the 
settlers, and unanimously determined to remain and defend ourselves and 
property. As some doubted the correctness of the half-breed's intelligence, we 
dispatched two mounted men towards Medary to reconnoitre. The next day they 
returned and reported the Indians to be within thirty-five miles of here in 
great numbers. All day Monday was wasted by us, trying to decide which house to 
fortify. The Dubuque Company were determined not to abandon their buildings and 
we were equally determined not to abandon ours.

	The Dubuque Company's houses being under the brow of the hill, could not 
be fortified to much advantage, whereas our house was on an open plain, 
commanding an extensive prospect, with a fine spring of water adjoining; 
therefore the settlers, knowing that there must be unity of action in the 
matter, sided with us, and on Tuesday morning we commenced the building of our 
Fort, We have erected of sods and logs, a perpendicular wall eighty feet square, 
ten feet high, and four feet thick, with a deep ditch surrounding the exterior 
base, port holes are arranged every few feet in the wall, and an inner platform 
to stand upon. Also have an inclosure of three acres, securely fenced for the 
herding of the cattle.

	We now feel safe and are determined to resist the Indians and if necessary 
to fight them. We want to teach them that they can not every season drive off 
the settlers on this disputed land.

	The new settlers, Mr. Goodwin and his wife, have moved into our old cabin 
which is now a wing of the store house, and Mrs. Goodwin has made a large flag 
out of all the old flannel shirts we could find, and we now have the stars and 
the stripes proudly waving over Fort Sod.

	All the property of the place is now deposited with us, including tlie 
movable portion of the saw mill machinery.

	We are on a military footing. Have organized into a company, (the 
undersigned 1st lieutenant) sentries and scouting parties on duty day and night. 
All told we number thirty-five men for defense, not including the woman, and she 
can shoot a gun as well as any one.

	The Dubuque Company's agent, Brookings, whose feet were frozen off last 
winter, will be brought to our house as soon as Indians are reported in sight. 
We feel secure now and could fight 600 Indians, and even if the walls could be 
scaled, which is almost impossible, we could retreat into our store house which 
is impregnable.

	Those Yanktonais occupy the country northwest towards the British 
possessions, and pretend to claim an interest in all the country owned and ceded 
by the Sioux Nation. The Chiefs who were in Washington the past winter are not 
with them. They have been told that a treaty has been made with the Yanktons, 
but they will not recognize it until the first payment is made and they even 
threaten to kill the chiefs for making the treaty.

	All the troops in this section of the country (Fort Randall and Ridgely) 
are on the Mormon expedition, and the result is that settlers are left to 
protect themselves.

	The news of this Indian difficulty will travel all over the country, and 
we cannot expect any more immigration this way before next spring; and from all 
accounts there were large numbers enroute here to settle in the Big Sioux 
Valley, who will now turn back. I fear immigration will be retarded for several 
years.

	Four Sisseton Sioux came in last night, but hurried off when they heard of 
the Yanktonais coming. We sent letters to the Agency by them. Weather hot, 90 
odd degrees in the shade. 
                                               James M. Allen.

	At this time there were trading posts established at Yankton and other 
near points on the Missouri river, which were controlled by Frost, Todd & Co., 
and this company, unlike those at the Sioux Falls settlement, was opposed to any 
immediate organization of the Territory until a treaty could be made with the 
Indians, and the land beyond the Big Sioux river be ceded to the United States. 
They would then be entitled, under the trading post license, to locate a mile 
square of land around the post to cover their improvements, which would include 
the Yankton town site, and then, should the Territory be organized, the 
advantage of Yankton for a capital would be recognized. On the other hand, 
should the Territory be organized at once the capital in all probability would 
be located at Sioux Falls.

	During the summer of 1858, the Dakota Land Company, deeming it necessary 
to make known to the world in general and Congress in particular, the need for 
organization of the great and Increasing population of the Territory, as well as 
the wonderful advantages of the country, sent out from St. Paul a printing 
press, printer, and editor. The press was one which had already seen over twenty 
years of service, having been purchased of the Smith Press Company in 1836, and 
used to print the first paper published in Dubuque, then a small mining town. In 
1842, the press was sold to a stock company and used in printing the Grant 
County Herald, in Lancaster, Wisconsin. A few years afterward, J. M. Goodhue 
bought the old press and moved it with an ox team on the ice to St. Paul, where 
it was used for a long time in printing the St. Paul Pioneer. The Pioneer soon 
required a larger press, and in 1858, the old Smith press was again sent on its 
travels and by ox-power. After a long and tedious journey over the prairies, 
through forests and streams and around lakes it at length reached Sioux Falls, 
where it was once more to serve its purpose as the herald of advancing 
civilization, and was duly installed in a stone building on the bank of the 
river. The editor was Mr. S. J. Albright, and the printer was J. W. Barnes, 
afterwards a compositor in The Times office in Dubuque. The result of this step 
was the birth of The Democrat. It was issued at irregular intervals, i. e., 
whenever the enterprising editor or citizens could think of anything that would 
advertise Dakota, and copies were circulated broadcast throughout the east.

	The first issue of this paper appeared on the 2d day of July, 1859, a copy 
of which is now in the possession of Doane Robinson of Yankton. Mr. Robinson, in 
a letter to the writer, says: "It is printed on the outside only, and contains 
nothing of local interest except the poem by Gov. Masters entitled 'Sioux Falls' 
which appears in the July (1898) monthly South Dakotan. I have my copy framed, 
and it is too frail to handle." He sent the writer four issues of The Democrat, 
viz., Vol. I, numbers 3, 4, 6 and 9. No. 3 was published August 26, 1859. No. 4 
was published November 8; No. 6, December 15, 1859; No. 9, February 18, 1860. In 
these issues appear the following advertisements: Albright & Allen, Dealers in 
Real Estate; J. McCall, Mason, J. L. Phillips, Physician and Surgeon; W. W. 
Brookings, Attorney and Counsellor at Law; John Rouse, Boot and Shoe Maker; and 
J. W. Evans, Carpenter. The office of "The Democrat" was in the "Democrat 
Building" N. E. corner of Bridge and Main streets.

