History of Dakota Territory, volume I, Part 79

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

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The third route commences at the Minnesota state line, and is designed to intersect the Niobrara road at or near Fort Connor on the Powder River. The location of this road is represented as highly favorable, and it is believed it can be completed at a comparatively small cost. As to what condition the last two roads are now in, or how much it will require to complete them, I am not able to inform you. It is to be hoped, however, that you will not lose sight of the importance of this subject upon the future interests of the territory. That we may reasonably expect great benefits from the opening of these thorough- fares through our territory is manifest, and we cannot be too importunate in pressing the necessity of ample appropriations for their early completion.

ARMS AND AMMUNITION .- Having been informed that we are entitled to 1,000 stand of arms with the necessary fixed ammunition, from the general Government, it becomes a matter of importance that you should at once provide a suitable building for their reception and safe keeping. The arms already belonging to this territory should be collected and deposited in the same place so that in case of emergency arising from hostility with the Indians we would have at hand more effectual means of defense than appears to exist at the present time. If this suggestion does not seem practicable, in your opinion, then it would be well to consider whether you should not, as the next best remedy. encourage, in the several organized counties, military organizations. with a view to deposit these arms with them for safe keeping. Funds must be provided, if you decide upon erecting or purchasing a building as above suggested, and also to pay the immediate cost and charges of transportation.

FORT JAMES DISCONTINUED .- For some time past the people of the southern or settled portions of Dakota have enjoyed the protection of a small military post known as Fort James, located near Firesteel Creek on the James River. This, together with a similar post at Sioux Falls known as Fort Dakota, has done much, it is believed, to create a feeling of security among the white people of the territory, and has given increased encouragement to immigration from the states. Recently, however, and at total variance, as 1 apprehend, with the peace, security and best interests of these infant settlements, an order has been issued removing the soldiers from Fort James to Fort Randall, a point remote from the ordinary route of hostile Indians, and west of the Missouri River. I cannot help viewing the decision of the military authorities in this instance as a grave mistake and only calculated to impair confidence in the efficiency of the protection which we have the right to expect. It is well known that raids from hostile Indians have heretofore, almost invariably, been made by the valleys of the James and Big Sioux rivers and that since the chain of posts, recently existing (but by this latter arrangement now partially destroyed), was established, those raids have not been repeated. It is believed that the protection thus afforded not only

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allayed the fears of the people, but had the effect to overawe the hostile and thieving bands of Sioux Indians from the Upper Missouri, and incline them to embrace the recent oppor- tunity afforded, by the presence of the peace commissioners, to secure favorable terms of peace from the Government. It is a fact also well understood by our citizens that Fort Randall, located as it is on the west bank of the Missouri River, is not in a position to afford the speediest and best possible protection to either the friendly Indians or the white settlers of the territory. Hostile parties from the north can invade the valley of the James, rob and murder, and again escape with perfect impunity before relief could be obtained from this source, owing to the distance of its location and the known difficulty of transferring cavalry across the river. But if a small force were retained at Fort James this protection would obviously be afforded and security would be vouchsafed to those hardy and enterprising pioncers who have established their homesteads among us. It would be well for you to consider this subject and take such steps as appear to you necessary to lay it fully before the general in command of the northwestern department.

OBJECT TO THE LOCATION OF THE SANTEES .- The present location of the Santecs, or Mississippi Sioux, on our immediate border is also a subject which calls loudly for an energetic remonstrance on the part of the representatives of the people of Dakota. Placed as this reservation now is in immediate proximity to a portion of our most promising settlements, it can not fail to exercise a most damaging influence upon our future prospects by discouraging the enterprise of present inhabitants, by turning from us the tide of emigration which has recently been setting in this direction, and by causing the people to look elsewhere for homes where safety to person and property can be depended upon. It is believed that their removal from their recent reservation at' Crow Creek was without the authority of law, on the principle that a power of this sort, once exercised, under the law conferring it, is exhausted and gone forever. Be this as it may, the act of Congress expressly limits the location to the "unoccupied lands outside the limits of any state." That the land recently set apart for them was and is yet occupied by white settlers, and that a large sum of money will be required to extinguish these titles is well known. Thus we see that in removing these Indians from Crow Creek, and from their prison at Davenport, and placing them upon the occupied lands in contact with our white settlements, an utter disregard of the law and the welfare of this community has been evinced, and we are com- pelled to anticipate a possible recurrence in Dakota of the horrors enacted by these savages in Minnesota in 1862. It is not too much to ask that the law under which the interior department has derived its authority, shall be strictly and fairly complied with, and that these Indians be placed upon the "unoccupied lands," away from our white settlements, plenty of which lands, as good as the law contemplates, can be found north of Fort Randall and the Yankton Sioux Reservation. This subject has been clearly and ably presented to the President, and also to Congress, by our delegate, and I have confidence that by proper cooperation on your part suitable action may be expected from the Government, and the evils to be dreaded under the present state of things may be averted before it is too late.

