History of Dakota Territory, volume III, Part 43

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1146

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In 1902 the railroads of the state were better equipped than ever before. Generally the roadways were well graded, bridges were in good condition, high- way crossings were satisfactory, lines were better fenced than before, station houses were neater and cleaner, drinking water was provided, station platforms were kept in repair, stock yards were in better condition, freight cars were kept in good repair, passenger coaches were improved, and, as a whole, South Dakota railroads were in excellent condition.

The rapid development of electric railways in the country generally was finding its way into South Dakota. Recently the B. & M. V. line between Deadwood and Lead was transformed from the steam railway to an electric line. Other electric lines, particularly in the vicinity of Sioux Falls and else-

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where in the Black Hills, were projected at this time. An important feature connected with the railroads was the merging of the various lines for mutual benefit and profit. This often resulted in much better profit, service and equipment.

At the close of 1902 the following railway companies were operating lines in South Dakota: Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern; Burlington & Mis- souri River; Black Hills & Fort Pierre; Chicago & Northwestern; Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul; Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha; Dubuque & Sioux City; Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley; Great Northern; Duluth. Watertown & Pacific; Wilmar & Sioux Falls; Sioux City & Northern; Sioux Falls Terminal; Wisconsin, Minnesota & Pacific; Watertown & Lake Kam- peska ; Deadwood Central; Forest City & Sioux City. The latter two had thus far paid no taxes. During 1902 the Forest City & Sioux City road was idle. The Duluth, Pierre & Black Hills road had been graded about sixty miles near Aberdeen and about fifteen miles near Pierre. The Dakota, Wyoming & Mis- souri River line had been graded twenty miles out from Rapid City. During the year the Burlington & Missouri River line was extended into Deadwood and was being pushed rapidly to other parts of the Hills. By June 30 the branch from the main line to Hot Springs was completed and in operation. The Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Company was extending from Buffalo Gap to Hot Springs and from Whitewood to Deadwood and the same line was constructing grades in every available place in the Black Hills. Heavy grades were also constructed during the year by the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Company and by the Burlington & Missouri River Company. They bridged almost impassable gulches and climbed apparently inaccessible summits. The Black Hills & Fort Pierre Company completed a line to Piedmont, a point on the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley line within fourteen miles of Rapid City. The Deadwood Central extended a line a short distance up Ruby Basin. The Twin City & Northern line was constructed from Sioux City, Iowa, to Garretson in Minnehaha County.

The following new roads were incorporated after November, 1900, and before the close of the fiscal year 1901: The Watertown, Sioux City & Duluth line, extending from Watertown in South Dakota to Wahpeton in North Dakota, length 125 miles; the Rapid City, Missouri River & St. Paul line, to be con- structed from Rapid City to St. Paul, Minnesota, length 500 miles; the Sioux City, Madison & Northern line, to be constructed from Garretson in South Dakota to Minot in North Dakota, length 440 miles; the Dakota, Wyoming & Missouri River line, to be constructed from Rapid City to Mystic and from Rapid City to Pierre, length to be 100 miles. As a whole the railroads of the state in 1902 were in good condition, paying large dividends, and were con- tributing goodly sums for the support of the state. The condition of the ware- houses along the roads was reported fair by the railroad commissioners. The rules, storage bonds, storage rates and receipts were fairly satisfactory. The commissioners during the year settled a number of important disputes, among which were that the companies had closed certain depots and would not receive freight and passengers at specified time; that one company had refused to allow a street to be opened across its right of way; that shipments had been carried beyond their point of destination and returned in bad condition; that

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certain stations had been closed wholly against the wishes of the adjacent citi- zens; that excessive rates were charged on the shipment of household goods; that warehouse companies had charged excessive sums for storage of grains and other products; that necessary highway crossings petitioned for to the railway companies had been neglected or refused; that warehouse sites on certain roads had been refused; that certain towns had been avoided inten- tionally upon the construction of certain lines; that the railway companies generally practiced discrimination to the injury of many producers; that depots were inconvenient and ill fitted for the accommodation of the public; that stock yards at numerous stations were insufficient to meet the requirements; that seventy-three complaints were filed owing to a shortage of cars for grain ship- ments; that other car shortages were of frequent occurrence during critical periods of shipment; that shipments of fuel and other supplies into Dakota were held up by car shortage. The railway commissioners reported that many of these complaints, although just, could not well be remedied by the railway companies. For instance at certain periods the shipment of grain was so great that it was practically impossible to supply the cars necessary to market the crop within a short time. They gave facts and figures showing that in one day near Huron there was marketed 29,000 bushels of wheat and that for several weeks there was not a day when the receipts fell short of 12,000 bushels. The same was true at the time of cattle shipments. The commissioners held that the railroad could not be expected to make phenomenal shipments even to please the producers.

