History of Dakota Territory, volume I, Part 35

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1198

USA > South Dakota > History of Dakota Territory, volume I > Part 35

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The members of the council were all present. They had been chosen by districts as defined by the proclamation of the governor, and there were no contested seats, though James McFitridge of Paulina filed a notice of contest for the seat held by W. W. Brookings of Sioux Falls, after the session had been inaugurated. From the First District came W. W. Brookings, of Sioux Falls, and Austin Cole, of Sioux Point; Second District, Henry D. Betts and John W. Boyle, both of Vermillion; Third District, Jacob Deuel, west of the Vermillion River ; Fourth District, Enos Stutsman and Downer T. Bramble, Yankton; Fifth District. John H. Shober, Bon Homme; and Sixth District, J. Shaw Gregory; this district being west of Choteau Creek and also west of the Missouri and north of the Niobrara River, called Mixville; also Fort Randall.

The ceremony of organizing began with the calling of the roll of members by Hon. John Hutchinson, as returned to the secretary of the territory. The members then stood before Chief Justice Philemon Bliss with the right hands uplifted and took the oath of office, which the venerable jurist adminstered with due solemnity. This was followed by a prayer from Rev. Mr. Ingham, the Methodist clergyman. The council then proceeded to effect a temporary organ- ization by the election of Enos Stutsman, Yankton, president: James Tufts, of Mixville, secretary ; E. M. Bond, Vermillion, assistant secretary; W. R. Good- fellow, Elk Point, messenger; Charles F. Picotte, Yankton, sergeant-at-arms ; and Rev. S. W. Ingham, Vermillion, chaplain. A permanent organization immediately followed, the only change being the election of John H. Shober, Bon Homme, as president. Still Mr. Stutsman had been elected first president of the first council.

The members-elect of the House of Representatives, thirteen in number, were: First District, John McBride, of Elk Point, and Christopher Maloney, of Sioux Point: Second District, George P. Waldron, of Sioux Falls; Third District, Hugh Donaldson, Pembina, who was absent; Fourth District, Lyman Burgess and A. W. Puett, of East Vermillion; Fifth District, Bligh E. Wood and Jacob A. Jacobson, West Vermillion; Sixth District, M. K. Armstrong, Yankton, and John Stanage, James River Crossing; Seventh District, George M. Pinney and Reuben Wallace, Bon Homme; Eighth District, John L. Tiernon, Fort Randall.

The roll was called by Secretary Hutchinson, and all were found present except Mr. Donaldson of the Red River of the North District, who had not yet reached Yankton ; and the oath of office was then impressively administered by his honor, Chief Justice Bliss. The divine blessing was then invoked by Rev. M. D. Metcalf, of Bon Homie. A temporary organization was then effected, which must have been for the purpose of testing the good faith of the members in abiding by a prior agreement regarding the distribution of the various offices

197

HISTORY OF DAKOTA TERRITORY

to be filled, as the permanent organization which followed, without the inter- vention of other business, was a reaffirmation of the first, and is here given :

Mr. Armstrong, of Yankton, nominated Mr. Pinney, of Bon Homme, for speaker, and he was elected by the unanimous vote of the members and escorted to the chair, where he delivered a brief address as follows :

Gentlemen of the House of Representatives: I do not solicit your attention for the purpose of making a speech, but to express my thanks and gratitude for this mark of your respect and confidence manifested by selecting me to stand for and represent the will of the assembly.

I desire to assure you that I shall endeavor not to be so undmindful of my duty as to trample on the rights of any member of this House, and that there is no want of feeling in my heart to look strictly after the interests of each individual member so far as it is within my province and capacity so to do. I can see no reason why we cannot have a session remarkable for its rapid and beneficial transaction of publie business ; the best motives seem to be apparent, party prejudices are out of the way, and the grave influences of the times in connection with the responsibility which rests upon us as members of the first Legislature of Dakota, ought to be sufficient to invite us to our best efforts. I trust you will not consider me attempting to pronounce a homily when I say that if we would succeed as the first law makers of Dakota Territory we should have energetic action, and that we should also have a true and lively friendship existing among us, that generous sentiment not incompatible with honorable emu- lation which encourages a member instead of dragging him down, which throbs and delights when he aequits himself fairly in debate, which hastens to pardon his faults and follies, is as ready to grant pardon as to accept it, and to award praise as to court it. Knit together by these manly sentiments, we can fondly hope that, wherever our lots are cast in future years, we will look back with pleasing thoughts upon our relationship in this House, and so long as life lasts, will we regard it with a feeling akin to that which hallows the place of our birth, and consecrates in our memory the scene of our early years. Thanking you again for this expression of your kindness and confidence, I accept the position assigned me, assuring you that I shall use every effort commensurate with my ability to discharge the duties of the office in a faithful and impartial manner.