	In 1881, an extensive history of Southeastern Dakota was published in book 
form by the Western Publishing Co., of Sioux City, Ia., and The Democrat is 
there mentioned as Dakota Democrat, and the date of the first publication, in 
its account of the "Sioux Falls Settlement," is asserted to be on the 20th day 
of September, 1858, but in a chapter entitled "Sioux Falls" we find the 
following account of this newspaper: "The first newspaper published in the 
Territory was issued at Sioux Falls. This was the Dakota Democrat, established 
in 1857 by S. J. Albright." These dates are clearly erroneous. And its assertion 
that Mr. Albright left Sioux Falls in 1860, taking the heading of The Democrat 
with him, may also be erroneous. But it is a fact that Mr. Albright left Sioux 
Falls about this time, and the paper thereafter was published as The 
Independent, this heading having formerly been used for a paper published in 
Iowa by F. M. Ziebach. During the last fifteen years we have seen several 
accounts of this newspaper enterprise, and they differ so much in regard to 
dates and other thing's appertaining to its publication which should be 
accurately stated, especially as it was the first newspaper published in Dakota, 
that we have taken great pains to ascertain and record the exact facts in 
reference to it. Further on, an account of the destruction of the press will 
appear as one of the incidents of the burning of Sioux Falls by the Indians the 
last of August, 1862.

	The Dakota Land Company, as already appears, was enterprising in its 
efforts to obtain possession of land in Dakota favorable for the location of 
towns, and, believing- that it will not be uninteresting, we transcribe a 
portion of a report which was submitted at the annual meeting of the 
stockholders of the company in October, 1859. This report was made by J. L. 
Fiske, showing the operation and progress made by the company from August 1, 
1858. It briefly referred to the report of Secretary Gay, made the year 
previous, from which it appeared that the company had suffered heavy damages and 
losses by the sacking and burning of the towns of Medary and Flandrau. The 
report then proceeded to show that during the year "twenty-six hundred and forty 
(2640) acres of scrip had been purchased to lay on six towns" and that "two of 
the directors of the company had taken charge of a special expedition into the 
Territory for the purpose of resurveying and establishing the required boundary 
marks to six, designated by the board, preparatory to entering them with the 
scrip on hand." That this party visited all these parts, and, after preparing 
the necessary plats and other papers, Messrs. Gay and Smith proceeded to the 
land office having jurisdiction, and successfully entered the towns. Two of 
these towns were in Minnesota, namely, Saratoga, in Cottonwood county, and 
Mountain Pass, situated at the head of Lake Benton. In Dakota four towns were 
located, and described as follows: "Medary, the county seat of Midway county, 
the first organized county in Dakota, situated on the Big Sioux river at the 
crossing of the government road, and twenty-five miles due west of Mountain 
Pass, two hundred and twenty acres; Flandrau, the county seat of Rock county at 
the junction of the Coteau Percee with the Sioux, fifteen miles south of Medary, 
six hundred and forty acres; Sioux Falls City, established seat of government 
for Big Sioux county, and the recognized capital of the Territory, at the falls 
of the Big Sioux, the head of navigation, three hundred and twenty acres; 
Emanija, the county seat of Vermillion county, at the mouth of Split Rock river 
and Pipe Stone creek, on the Big Sioux, thirteen miles below the Falls, and at 
the more practical head of navigation for large steamers, six hundred and forty 
acres."

	As already stated, the eastern portion of Minnesota Territory was admitted 
as a State in May, 1858, and this left all that portion of the present limits of 
the two Dakotas east of the Missouri and White Earth rivers in an unorganized 
condition. From this time until the Territory of Dakota was organized March 2, 
1861, the situation of the settlers was a peculiar one. During the summer of 
1858, the residents of the Sioux Valley were perplexed with the problem how to 
proceed in order to obtain the benefits of a duly constituted government. Of 
course, they appreciated the fact that such government must come through the 
organization of a territorial government, and this could only be established by 
an act of Congress. But this would take considerable time, and until it was 
accomplished, unless some provisional laws were enacted, each person would be a 
law unto himself. Again the question was considered how to best present this 
state of affairs to Congress, and obtain territorial organization. It was 
finally determined that it would be advisable to set up a government themselves, 
elect a legislature, and enact such laws as would answer their purpose for the 
time being, memorialize Congress for territorial organization, and elect a 
delegate to Congress to urge the immediate establishment of a territorial 
government. Having determined upon this plan, they proceeded to put it in force, 
and a mass convention was called for that purpose. The action of the convention 
appears from the following notice, which was printed on small slips of paper:

                           "ELECTION NOTICE.

	"At a Mass Convention of the people of Dakota Territory, held in the town 
of Sioux Falls, in the County of Big Sioux, on Saturday, September 18, 1858, all 
portions of the Territory being represented, it was resolved and ordered that an 
election should be held for members to compose a Territorial Legislature.

	"In pursuance of said resolution, notice is hereby given that on 

          Monday, the Fourth Day of October Next, at the House of

                           In the Town of

                            In the County of

An election will be held for---------------members of the Council 
and -------------- of the House of Representatives for said Legislature.

	"The polls will be opened at 9 o'clock in the morning, and close at 4 
o'clock in the afternoon of said day.

	"Dated at---------------------- this 20th day of September, A. D. 1858.
                  "(Dakota Democrat Print, Sioux Falls, City.)"

	With the thirty or forty souls who composed the population at that time, 
it required considerable ingenuity to arrange matters, and the elections were 
conducted in a somewhat peculiar manner. We learn from one of the members, that 
on the morning of election, the whole population organized into parties of three 
or four, elected each other judges and clerks of election, and then started off 
with their teams in various directions for a pleasure trip, and whenever a rest 
was taken, which occurred frequently, an election precinct was established, and 
the votes not only of the party but of their uncles, cousins, relatives and 
friends were cast, until as a result of the election the total vote rolled up 
into the hundreds, and was properly certified to.

	Soon after the election the legislature convened, and Henry Masters was 
elected president of the council, and at the close of the session was elected 
governor. S. J. Albright was elected speaker. This session lasted only a few 
days, but with due deliberation all needful bills for home government were 
introduced, discussed and passed. It also passed the strongest resolutions and 
memorials to Congress, praying for an early organization of the territory, and 
elected A. G. Fuller, Esq., to represent the Territory in Washington.

	Years afterwards in speaking of this legislative session, a member said: 
"There has never been a regular legislature in Dakota in which dignity, decorum 
and good order were better observed than in this squatter legislature, and it 
would be well for other legislatures to take pattern thereby."