The Yankton and Ponca Indians continue to be the faithful friends of the Government, keeping their treaty stipulations unbroken and deserving at our hands kind consideration and encouragement. Owing to the favorable condition of their crops and the presence of faithful and acceptable agents their present condition is believed to be highly encouraging, affording grounds for the hope that they will in the future make rapid advancement at least in the more useful arts of civilization.

PUBLIC LANDS IN MARKET .- The subject of throwing the lands of this territory into market at this time might be worth your serious consideration. If once in the market, experience teaches us that much of the most desirable land would be absorbed by speculators and non-residents, who uniformly advance the nominal value for sordid purposes, or keep it for years from settlement or sale at any price. This result would operate oppressively upon the poor but worthy emigrant who might desire to make a permanent settlement among us and would have a pernicious effect upon the future growth and prosperity of the territory. Our interest lies in the opposite direction. We should encourage, by all the influence within our reach, the homestead and preemption laws, matured by the wisdom and patriotism of Congress. We should oppose the sale of these lands on any other terms than their permanent settlement and cultivation, and to this end should instruct our delegate in Congress, whose influence, I trust, would not be disregarded when brought to bear on so worthy and beneficent a measure as this. We should thus, in imitation of the policy evinced by the framers of the law, protect the actual settler, who may be willing under the humane Jaws above named to rear his humble cabin, cultivate the soil, and contribute to the strength, support and protection of the territory.

PROGRESS OF RAILROAD CONSTRUCTION IN DAKOTA .- It might be in place to mention that during the past summer and fall important progress has been made in the extension of railroads in this direction. The Chicago and Northwestern Road has already reached the Town of Dennison in Iowa and soon will be extended to Council Bluffs, where it will connect with and form part of the Great Pacific Railroad. A branch of this road is now projected to extend from St. John's to Sioux City, on our southeastern border, the nearest western point, which 1 am informed will be immediately put under contract and rapidly prosecuted to completion. It is estimated that this road will be in running order inside of twelve months, thus bringing these improvements within abont sixty-five miles of

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Yankton. We may expect vast and important benefits to accrue to this territory in various ways, by the completion of these roads, especially by the reduction of the time and expense of delivering and forwarding freights, and by increasing the facilities for travel and com- munication with other parts of the United States. And we may have hopes that at no very distant day the increase of population and business within our borders will justify the extension of this road to our capital, if no farther. Other roads are in contemplation, directly calculated to benefit us when completed, and in the success of which we cannot fail to take a lively interest.

THE NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD .- The Northern Pacific Railroad is to be located through the northern part of this territory, opening up by that route a railroad communica- tion with the Pacific States and the gold mining regions of Montana and Idaho. Another route is projected from a point in Minnesota to Yankton by way of Sioux Falls; also one trom St. Paul to Sioux City. But owing to the very limited information in my possession regarding these improvements I can furnish no satisfactory statement of their present condition or prospects. I can only say that they may be considered as favorable indications for the future of Dakota and that whatever encouragement can be given here by private or official influence, or through the action of our representative at Washington, should be rendered promptly and without hesitation, so that nothing on our part may be wanting to the complete accomplishment of enterprises bearing so directly upon the future welfare and destiny of this territory.

Agreeably to the duty enjoined upon me by law, I have made the suggestions which have occurred to me as claiming your immediate attention. Subjects of importance have doubtless been omitted, which may readily occur to your own minds and which I may before your adjournment attempt to supply.

Yankton, D. T., December, 1866.

A. J. FAULK.

TERRITORIAL TREASURER'S OFFICE

The territorial treasurer, I. T. Gore, who was a member of the Legislature, made a verbal report of the condition of the territorial treasury, which was or- dered to be reduced to writing.