At the conclusion of the speaker's address the House proceeded to perfect its permanent organization by the election of the persons whose names and office, follow :

J. R. Hanson, Yankton, chief clerk: James M. Allen, Sioux Falls, assistant clerk ; Daniel Gifford, Bon Homme, enrolling clerk ; James Somers, Sioux Point, sergeant-at-arms; Ole Anderson, East Vermillion, fireman ; A. B. Smith, Tower Bute, messenger ; Rev. M. D. Metcalf, Bon Homme, chaplain. Mr. Waldron nominated Henry Masters for assistant clerk and Mr. Puett nominated A. A. Partridge for sergeant-at-arms, but they were unsuccessful.

Both houses appointed committees to wait upon the governor and notify him of the organization and also committees to notify each other of their organization and then adjourned ; the council to meet at 9 A. M. and the House at 2 P. M.

On the second day of the session the two houses appointed the hour of 2 o'clock P. M. on Wednesday, the third day to meet in joint convention at the hall of the House to receive the message of Governor Jayne. At the appointed time the joint convention assembled and the governor, by his private secretary, Geo. W. Lamson appeared and read the first communication made by a governor of Dakota to a Dakota Legislature. This document is a part of the carly history of Dakota Territory. It displays many features that will be warmly commended, and discloses a knowledge of the resources of the territory that could only have been acquired by earnest study of the subject. The feature that will attract the most attention and comment at the present day is that which endeavors to picture the future of our nation and our territory or state a half century hence. The language of the governor seems truthfully prophetic as he dips "into the future far as human eye could see." The message follows :

GOVERNOR JAYNE'S FIRST MESSAGE

Yankton, S. D., March 17, 1862.

Gentlemen of the Council and House of Representatives:

In assembling at this period of internal dissension and Civil war, it would appear that we have especial reason to return thanks to an all wise and beneficent Providence for the peace

198

HISTORY OF DAKOTA TERRITORY

and quiet which the people of our territory have enjoyed; also for the bountiful harvest we have gathered; and the unparalleled good health we have been blessed with during the past year throughout our settlements.

Let us express the hope and faith, and offer an carnest prayer, that the same Providence that directed our forefathers, more than two centuries since, across an unknown trackless ocean, to plant in the Western World the germ of civil and constitutional freedom, and which directed Washington through all the perils of the American Revolution, will direct and guide the Federal Government through the struggle that now threatens her unity and life, until peace is secured and the majesty of the Constitution and laws are vindicated, and the people of all the world are rejoiced to behold the temple of constitutional liberty, safe, secure, rest- ing upon a basis unmoved and immovable-the affection of the people.

By an act of Congress, on the second day of March, 1861. the territorial government of Dakota was created. By virtue of the provisions of that organic act. you have been chosen by the voters of Dakota to compose the first legislative assembly. To you they have dele- gated the authority to enact laws necessary for the protection of property, the security of life, and the efficient guarantee of all the social and civil rights, privileges, and immunities pertaining to the citizens under our free constitutional form of government.

It is well for you to remember that you are not legislating alone for today, but also for an indefinite future-not for the few thousand now resident in the territory, but for the tens of thousands who will soon be attracted within our limits. Impress yourself with the responsibility resting upon you, and go forward in your labors in founding a civil structure, with liberal and enlarged views of the duties devolving upon you. In judging correctly of the future, and calculating upon the coming wants and necessities of the territory. it is proper to examine our surroundings, to reflect upon our soil, climate, and the natural resources of the country,

Dakota Territory extends from the 43d to the 40th parallel of north latitude, and from the 97th to the 113th parallel of longitude-embracing an area of country greater in extent than all New England, combined with the great states of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois and Missouri. Occupying the most elevated section of country between the Arctic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico; forming to a great extent the water shed of the two great basins of North America, the Missouri and Mississippi rivers and the tributaries of Hudson's Bay. Thus within the limits of Dakota are found the sources of rivers running diametrically opposite; those flowing northward reach a region of eternal ice, while those flowing south- ward pass from the haunts of the grizzly bear and the regions of wild rice, through the cotton fields and the sugar plantations of the southern states until their waters are mingled with the blue waves of the gulf.