	Mr. Fuller spent the winter of 1858-9 in Washington endeavoring to secure 
his admission as a delegate, but his efforts were of no avail, his influence 
being counteracted by that of Frost, Todd & Co., who desired to postpone the 
organization of the Territory as before stated. He succeeded, however, in 
establishing a post office at Sioux Falls. Mr. James Alien was made the first 
postmaster, and the-post office was located for a short time in the Dakota Land 
Company's building already referred to.

	At this point in the early history of events we have had not a little 
difficulty in sifting the truth from a mass of contradictory statements made by 
individuals, who were residents of Sioux Falls at the time of their occurrence. 
Judge Charles E. Flandrau, of St. Paul Minn., and one of her foremost citizens, 
about three years ago, desiring to obtain the exact facts concerning the first 
settlement of Dakota, and especially the facts in reference to the attempt to 
form a government on the principles of "squatter sovereignty," applied to S. J. 
Albright, then a resident of New York City, for the coveted information. This 
Mr. Albright is the same person who came to Sioux Falls in 1858, and was the 
editor of The Democrat. He complied with Judge Flandrau's request, and his 
narrative was so interesting and apparently correct, .that it was published in 
the Minnesota Historical Society's'Collections, Vol. VIII, Part II, pages 134 to 
147, inclusive. This narrative, with a preface by Judge Flandrau, has been 
published in pamphlet form, and through the kindness of the judge we have a copy 
before us. This narrative, while purporting to give an account of the first 
organized government of Dakota, entirely ignores the provisional or squatter 
legislature of 1858, in fact, not only ignores it,but declares that "the first 
legislative assembly of Dakota came together in Sioux Falls City in the winter 
of 1859." Mr. Albright would undoubtedly admit he was mistaken in this if he had 
before him Vol. 1, No. 4, of The Democrat published November 8, 1859, at Sioux 
Falls City, of which he was then the "Editor and Proprietor," for in that issue 
may be found the following account of the assembling of the legislature in 1859.

                   "DAKOTA LEGISLATURE.

	"Report for The Democrat.

	"The second session of the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of 
Dakota, convened at the Capitol House on the 2nd inst."

	Then follows the legislative proceedings up to and including Monday the 
7th day of November, 1859.

	Again Mr. Albright in the same issue says editorially under the caption of 
"Dakota Legislature:"  "This body convened for a second session the 2nd inst., 
that being the day appointed by law for its convocation."

	After having given the facts in reference to the legislative assembly of 
1858, and the election of Governor Masters, the propriety of referring to the 
inaccuracy of this narrative may be questioned, but it must be remembered that 
the narrative of Mr. Albright has the indorsement of the State Historical 
Society of Minnesota, and at some future time, when the evidence cannot be 
produced to sustain our statements, their accuracy may be challenged. Judge 
Flandrau in his preface to the pamphlet above referred to characterizes these 
incidents as "a most interesting and curious epoch in the history of the 
Northwest," and also says: "It presents the only actual attempt (excepting one 
earlier instance, the organizing of the "State of Franklin" in 1784, in the 
district which now forms the eastern part of Tennessee) to form a government on 
the principles of "squatter sovereignty."  If it is interesting, it is certainly 
important that all the incidents connected with it should be correctly recorded.

	In Vol. 1, No. 3, of The Democrat published August 26, 1859, there appears 
the following:

                      "ELECTION NOTICE.

	"Notice is hereby given, that on Monday, the 12th day of September, 1859, 
at the several election precints in the County of Big Sioux, an election will be 
held for the following named officers, to-wit:

	"A Governor, a Secretary of the Territory, a Delegate to Congress, four 
members of the Territorial House of Representatives, two members of the 
Territorial Council, a Judge of Probate, a District Attorney, three County 
Commissioners, a Sheriff, a Register of Deeds, a County Treasurer, a Coroner, 
two Justices of the Peace, two County Assessors, and two Constables.

	"Election to be held in the 1st Precinct at the Dakota House; 3d Precinct, 
at the house of Henry Masters; 3d Precinct, at the house of Charles Philbrick.

                        "J. M. ALLEN, "Clerk Board Co. Commissioners.
	"Dated this 6th day of August, A. D. 1859."

	Mr. Albright's narrative also ignores the fact, that Henry Masters was 
elected governor by the legislature in 1858, and here again we find in the issue 
of November 8, 1859, of The Democrat, the following notice of the death of Gov. 
Masters:

                       "DEATH OF GOV. MASTERS.

	"Since our last issue Dakota has been called upon to mourn the death of 
one of her oldest, ablest and most honored citizens. Henry Masters, her 
Governor, has been called from his sphere of labor and usefulness on earth, to 
that bourne from whence no traveler returns. His demise occurred on the fifth 
day of September last, after an illness of about ten days, and in the fifty-
third year of his age."

	We also find in The Democrat of August 26, 1859, an advertisement of S. J. 
Albright and J. M. Allen of Sioux Falls City, Dealers in Real Estate, under the 
firm name of Albright & Allen, and in their list of references the following: 
"Hon. Henry Masters, Governor of Dakota Territory."

	This would seem to settle the question that Henry Masters was the first 
governor.

	It is not an important matter, but the statement bv Mr. Albright that 
"Henry Masters was originally a Massachusetts man, and removed here from 
Dubuque, Iowa, with his family and effects" should be corrected. Gov. Masters 
was born in Bath, Maine, and came from the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., to Sioux 
Palls, his family remaining in Brooklyn, with the exception of his son Harry, 
who came here some time after his father, probably in 1859. Gov. Masters, on one 
occasion at least, preached a sermon in Sioux Falls, the first sermon preached 
in the county, and probably the first within the present limits of the State of 
South Dakota. It was in support of the Swedenborgian faith.

	On the 10th day of August, 1859, a convention was called to meet in Sioux 
Falls City to nominate a candidate for delegate to Congress, and, as Mr. 
Albright says in his narrative, "a few days subsequent to the adjournment of the 
convention, the community was startled bv the information that he (Gov. Masters) 
had been stricken with apoplexy at his home, and that death had followed the 
stroke," and as Gov. Masters died on the 5th day of September, it is undoubtedly 
true that there was a convention held on September 3, and was the only 
convention held that year, for it is a fact that candidates for other offices 
were nominated at this time.