Representative Ash, of Yankton, presented a resolution which provided for a joint committee of six from the House and three from the Council, to inves- tigate the revenue law and the transactions tinder that law in the County of Yankton. The resolution was passed, and Messrs. Ash, Collamer and Hoyt, of Yankton ; Kellogg, of Union ; Austin, of Clay, and McCarthy, of Todd, appointed on the part of the House, and Messrs. Fuller and VanOsdel, Yankton, and Stevens of Charles Mix, on the part of the Council. The committee was given power to send for persons and papers. The purpose of this investigation was to ascertain whether any dishonest or illegal practices had been engaged in by the reventic officers of Yankton County in connection with the assessment and collection of taxes of 1865-the first year when any effort was made to collect revenuc. The committee did considerable investigating, but found nothing to support the allegation of official dishonesty, but discovered that the methods pursued by the county officials had not been strictly in accordance with law. The otttcome of the investigation was the passing of a law authorizing the county commissioners to readjust the tax for 1865. In view of the general com- mendation and support which had been of recent years given to those who had endeavored to expose fraud and purify the public service of corruption and "graft," this action of the pioneer law-makers of Dakota is mentioned as an instance of the earliest awakening of the official conscience to the importance of probing into the official conduct of public servants charged with fiduciary responsibilities. Dakota, it may be claimed, sounded the earliest alarm.

The efforts put forth by Governor Faulk and the Legislative Assembly sectired the regarrisoning of Fort James, referred to in the governor's message, by two companies of infantry. The fort had been abandoned by order of General Sherman, leaving the James River Valley without military protection, and as this valley was the favorite trail of hostile Indian bands from the north and west, they were able to enter the settlements, commit depredations and escape before the Fort Randall authorities could be apprised of the incursion. Fort James, properly garrisoned, was looked upon as the most important strategic point in the southern portion of the territory, the only portion then occupied by white set-

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tlers. Notwithstanding its presumed importance, it was abandoned again within a little more than a year, and was totally destroyed by fire on the 20th of October, 1868. The origin of the fire was probably due to the burning of the surrounding prairies, though reports of a different character were at the time freely circulated. There did not seem to be any motive that would induce a white man to destroy the structure, and if it was the work of incendiaries, it is probable that a band of Indians, bent on depredations, believing that if it was left standing it would again be garrisoned by soldiers, an event they very much dreaded, reduced it to an ash heap. It was not rebuilt, and the valley settlers were never more disturbed.

THE COMMON SCHOOLS

The third annual report of the territorial superintendent of public instruction for 1866 furnishes much information regarding the early growth of Dakota's common school system and the condition of educational matters in the territory, and is here given in the belief that it will prove interesting and possibly valuable to the readers of this volume, particularly those engaged in educational work :

Office Board of Education, Yankton, D. T., December 10, 1866.

To the Honorable, the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Dakota:

Agreeable to your resolution of December 5, I have the honor to submit the third annual report of the superintendent of public instruction for the Territory of Dakota.

The past year has been one of unexampled prosperity to the territory; unexampled not only in the number of thriving industrious settlers who have come to dwell among us, but in the extent of valuable and permanent improvements. These improvements are to be seen not only in the thriving towns springing up on our thoroughfares, with increasing facilities for manufacture and trade, but in the substantial agricultural improvements that dot our beautiful prairies with happy cottage homes, generally surrounded with extensive and well cultivated fields, which, by the blessing of Providence, have this year yielded a bountiful harvest. So rapid has been the influx of immigration the past season that in some sections where there was not a single house in April of this year there are now flourishing settle- ments with valuable and permanent improvements, with school districts organized, suitable schoolhouses erected, and furnished with all the necessary fixtures for a good common school. We are admonished by our rapidly increasing population, by a lively and growing interest in the subject of schools, and by the earnest appeals of citizens from all sections of the territory for a school district organization, that the time will soon come when the benefits of our public schools will be extended to every neighborhood in this territory.

Within the past year the number of organized school districts in the territory has more than quadrupled, and the number of children of school age has increased in nearly the same proportion. In most of the districts schools have been maintained for a portion of the past year ranging from three to nine months. The schools have mostly been taught by competent instructors, and in some instances paid by moneys received from the county treasurers, the proceeds of the per capita tax, and in other districts by money raised by tax on real estate and personal property in the school districts, and by subscription. It is to be presumed that few if any of the districts are so perfectly organized as to reap the full benefit of our generally acceptable school law. It will require some little time for the machinery of the law to get into operation so that the full amount of money to which the public schools are by law entitled will be faithfully collected and judiciously expended. The following table exhibits the amount of money raised for school purposes, the sources from which it came, and the manner in which it was expended, together with such other information as could be gleaned from the mneagre reports of county superintendents :

Bon Homme County has 1 teacher, 25 scholars, and has paid $36 for teaching during the year.

Clay County has 5 organized districts, 5 teachers, 200 scholars; has expended $200 on school buildings, and $380 to pay teachers.

No reports from Todd, Charles Mix, Buffalo, or Gregory counties.

Union County has 10 organized districts, 5 teachers, 336 scholars ; has paid $606.19 for teaching, and has $1,000 worth of school property.

Yankton County has 2 districts, 3 teachers, 198 scholars; has paid $495 to teachers, $25 for maps and charts, and owns school property worth $1.700.