The general surface of the country east and north of the Missouri is a beautiful, rich, undulating prairie, free from marsh, swamp or slough, traversed by many streams, and dotted over with innumerable lakes of various sizes, whose wooded margins, and rocky shores, and gravel bottoms, afford the settler the purest of water, and give to the scenery of the territory much of its interest and fascination. West of the Missouri the country is more rolling, and gradually becomes broken, hilly, and finally mountainous as the western limits are reached and terminated by the Rocky Mountains. The mighty Missouri runs through the very heart of our territory, and gives us more than one thousand miles of navigable water course; thus giving us the facility of cheap water transportation, by means of which we can bear away the surplus products of our rich, luxuriant lands to southern markets, and receive in ex- change the trade and commerce of all climes and lands. We have, located on the Missouri. Big Sioux, Red River of the North, Vermillion, Dakota ( James) and Niobrara rivers, millions and millions of acres of the richest and most productive lands to be found anywhere within the bounds of the national Government. We have combined, the pleasant, salubrious climate of Southern Minnesota, and the fertility of soil of Central Illinois.

The incentive to immigration is so great, and the inducements and advantages so promis- ing, that it is no idle fancy which pictures the towns and cities which are soon to cover and enrich our hills and valleys and river sides. In arriving at a correct estimate of the probable settlement of our territory, it is well to bear in mind some very favorable facts which promise much in the development of our resources and increase of our population. Thermal statistics and experiments prove, that within the limits of our territory are to be found both the climate and soil necessary to produce most successfully the two great leading staples of American agriculture-corn and wheat. We find that starting from Chicago as a point, that the isothermal lines rise to a higher and higher degree of latitude as you go westward. We find that Fort Benton, on the Missouri River, in the extreme northwest part of Dakota, possesses the same mean temperature of Chicago and Albany, N. Y. The corn producing belt of country which runs through Ohio, Indiana and Illinois extends north and west through lowa, up the Valley of the Missouri, through Dakota. According to Blodgett, the author of a very able and interesting work on the climatology of the United States, the thermal capacity required for the successful cultivation of Indian corn is a mean temperature of 67º for July, and it may go a little beyond 65° for the summer. According to the same authority, the thermal capacity required for the successful cultivation of wheat is a mean temperature from 62 to 05° during the ripening months. Statistics prove that our territory possesses a considerable excess of the temperature required, being beyond 70°. Another fact should be born in mind. that while we are not flooded with the excessive spring rains which often retard the putting

199

HISTORY OF DAKOTA TERRITORY

in of crops in the states southeast of its, yet we do have in the late spring and early summer months copious showers, which supply vegetation with all the moisture needed for the rapid growth which is characteristic of this region. The capacity of our territory for raising in- mense herds of cattle, and for the production of large crops of corn, wheat, oats, rye, barley, buckwheat, potatoes, sorghum, melons, fruits and vegetables, demonstrates the ability of our country to sustain a dense population.

Our territory possesses a climate especially conducive to health and longevity. Occupy- ing an elevated section of the country, we are free from the humid, raw, chilly weather often prevailing in the central western states. We have a dry, bracing atmosphere, which gives tone and vigor to the physical system. We have a temperature sufficiently high in July and August to insure the rapid growth and maturity of all our cereal products ; yet our hot weather is not continuous enough to engender those malarious diseases, ague, bilious fevers and dysentery, which prevail in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. What were once the great wheat pro- ducing states of the country are becoming less and less so each succeeding year. The uncer- tainty of the crop discourages its cultivation in those states and the growing demand for shipment to western Europe must be supplied from other sources. I venture the prediction that the wheat growing belt of this continent will yet be found in the valleys of the Red River and Saskatchewan. The day is not distant when the eye, which can now behold only the vast expanse of prairie and the tall, luxuriant grass waving before the wind, will rest gratified and contented upon the farm and workshop, the schoolhouse and church. We should bear in mind that within the last thirty years the great states of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Missouri have been settled up, and that within twenty years Iowa and Wisconsin have been rescued from the possession of the roaming Indian and subdued to the usages of civilized man. Thus has one generation witnessed an arca of country no less than ours. transformed from the hunting ground of the Indian, the scene of the chase and war dance, and converted and divided into six of the most populous and thrifty states of the Union.