	In reference to the nomination and election of Judge Kidder for delegate 
to Congress in 1859, we do not hesitate to affirm that the following statements 
can be fully substantiated. Judge Kidder came from St. Paul to Sioux Falls late 
in August, 1859, and was nominated for delegate to Congress on Saturday, the 3d 
day of September, and left Sioux Falls for St. Paul the forepart of the 
following week; that before the election took place, A. G. Fuller, who was 
absent at the time the convention was held, returned to Sioux Falls, and was so 
displeased with the fact that Judge Kidder had been nominated instead of 
himself, that the name of Judge Kidder was taken from the ticket and Mr. 
Fuller's substituted, and Mr. Fuller was voted for in the Sioux Valley. After 
the election Mr. Fuller went to St. Paul, and it was arranged between the two 
candidates that Judge Kidder should have the election, and a return was made 
from Pembina showing that Kidder had a majority over Fuller, and he received the 
certificate of election.

	Gov. Masters was nominated for governor at this convention, but his death 
created a vacancy on the ticket. Mr. Albright soon after the convention went to 
St. Paul, and during his absence his name was put on the ticket for governor in 
place of Henry Masters. Mr. Albright was elected governor, but, we are informed, 
did not qualify, and was displeased with his election, stating that he would 
prefer to be a member of the House, and its speaker, the same as he was the year 
before, and a certificate was issued to him as a member of the House.

	At the top of the first editorial column of The Democrat in its issue of 
November 8, 1859, the following appears:

                          "APOLOGETIC.

	"An unavoidable absence eastward, prolonged beyond desire or expectation, 
and our inability at the time of departure to procure mechanical aid in our 
office, must be our apology for the hiatus of several numbers which has occurred 
in the publication of the Democrat. A like occurrence has been provided against 
as far as may be in the future, and we trust that our readers will, in view of 
the causes which led to it, excuse the one just passed."

	The last issue of The Democrat before this, was on the 26th day of August, 
1859.

	When the second session of the legislature convened on Wednesday the 2d of 
November, 1859, it adjourned from day to day until Monday, the 7th, for want of 
a quorum. On that day Mr. Albright was nominated speaker by Representative C. 
Cooper, and was elected unanimously, and acted as such during the session of the 
legislature, which adjourned on the 18th of the same month. A bill was 
introduced in the House (H. B. No. 5) "providing for the death or resignation of 
the governor" passed by the House on November 14, and by the Council November 
16. It is a disputed question who was the governor after the death of Gov. 
Masters, but, according to the best information obtainable, we are confident 
that this bill No. 5 made the Hon. W. W. Brookings (who was then President of 
the Council) ex officio Governor. He signed the certificate of Judge Kidder's 
election as delegate to Congress "W. W. Brookings ex officio Governor," and sent 
it to him at St. Paul, but Judge Kidder sent it back requesting him to sign it 
as "Acting Governor," which he did. The members of the legislature were as 
follows:

                             COUNCIL.

	Midway and Rock counties-J. B. Amidon, W. W. Brookings. 
	Big Sioux and Pipestone-L. B. Atwood, James McCall. 
	Vermillion and Yankton- Joseph Scales, J. B. Greenway.

                               HOUSE.

	Midway and Pipestone counties-J. W. Evans, C. Cooper, J. E. Peters, 
William Stevens.

	Big Sioux--John Rouse, George Freudenreich, R. M. Johnson, S. J. Albright.

	Vermillion and Rock-William Little, Albert Kilgore, Amos Shaw.

	The council organized by electing- W. W. Brookings, president, C. S. 
White, secretary, B. Jarrett, messenger, M. V. B. Fisk, sergeant-at-arms.

	The members of the House were sworn in by J. McCall, and organized by 
electing S. J. Albright speaker, L. W. Stuart clerk, John Kelts sergeant-at-
arms.

	It is hardly probable that any members of this legislature were residents 
of Vermillion or Yankton counties. In looking up their residences, and 
especially the places where elections were held, we have come to the conclusion 
that no votes were cast in the Missouri Valley. The Hon. J. R. Hanson, now 
residing at Yankton, was a resident of that place in 1859, and in response to a 
letter written him in regard to the matter, he says: "There was a public meeting 
held at Yankton November 8, 1859, which declared among other things as follows: 
"We do not approve of any election that has been held, nor will we participate 
in any that may be held in any portion of this territory for the purpose of 
electing a delegate to Congress, but we trust in the wisdom and justice of 
Congress to provide us with a legal form of government at an early day." Copies 
of this resolution were ordered sent to Vermillion, Big Sioux, Bon Homme and 
Atkinson to be read at meeting's to be held at those places. This resolution was 
subsequently adopted at Vermillion, but I don't know about the other places.

	"From the foregoing it is fair to presume that no vote was had for 
delegate to Congress, representatives to a legislature or territorial officers. 
My personal recollection is that we did not participate in that election."

	This would seem to settle the question that this provisional government 
was participated in almost exclusively by Big- Sioux county, and especially so 
when the members of the legislature, Greenway, Brookings, Amidon, Evans, Peters, 
Little, Kilgore, Scales, Stevens and Shaw, accredited to Midway, Rock, 
Pipestone, Vermillion and Yankton counties, were well known residents of Big 
Sioux county.

	We are indebted to the columns of The Democrat for a partial report of the 
proceeding's of this legislature. Memorials to Congress to extend a territorial 
government over Dakota, to recognize Judge Kidder as a delegate, to recognize 
and ratify the laws passed, and to establish a land office at Sioux Falls, were 
passed. A bill providing for filling a vacancy in case of the resignation or 
death of governor, and bills for fixing the boundaries of Big Sioux county, and 
establishing the counties of Scott and Buchanan, were passed. Bills prohibiting 
the setting of prairie fires, the running at large of cattle and swine, the 
incorporation of the Sioux Falls Manufacturing Co., and the establishing of 
supreme and district courts were killed. Joint resolutions appointing a public 
printer, providing for the printing of the laws passed, and instructing the 
delegate to Congress to ask for the appropriation of $6,000 to defray the 
expenses of the government of Dakota for the current year, were passed.