It is an admitted fact that in order to become a skillful practitioner in any profession, constant study and practice is required. as well as a mutual interchange of ideas. To this end lawyers, physicians and clergymen have their societies, calculated to aid its members in the practice of their profession. The same is true of farmers and all classes of mechanics. Of all occupations, that of teaching requires a mutual interchange of ideas in order to de- velop the facultics. To become a successful teacher requires not only a good perceptive

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faculty and ability to comprehend an idea, but it requires an aptness to teach and to impart to others in a pleasing and interesting manner whatever idea we may wish to convey. This is sometimes a natural gift, but most generally it is an acquired faculty and in no way can be more easily acquired than by attendance on teachers' institutes. Previous to the year 1825 no normal schools or teachers' institutes were organized, but so popular have these institutions become of late that every state boasts of at least one, and some have four, normal schools. In addition to these state institutes, most states establish by law county insti- tutes for the drill of their own teachers, and all teachers of the county are required to be present at these training schools. These county institutes hold sessions varying from two to six weeks. The usual school hours are spent in thoroughly reviewing the studies usually taught in common schools and in the discussion of subjects pertaining to school government, and the evenings are occupied by lectures from competent persons whose addresses are not only pleasing but highly instructive. If we expect to keep pace with the progressive methods of instruction of the present age, our teachers must continually study. Teachers' institutes can be conducted by the county superintendents and the superintendent of public instruction without any extra expense, and would be of incalculable value to our teachers. In order that our teachers may be furnished with a school of training easily accessible and within the reach of every teacher in the territory, I would recommend that the school law be so amended as to require of the superintendent of public instruction, with the assistance of county superintendents, to hold annually, at the county seats of Union, Clay and Yankton counties, alternately, a teachers' institute, to commence on the first Monday of November, and to con- tinue for two weeks, which institute or training school shall be free to all teachers of the territory, and all persons preparing for teachers.

In most counties the per capita tax has been collected, and will be distributed to the several districts in April next. A considerable sum would accrue to the school fund in each county from fines and forfeitures, and other sources, if they were collected. I would rec- ommend that county superintendents be made the guardians of school funds in their respective counties, and that they be authorized to call to their counsel and assistance the county attorney, if they shall deem it necessary, in the collection of such fines and for- feitures as may be due to the school fund. It was the intention of the board of education and superintendent of public instruction to hold a convocation of schools in each county at the county seat thereof, early last spring, but circumstances over which the school officers had no control, prevented. I would here renew the suggestion to hold in cach county, in the early part of the summer, a convocation of all the schools in said county. If county superintendents will act in conjunction with the territorial superintendent in this matter, I doubt not that much good can be accomplished.

There is now no way of appeal from the decision of the district board except to a legal tribunal. I would suggest the propriety of providing a law of appeal, so that when a person feels himself aggrieved by the action of the district board, an appeal may be taken within a specified time to the county superintendent, and from his decision to that of the proper officer.

It is unfortunate for the educational interests of the territory that the larger schools cannot be supplied with permanent teachers. Transient teachers have not half the incentive to study and improve that permanent teachers have. The standard of qualification for teachers is low enough at best, and every facility should be extended to teachers that will aid them in acquiring a more perfect knowledge of the art of teaching. I would suggest to teachers to subscribe for and peruse carefully some educational journal. Teachers should be exemplary in life; always kind and courteous to pupils as well as to "children of a larger growth." It is a responsible position to occupy, that of a teacher of youth, and he who esteems it lightly, or has no love for the work, is not worthy of the name of teacher.

It is with pleasure that we witness an increasing interest in the subject of schools. We are called upon by every interest dear to us to support good and sufficient schools for the education of our children, in every district. It is far cheaper and better to maintain a good school in our own district than to send our children to a distant school to be educated by strangers. Let us remember that every dollar invested in schools pays a better interest than a dollar invested in any other way except for bread, and that it is as much the duty of every parent to look after the education of their children, intellectually, morally and phys- ically, as it is to provide them with food to cat or clothes to wear. Governor Berkeley, of Virginia, once said : "1 thank God there are no free schools or printing offices in Virginia, and I hope we shall not have these hundred years." I rejoice that we hear no such senti- ments uttered now. I prefer that other sentiment spoken by a later governor of the Old Dominion : "Give your children a good common school education, and the faithful instruc- tions of the Sabbath school, and if after that you are compelled to send them out into the world to shift for themselves you need not have any fears concerning them." A good com- mon school education is the motive power, and well-developed moral faculties the compass, that will guide their possessors to honorable stations in society, which many a wealthy but uneducated man might well covet.

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History of Dakota Territory, volume I, Part 79

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