Shall we not judge of the future by the nast ? As regards soil, climate, beautiful uplands. rich prairies, luxuriant bottoms, productive mountain valleys, mineral wealth, navigable rivers upon which to float our cereal products and commercial exchanges, what section of country within the broad confines of our republic is fairer, or lovelier, or richer, or more inviting as the home of the active, intelligent and industrious citizen? Before a generation shall have passed, more than a million of people will be living in the Valley of the Missouri alone. The Pacific Railroad will have been long completed, connecting the two oceans with its iron bands. The trade with India and Japan, the commerce of the opulent and gorgeons East will pass through our borders on its way to the great cities on the Atlantic. By the transit of a world's commerce over 1.000 miles of our territory. we derive incalculable benefit. The experience of 6,000 years and the verification of all history is pointed and conclusive that intelligence, prosperity and opulence are the result of intercourse between nations. Along the great highways of the world, where pass and repass the goods, wares, merchandise, the products, the commodities, and the wealth of nations, there towns and cities spring up, manu- factures are established. and all the industrial arts are quickened and encouraged, and from these centers ramify and extend rivulets of business and avenues of wealth.

I congratulate you, gentlemen, as the representatives of the people who are most fortu- nately and happily located in a portion of this country which possesses within itself all the elements which are necessary to constitute a great, prosperous and powerful state. Our rich alluvial lands will produce the corn, and the broad prairies the nutritious grasses which are ample to feed and support cattle enough to supply every market in the Union. The salt lakes in the northern part of the territory can furnish inexhaustible supplies of the best of salt. The high, rolling prairies south and west of the Missouri seem especially intended for the herding of sheep and the growth of wool.

The falls on the Big Sioux furnish a motive power sufficient to drive all the machinery of the New England mills.

The Black Hills, and the mountain ranges at the sources of the Wind River, Yellow- stone and Missouri, are rich beyond conception in mineral resources of coal, copper and iron. The explorations and discoveries at Pike's Peak and on Fraser River, connected with the geological formation of the western part of Dakota, would indicate these facts; but what is more satisfactory, we are already in possession of actual knowledge in relation to the mineral deposits of that region, obtained by the discoveries of missionaries and trappers, who, braving all trials and dangers, have visited that region which has been scarcely marked by the boot print of a white man. With all the elements of power surrounding us, we need but numbers combined with industry, intelligence and virtue, to make Dakota one of the most desirable and potent states of the Government.

Gentlemen, upon the result of your legislative action depends in a great measure the rapidity with which this territory is to be settled up and her mighty resources developed, and her place claimed as one of the bright states which shall emblaze on our national ensign. It is your duty, and I doubt not the result of your labors will be, by the exercise of just, wise and judicious legislative action, to invite and encourage immigration, to stimulate settlement in our midst, and to attract within the limits of our territory thousands of people who each year leave their homes in the older states to seek new homes and participate in the common benefits incident to all new countries. Laying the foundations of government, and erecting thereupon a solid civil structure, beautiful and symmetrical in all its parts, will require earnest.

200

HISTORY OF DAKOTA TERRITORY

thoughtful consideration, based on all the light you can obtain from an examination of the enactments of the different states and territories of our country. Among the different sub- jects which will demand your attention not the least will be a system of civil and criminal laws; an educational system; a military system; the character of your country organization ; a county and territorial financial system; to the extent of powers proper to be granted to corporations, of a moneyed, mining, manufacturing or railroad character. I trust you will give due deliberation to all your enactments of civil and criminal law.