	The year 1860 was a very quiet one, the settlers anxiously awaiting the 
result of Judge Kidder's efforts in their behalf. Very few immigrants came. 
Among those were J. B. Amidon and family.

	The year 1861 saw the hopes and expectations of the ambitious population 
realized. March 2, President Buchanan approved the bill for the organization of 
Dakota Territory, and President Lincoln hastened to perfect the government by 
appointing the following officers in accordance with the organic act: William 
Jayne of Illinois, governor; John Hutchinson of Minnesota, secretary; P. Bliss 
of Ohio, chief justice; L. P. Williston of Pennsylvania and J. L. Williams of 
Tennessee, associate justices; W. Gleeson of Maryland, district attorney; W. F. 
Schaffer, United States marshal.

	By a provision of the organic act, Dakota was made a distinct land 
district, and G. D. Hill of Michigan appointed surveyor-general. The name of 
"Dakota" was given to the territory for the reason that the numerous tribes of 
Indians who had inhabited this region from the earliest times known to the 
whites bore the general name of Dakotas, although each tribe had its peculiar 
name aside from the general one.

	The officers appointed by the president at once entered upon the discharge 
of their duties, and in June of the same year Dakota had a regular government. 
On the 13th day of July, 1861, Governor Jayne issued his first proclamation, 
dividing the territory into judicial districts and assigning the judges for 
each.

	July 29, 1861, Governor Jayne issued his second proclamation, dividing the 
territory into legislative districts, and appointing September 16, for a general 
election, when members of the legislature and a delegate to Congress should be 
elected.

	The first district comprised the Big Sioux Valley, and to this district 
was assigned two councilmen and four members of the House.

	The first general election held in the new territory was an exceedingly 
interesting one. There were three candidates for delegate to Congress: Capt. J. 
B. S. Todd, independent; A. J. Bell, union; and C. P. Booge, the people's 
candidate. Of 585 votes cast, Todd received 397, and was declared elected by the 
board of canvassers, who issued to him the certificate of election as the first 
delegate to Congress from Dakota.

	The members of the legislature elected from the first district were as 
follows: Council, Austin Cole and W. W. Brookings; House, J. C. McBride, 
Christopher Maloney, Geo. P. Waldron and H. S. Donaldson.

	The first legislature convened March 17, 1862, at Yankton, that place 
having been designated by the governor as temporary capital. At this session an 
act was passed establishing the County of Minnehaha, and authorizing the 
governor to nominate, and with the consent of council, appoint the county 
officers.

	The following officers were elected: judge of probate and treasurer, J. B. 
Amidon; register of deeds, Harry Masters; sheriff, J. W. Evans; commissioners, 
Wm. Stevens, Wm. Amidon, and B. C. Fowler; justice of the peace, James McCall.

	An act was also passed legalizing the official acts of James M. Allen as 
register of deeds, and James McCall as justice of the peace for the County of 
Big Sioux as organized under the authority of Minnesota. A memorial to Congress 
was also passed, praying for the establishment of a military post at Sioux Falls 
City for the protection of the settlers.

	During the previous winter. Company A, Dakota Cavalry, consisting of 
ninety-six men under Captain Nelson Miner, was organized and mustered into 
service in April, and a detachment of this company was stationed at the Falls. 
J. B. Watson, John McClellan and A. F. Shaw were members of this company.

	The spring and summer of 1862, were full of promise to the young County of 
Minnehaha, and had the Indians remained quiet all would have gone well with her. 
Fate, however, decreed otherwise, and the bright anticipations of the little 
band of pioneers who had toiled and endured so faithfully, were soon to be 
destroyed.

	In August the Indian uprising began again, and horrible massacres on the 
frontier of Minnesota were perpetrated, The news did not reach the Falls until 
some time afterward, but on the 25th of August an event occurred, which caused 
consternation among the settlers. This was the murder of Judge J. B. Amidon and 
his son. They left their home in Sioux Falls City early in the morning, to cut 
some hay on their land about a mile north, taking their dinners with them. When 
night came and they did not return, Mrs. Amidon became alarmed and notified the 
soldiers, who, fearing the worst, at once started in search of them. Not until 
the next morning was their search rewarded and their worst fears realized. They 
were found in a cornfield, adjacent to the hayfield, Judge Amidon, lying on his 
face, with a bullet hole through his back, and the son farther back in the 
cornfield, his body covered with arrows. It was evident that the judge had died 
instantly, but the boy had survived long enough to draw a number of arrows from 
his body. While the soldiers were searching" for the murderers a number of 
Indians appeared on the bluff with the evident intention of attacking the 
village, but on the return of the soldiers, they fled and escaped in the timber 
along the river.

	The settlers were now thoroughly alarmed, and when a day or two later 
messengers arrived with the news of the fearful massacres on the frontier, and 
with orders from the governor for the soldiers to proceed to Yankton and bring 
the settlers with them, they hastily gathered up such property as could be 
easily carried and, with heavy hearts, abandoned the earthly possessions they 
had fondly called their own.

	After their departure the Indians entered the village, destroyed 
everything they found, and set fire to the buildings. They ended the pioneer 
labors of the old Smith press by throwing it into the river, where it laid until 
1871, when it was rescued and placed on exhibition in the town. A part of it was 
sold to True Dennis, at that time popularly known as the "village blacksmith," 
and the bed lay for some time near where E. B. Smith's furniture store is now 
located, but Hiram Caldwell, living north of Sioux Falls, took it home and used 
it for a door step. R. F. Pettigrew discovering the use to which it was being 
put, and thinking it should be preserved as a relic of the first newspaper 
enterprise in the county, gave Mrs. Caldwell five dollars for it, and now has it 
in his possession. Mr. Pettigrew's brother Fred has the spindle. The Indians 
carried the type away with them, and some of it afterwards found its way back to 
the settlements in the form of ornaments to the pipes which they made of 
pipestone.

	Two months later a number of men with a small party of soldiers under 
Captain Miner came back to the deserted village in the hope of finding and 
taking back with them some of the movable property which had been left behind in 
their hasty flight. They found the house which had been occupied by W. W. 
Brookings (standing nearly where the Milwaukee depot is now located), and two 
others still left, the fire having died out without consuming the buildings as 
the Indians had expected. Among other things found and saved were some valuable 
papers belonging to Mr. Brookings, which were kept in a trunk and were partially 
burned.

	By October of this year all the settlements in the Sioux Valley were 
abandoned, and most of the settlers left the country. A few in Yankton and Bon 
Homme counties gathered at Yankton, where a good stockade had been built, and 
remained there through the troublous times, not knowing what moment they might 
be attacked by the savages and their lives sacrificed. For nearly three years 
the Sioux Valley remained almost deserted. A long and disastrous Indian war was 
feared, and the settlements were unguarded and defenceless, and murders and 
depredations were frequent.

	The second session of the territorial legislature convened on the first 
day of December, 1862, at Yankton, and after two weeks of contesting and 
quarreling, was finally organized.  The acts passed, relating directly to 
Minnehaha county, were as follows: the counties of Clay, Lincoln, Deuel, 
Minnehaha and Brooking-s were made the second council and representative 
district, and entitled to a representation of three members of the Council and 
six members of the House. The counties of Clay, Cole, Lincoln, Minnehaha, 
Brookings and Deuel were constituted the first judicial district of the 
territory, with the seat of jurisdiction at Vermillion, and the first Tuesday of 
May in each year appointed for the court to convene. Memorials to Congress were 
also passed, praying for the establishment of a mail route from Mankato in Blue 
Earth county, Minnesota, to Fort Randall in Dakota territory via Sioux Falls, 
and for the establishment of a military post at Sioux Falls for the protection 
of the settlers. The latter is given in full as a picture of the state of 
affairs in Dakota at that date, and reads as follows:

"To the Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War:

	"Your memorialist, the legislative assembly of the Territory of Dakota, 
would most respectfully represent that the frontier settlements of western 
Minnesota, northwestern Iowa, and southern Dakota will require for several years 
to come, military protection to guard the inhabitants and their property from 
the attacks and plundering of roaming hostile bands of Indians who are 
constantly ravaging that section of country; further, that all the frontier 
settlements of southwestern Minnesota, northwestern Iowa, and almost the entire 
valley of the Big Sioux river in Dakota, have been depopulated during the past 
summer through fear of hostile Indians, the inhabitants having been partially 
butchered in several of these settlements; further, that for the last six years, 
the Minnesota Sioux and the Yankton Sioux have been in the habit of coming down 
the river of the Big Sioux, to a rendezvous near Sioux Falls, then making that a 
base, strike off into northwestern Iowa and southern Dakota, where they steal, 
ravage and harass the settlers, then escape before any assistance can arrive 
from either Forts Randall or Ridgley, and had it not been for the soldiers 
stationed at Sioux Falls during the late massacre in Minnesota, it is more than 
probable, that a large number of the settlers in this territory would have met 
with the same fate as those of the State of Minnesota: Therefore, your 
memorialist would most respectfully ask, that a military post be established and 
occupied at an early day as possible on the Big Sioux river, in the vicinity of 
Sioux Falls. Your memorialist would further represent that said Sioux Falls is 
about half way between Forts Randall and Ridgley, on a direct line with the 
same, and that a military post at said point would not only protect the 
immediate vicinity of Sioux Falls, but would amply protect the frontier 
settlements of southwestern Minnesota, northwestern Iowa, and southern Dakota. A 
small force of cavalry stationed at said post would be able to keep all hostile 
Indians north and west of aline running from Fort Ridgley in Minnesota to Fort 
Randall in Dakota. Further, your memorialist would represent that there is 
abundance of building material at said Sioux Falls, and your memorialist will 
ever pray.

	"Approved January 2, 1863."

	At the legislative session in 1863-4, nothing affecting Minnehaha county 
was done, and it still remained deserted.

	At the fourth session of the legislative assembly, begun in Yankton on the 
5th day of December, 1864, and concluded-January 13, 1865, the following 
memorial was passed:

"To the Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War:

	"Your memorialists, the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Dakota, 
would most respectfully represent, that the safety of the people of southern 
Dakota and northern Iowa from the attacks of hostile bands of Indians require 
the establishment of two small military posts-one on the Big Sioux river in the 
vicinity of Sioux Falls, and one at the point on the Dakota river near a 
straight line between said Sioux Falls and Fort Randall. Sioux Falls is about 
half way between Fort Randall, Dakota, and Fort Ridgley, Minnesota, and your 
memorialists are of the opinion that such posts would give better protection to 
southern Dakota, than the system heretofore adopted, besides being far less 
expensive; therefore your memorialists pray for the establishment of such 
military posts; and as in duty bound will ever pray.

	"Resolved, That a copy of this memorial be sent to the Secretary of War, 
Hon. J. B. S. Todd and Hon. A. W. Hubbard.

	"Approved, January 12, 1864."

	In response to this prayer, on May 1, 1865, a military post was 
established at Sioux Falls, and Company E, Sixth Iowa Cavalry, under Captain 
Eicher, was ordered to take possession of the post. A tract of land ten miles 
long and seven miles wide, comprising the present township of Sioux Falls; 
sections 13 to 36, inclusive, of Mapleton township; sections .13, 24, 25 and 36, 
Benton township, and sections 1, 12, 13, 24, 25 and 36 Wayne township was set 
apart for a military reservation.

	Barracks were built by this company during the summer of 1865, also a 
stone house called the commissary building, as shown in the accompanying 
illustration. The barracks were located in part on what is now Phillips avenue, 
between Seventh and Eighth streets, the south end being about 125 feet north of 
Eighth street.  The larger building was about forty feet in width and thirty 
feet of the south end was west of the westerly limit of Phillips avenue, and 
nearly the entire north end was in Phillips avenue. A portion of the building at 
the right was built in 1866.

	On the 8th day of June, 1866, Company D, Twenty-second U. S. Infantry, 
under Col. Knox, arrived at Sioux Falls to relieve the cavalry, which left the 
same day the infantry arrived, only Dr. Nisley and Mr. Pratt, the hospital 
steward, remaining.

	With the establishment of a military post in the Big Sioux Valley peace 
and safety were secured, and gradually immigration began, though slowly at 
first, and it was not until 1869 that the population of Sioux Falls became as 
large as in the spring of 1862.

	The first sutler at Sioux Falls was A. F. Hayward, who came with the 
establishment of the post in May, but he afterwards sold out to Charles K. 
Howard.