The peace, quiet and stability of society depend upon the protection and security of prop- erty, liberty, and life. In a natural state of society, without any form of government, every man is compelled to rely upon his own individual protection for the maintenance of his rights and the enjoyment of his property, and security of his life. With the organization of society, law and government, every one concedes and gives up a portion of his natural rights, and deiers to law and authority for the adjustment of questions and the decisions of claims which otherwise could only be settled by force. Therefore, it is due from the Government to the citizens, that what he has relinquished of his national rights should be more than compensated in the security of person and property by the guarantee of law. Therefore it becomes your duty to secure to every citizen the peaceful possession and enjoyment of all his rights of property and person ; also enact laws which shall deal out prompt punishment to all evil doers and violators of law. Criminal law should not be so harsh and cruel as thereby to defeat itself, but it should be just in its retributions, and severe in proportion to the offense committed. I trust and believe that your record of both civil and criminal law will be such as will com- mend itself to the approval of an enlightened age and an advanced civilization. I believe in the truthfulness of the remark of one of the most sagacious of our revolutionary states- men, "that the great hope of a free people was dependent upon her educational and militia systems."

There is no subject more vital to the prosperity and general welfare of the territory, than the subject of education. The virtue, intelligence and public happiness of a people, and all that conduces to the advancement of the prosperity, wealth and power of a country, is inti- mately associated with, and dependent upon, the development of the educational interest of the state. In communities where truth, virtue, intelligence and knowledge prevail, there crime is rare, and poverty almost unknown. Every dollar of taxes levied for the support of schools lessens, by many dollars, the taxes which would be assessed for the support of prisons and poor houses. If attention to one interest more than another has made Massachusetts the first of the great, rich, proud and powerful commonwealths of the Union, it has been the ever watchful, constant, liberal encouragement and aid given to her educational interest. I recog- nize the difficulties you must encounter in your efforts to establish a practical and efficient system in our, at present, sparsely settled territory. Let us, at least, take the first steps, and show to all who may be looking to our territory for a future home, that we are not unmind- ful of the great interests of education and the proper moral and intellectual training of the youth of our land.

Every nation relies more or less upon her militia system for the maintenance of her authority at home, and vindication of her national rights and honor abroad. A free people are and should be ever jealous of a large standing army. Those nations who enjoy a consti- tutional form of government are more dependent upon their militia than those ruled by arbi- trary power. A free people, whose laws and government are the expression and creation of the popular will, are averse to a regular army, which eats up the resources of the industrial classes ; they rely chiefly upon the citizen soldier in any emergency which shall give occasion for the use of military force. Holding, as we do, the most advanced outposts of settlements, having a widely extended frontier exposed to the hostile incursions of a savage foe, it is imperative that we institute and cultivate a plain, economical, and thorough militia system, adapted to our situation, and adequate to the necessities of our people.

The slavery question has been an exciting and distracting subject of dispute, of late years, in the territories. I hope we may he free from it. I would recommend to your body that you pass a law prohibiting, for all time to come, in this territory, slavery or involuntary servi- tude, except for crime. I shall hope to see such a law passed without a dissenting voice. I hope that the free air of Dakota may never be polluted, or her virgin soil pressed by the footprint of a slave. Congress having seen proper to create this territory without exercising her authority in prohibiting slavery, to us, therefore, has devolved the welcome task of record- ing our approval of the sentiment of Jefferson, when he declared slavery was "a moral, social and political evil." There is a conflict between the principles of freedom and slavery. That conflict has existed from the creation of the human race. There is an eternal antagonism between the principles of freedom and slavery. The constitution of the human heart and human mind makes the conflict inevitable, and sooner or later one or the other must gain the supremacy. Liberty is neither a cheat. a delusion, or a lie, but a vital principle of the human heart, born of the nature of man and the revelation of God-it is eternal and cannot die. Recognizing these self-evident truths. I trust that we shall start right. Let us by a prohibitory enactment express our repugnance of an institution which today convulses the continent, arrays a million of men in arms, interrupts our commerce, suspends business, pros- trates trade, and paralyzes all the industrial interests of the country; which has darkened the home, widowed the wife, and made fatherless the children of some of the bravest and noblest on the land, and bequeathed to our children and children's children an untold burden

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Dakota Territory, volume I, Part 35

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920 Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1198

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1198