	At the legislative session begun in December, 1865, and concluded in 
January, 1866, a memorial to Congress was passed, praying that a small number of 
bloodhounds might be placed at each military post, for the better protection of 
the lives and property of the citizens from the small bodies of Indians, who 
were frequently skulking in the tall weeds and timber along the streams, for the 
purpose of theft or murder. Congress was also memorialized for the establishment 
of a mail route from Sioux Falls to Ponca, Nebraska, by way of Brule Creek and 
Elk Point, with weekly service thereon.

	In the summer of 1866, a number of families settled in the county, among 
whom were John Nelson, John Thompson, Wm. Melvin, Sylvester Delaney, John J. 
Aasen, Jr., and Ole O. Gilseth.

	Nelson and Thompson left Goodhue county, Minnesota, with their wives, on 
June 4. They came across Iowa, and after leaving Spirit Lake saw no white people 
until they reached Fort Dakota. They took up land about ten miles from the fort, 
and Thompson is still living where he first settled. Melvin and Delaney took up 
land in the same vicinity. Melvin soon left for Kansas, but the log house he 
built is still standing about three-fourths of a mile north of Thompson's place 
and is occupied by Ole L. Floren and family. An account of the privations and 
hardships endured by Aasen and Gilseth in reaching Dakota, as translated from an 
issue of the Syd Dakota Ekko, published in November, 1895, will be found in the 
chapter of reminiscences.

	At the next session of the legislature, which convened at Yankton on 
December 4, 1866, and adjourned January 12, 1867, a memorial to Congress was 
passed, praying that a road be laid out and established from Elk Point up the 
Big Sioux Valley to Fort Dakota, and asking an appropriation of ten thousand 
dollars for that purpose. As all supplies for the fort were transported by teams 
from Sioux City by way of Elk Point, a road from the latter place to the fort 
was a necessity. A memorial was also passed asking that the unexpended balance 
of a previous appropriation amounting to three thousand dollars, be applied to 
improving and bridging the main traveled road from Sioux Falls to Yankton by way 
of the upper James river ferry.

	In 1867, Ole Gunderson, Foster Gunderson, Martin Gunderson, John Johnson, 
Larson Sweet, J. Larson, Ole J. Arnson and their families settled in the county.

	During the session of the legislature which begun December 26, 1867, at 
Yankton and concluded January 10, 1868, an act was passed to reorganize 
Minnehaha county. John Nelson, John Thompson and William Melvin were appointed 
county commissioners and Edward Broughton register of deeds.

	In the spring of 1868, John O. Langness and Sivert and Gullick Kringen 
started west, from Minnesota, to find a place suitable to organize a colony. 
They found no place that suited them so well as the Sioux Valley, and returning 
to Minnesota they came back in the fall, bringing with them a large number of 
Scandinavians, among whom were the following: Gudmund T. Ravlo and his sons, who 
are still living in the county; Nils Iverson, Iver and Nils Nilson, Rol-lof 
Pederson, J. Krogstad, Lars Kvarnmo, Jens Berg, Peder and Thomas Paulson; Paul 
A. Risvold and his two sons, Andrew and Peder Risvold; Gudmund Dalemo, Ole 
Thompson, Guttorm Ekio and his son Peter Magnus; John Bruaas, who settled at 
Baltic; Halvor Nyhus, Thorsten and Jonas Nassan and Ole Hougtro. O. B. Iverson 
and Ole Bergerson settled in Split Rock, and John Walker also settled there 
about this time. John Langness brought with him a whip-saw, which was in 
constant demand in constructing the houses the settlers began to build. Ole 
Thompson and Mr. Langness would saw two hundred feet of, boards with this saw in 
a day, John Thompson sent to the "old country" for one of these saws, and 
afterwards procured another nearer home, and there were two or three others in 
use in this vicinity. This method of manufacturing lumber by the early settlers 
affords a striking illustration of the limited advantages and resources of 
pioneer days.

	John Anderson Ole and Gunder Thompson settled about two miles from the 
present city of Dell Rapids. Ole Thompson used to help the Indians break their 
lands, and as his plow accomplished the purpose far better and in much shorter 
time than their implements, they gave him the name of "Maka-jubbedu-tanka" or 
"The great land-breaker."

	A large number of settlers came into the county during 1869, and several 
people located at Sioux Falls and engaged in business. Among them were N. E. 
Phillips, R. F. Pettigrew, John Hunter, Jephtha Billing, Clark G. Coats, and D. 
B. Reynolds. Mr. Duling brought his family, and moved into a cabin built by one 
of the soldiers very near where the Burlington depot now stands. At that time 
the only women Mrs. Duling found in Sioux Falls were Col. Duffy's family, and 
two of the soldiers' wives. Mrs. Duling, however, was accustomed to the 
privations of frontier life, having lived with her husband at Fort Randall from 
1863, until his discharge in 1865, and then on a ranch in Charles Mix county 
until they removed to Sioux Falls. Later on Mr. Duling built a house on the bank 
of the river near the cabin in which they first lived. In 1874, during a heavy 
wind, he was struck by the roof of an old shed and Instantly killed, Mrs. Duling 
soon after removed to Dell Rapids, where she married James H. Bishop, and 
resided until her death, which occurred August 18,1894.

	In those early days the only place where supplies of any kind could be 
purchased was at the sutler's store kept by C. K. Howard, and the prices paid 
would delight the hearts of the merchants in Sioux Falls nowadays, who have to 
contend with numerous competitors and keep up in the race of "cut prices." Then 
a spool of thread sold for fifty cents, calico was fifty cents a yard, and 
molasses two dollars a gallon.

	During the legislative session in 1868-9, a memorial to Congress was 
passed, stating that Fort Dakota was no longer needed as a protection to the 
settlements on the Big Sioux, and praying that it might be removed to Medary, 
sixty-five miles north of Sioux Falls, which resulted in the military post at 
Sioux Falls being vacated on the 18th day of June, 1869.

	In 1870 the military reservation was opened to settlers, and immigration 
steadily increased. Among those who came were Nils Noregaard and Nils Lauritsen 
from Denmark, who took up land along the river below the present site of Dell 
Rapids. James Nisbet, A. W.Hunt, Win. Dockstader, John Hoy, Mr. Richardson, and 
Byron D. Graves settled west and south of Dell Rapids. John Bippus, and Colonel 
Charles Alien settled at the Falls, and Dr. J. L. Phillips and John McClellan 
returned during this year to the scene of their old labors. Dr. Phillips came in 
June, and brought his family, and they moved into the officers quarters, located 
where E. J. Daniels' store is now.

	At the advent of Mrs. Phillips, there were only seven white women in Sioux 
Falls; and during the summer, in connection with Mrs. C. G. Coats, she 
established the Pioneer Union Sunday School. It was during this year that social 
matters began to have a standing in the community.

	The spring of 1871, opened auspiciously for Minnehaha county, and a large 
number of the most desirable class of citizens came to Sioux Falls and the 
surrounding country to make for themselves permanent homes. Improvements on 
quite an extensive scale were made during this year. R. F. Pettigrew built an 
office, Joe Dupries the Central House, W. H. Corson the Cataract Hotel, Wm. Van 
Eps a large store building; all of which were occupied for business purposes. 
During the fall of this year the first residence was built at Dell Rapids, then 
known as Dell City. The residents at the close of the year felt greatly 
encouraged by what had been accomplished during the year, and were hopeful that 
1872 would materially increase their prosperity and lessen the privations of 
pioneer life. They were not destined to disappointment,

	During 1872, new industries sprung up in Sioux Falls and Dell Rapids, and 
considerable land was taken up in the county by actual settlers; a saw mill was 
built at Dell Rapids by Dennis Rice, and a store building was erected during the 
summer; a newspaper outfit arrived the latter part of April, and the Dell City 
Journal soon made its appearance. In Sioux Falls several buildings were erected; 
C. K. Howard build a store 20x64 feet; Charles Hamilton, a photograph gallery; 
an Episcopal church was built; John McKee established a harness shop; J. J. 
Hancock, a shoe store; Blade & Castor, a meat market; Edwin Sharpe a lumber 
yard; and a bakery and restaurant were also amongthe new business enterprises. A 
weekly newspaper was started by W. R. Kiter on the 10th of April; the fourth of 
Julv was celebrated on the Island, and R. F. Pettigrew delivered the oration; 
the "Dive" was torn down, and a temperance society organized. Artemas Gale, 
Melvin Grigsby, and Thomas H. Brown were among the new settlers during this 
year.

	It has not occupied much space in giving in detail the improvements in the 
entire county prior to 1873, but during this year so much was done towards the 
development of this section that a general statement must suffice. Immigration 
set in early, and the Sioux Falls Pantagraph is responsible for the statement 
that "the prairies were teeming with schooners from the states." On the 15th day 
of May the Sioux Falls Independent, a weekly newspaper edited by C. W. McDonald, 
made its first appearance. The land office was opened for business in Sioux 
Falls June 9, and on that day seventy-three declaratory statements, sixty 
homestead and six cash entries were made, covering 32,240 acres of land. The 
Webber & Hawthorn grist mill commenced operation May 26. It appears from the 
Sioux Falls Pantagraph, in its issue of August 27, that there were thirty-two 
buildings in process of erection at that time in Sioux Falls. At the close of 
the year the Sioux Falls Independent enumerated the buildings completed during 
the preceding six months, and the list comprised twenty-five business buildings 
and fifty-nine residences; thirteen of these buildings were two stories high. A 
schoolhouse was also built, 22x40 feet. The Methodist congregation had at the 
close of the year a church building 20x 26 feet nearly ready for occupancy; and 
during the summer thirty thousand brick were manufactured by D. H. Tolbett. In 
the issue of the Sioux Falls Pantagraph of July 16, it appears that the barracks 
had been purchased by True Dennis, and in its next issue, July 23, "the barracks 
have been taken down and removed;" so there need be no question as to when these 
old landmarks of Indian warfare disappeared from the public view. At the close 
of the year Sioux Falls had eight lawyers, three physicians, two resident 
ministers, twenty carpenters, five masons, two hotels, two restaurants, two 
lumber yards, two blacksmith shops, two hardware stores, two meat markets, two 
wheelwright shops, two bakeries, one paint shop, one barber shop, one livery 
stable, two dealers in agricultural implements, and six general stores. It is 
needless to add that the people of Sioux Falls enjoyed the holidays in 1873, so 
much having been accomplished.

	During the winter of 1873-4 social affairs engaged the attention of the 
residents of Sioux Falls as never before; church socials, balls, sleigh rides, 
"and other festivities," as one of the local newspapers expressed it at the 
time, were of frequent occurrence.

	With the coming of spring quite a large number of people arrived in the 
county to settle, and some of the townships had their first settlers about this 
time.

	But the year 1874, which began so promising, will long be remembered by 
the older inhabitants as a year of adversities. Multitudes of grasshoppers 
visited this section, and complete destruction followed in their wake. All the 
crops were destroyed, and a large number of the settlers who had expected to 
raise enough to supply their wants were doomed to bitter disappointment. To meet 
this emergency a society was organized, and T. H. Brown visited the east and 
obtained a large quantity of clothing and food, which was distributed by the 
society; and $534.68 in money was also raised for the same purpose. The 
improvements during this year would not compare favorably with the year 
preceding, but several residences and a few business buildings were erected in 
Sioux Falls, and Valley Springs township had its first school and marriage.

	The events which make up the history of the county to the beginning of the 
year 1875 have been stated in the chronological order of their occurrence, and 
comprise the most important events that transpired during her transition state-
from the home of the savage to the dawn of civilization.

	It was during the early seventies that Minnehaha county passed through the 
most trying stage of her existence, and it is fortunate that the settlers were 
composed of men of remarkable energy and enterprise. During this period, mills, 
stores, shops, churches and schoolhouses were built, regular terms of court were 
established; the affairs of the county came under the control and management of 
a board of commissioners; projects for better transportation facilities were 
being considered, and the limitations of pioneer life were fast disappearing.

	How to best present to the reader the events that have transpired since 
then, has been a source of considerable anxiety to the writer. At first it was 
thought the better way would be to continue to chronicle the events in the order 
of their occurrence, but as the work progressed it became evident that this 
method was impracticable, especially after determining to give an account of the 
settlement and development of each township and municipality by itself, 
including a large list of biographical sketches of the residents.

	The plan was therefore adopted of first giving an account of the county 
commissioners' proceedings, courts and other kindred subjects in which all the 
people of the county are equally interested, to be followed by the local history 
of each township and municipality.