In 1903 an extension from Woonsocket to Wessington Springs, a distance of sixteen miles, was projected. In March, 1903, articles of incorporation were filed for the construction of an electric road from the Black Hills up the Spear- fish Valley to connect Spearfish, Lead, Deadwood and Belle Fourche. This company was capitalized for $2,500,000. In March, 1903, articles of incorpora- tion were filed by the Wyoming & Black Hills Railroad Company. It was capitalized for $2,000,000. Louis C. Twombly was president and manager. The line was about one hundred miles in length, partly in South Dakota and partly in Wyoming. This year there was a call all over the state for a railway at the earliest possible moment from the Missouri River to the Black Hills, extending out either from Chamberlain, Pierre, or Forest City.

Early in 1904 the farmers of Day and Codington counties organized for the purpose of constructing a railway about fifty miles long from Watertown to Webster, which they called the Webster & Veblen Railroad. It connected those two towns. It was capitalized for $500,000 and was estimated to cost $150,000.

It was maintained at the time and was no doubt true, that one reason why the railways were not anxious to construct extensions in the state west of the Missouri River was due in a large measure to the agitation of the capital removal question. It might mean a great difference to the interests of the railroads, should the capital be removed from Pierre to Huron, Mitchell or Redfield. It made little difference to the Black Hills region, but the railways themselves were much interested because they desired to have the state capital on their own lines. Early in this century the entire Black Hills region made special effort to kindle an interest in all parts of the state over an extension of some line westward from the Missouri River to the Black Hills.

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In 1904 Senator Dolliver of Iowa suggested a plan for the State of South Dakota to build a railway from the Missouri River to the Black Hills and then lease it to an operator. This plan of operation had been previously suggested by the newspapers of Sioux Falls and other cities of the state. There were many advocates of this plan.

By 1904 North Dakota was still under the influence of railroad politics, but in that year appeared signs of revolt. Thus far there had never been an election in North Dakota that was not under the influence of railway corpora- tions. The Sioux Falls Daily Press of November 30, 1904, said : "North Dakota had been bound to the corporation wheels since long before it achieved state- hood. The chief argument on the part of the South against the admission of the whole of Dakota as one state was the subserviency of the northern portion to the Northern Pacific Railroad and it was upon that issue that the territory was cleft in twain. *

* * If North Dakota arises against railroad domi- nation the movement will amount to an insurrection. People who have suffered long and vainly know what is the matter with them and when the crisis arrives, Alexander McKenzie's bugle blast will hardly be worth one thousand men."

During 1904 twenty odd miles of railroad were built in South Dakota on the line from Sioux Falls to Colton. This was an independent line. In the palmy days of the railway ring which ran the politics of South Dakota and directed all improvement affairs of the state, it was customary for the public men to quietly submit to the powerful demands of the companies. It was declared that Senator Kittredge was the tool of the railroad corporations. Whether he was the tool or the firm friend might make a difference in the light of history. He certainly fought for the railroads upon the avowed ground that they alone would build up the state and that South Dakota would retrograde if the roads were not assisted to the extent that they were warranted in extending their lines and continuing business. His friends and the railways denounced the attack and declared that the attitude of Mr. Kittredge toward the railways was abundantly justified by the imperative needs of South Dakota.

In March, 1905, it was announced that the Milwaukee road intended to commence at once to construct an extension across the great Sioux Reservation from Chamberlain to the Black Hills. This announcement had been made so often in the past and the announcement had just as often been proved false that at first the people accepted it with all due grains of allowance. In fact no one believed it at first, although in every heart arose the hope that it might be true. However, the railway company continued preliminary work such as surveys, bringing forward supplies and constructing an approach to the Mis- souri River at Chamberlain. On March 22 work on the proposed line west of the Missouri near Chamberlain was ready. Actual work was commenced at Chamberlain on April 18. Large pile drivers were put at work to prepare a pontoon bridge across the river. On August 1, 1905, the pontoon bridge at Chamberlain was sufficiently completed so that the first regular passenger train ran from the Missouri River out to Oacoma, where the event was duly and elaborately celebrated by whites, Indians, cowboys, etc. At first it was called the White River Valley Railroad, but it was an extension of the Milwaukee system. In this new company were several of the directors of the Milwaukee railway and several capitalists of the Black Hills.

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No sooner had these facts become known than the Northwestern Company began action at Pierre for the extension of its line from that point to the Black Hills. From this time forward the roads apparently vied with each other to see which should reach the Hills first. By the last of March about fifty miles of the line west of Pierre had been finished. In September, 1905, the Pierre, Rapid City & Northwestern Railway filed incorporation papers at Pierre. This was the name of the Northwestern branch extension from Pierre to Rapid City. The incorporators were the officials of the Northwestern Railway. The articles called for a line through Stanley County into Lyman County and then again into Stanley County and through Pennington County into Rapid City. By the last of September the Milwaukee and the Northwestern systems were hard at work in the race to see which should be running regular trains first to the Black Hills. It was stated at the time that both lines were projected for the Pacific Coast, probably Puget Sound.

In September, 1905, the Sioux Falls & Western Company was incorporated with capital of $2,000,000. It planned lines from Sioux Falls to Greenwood in Charles Mix County on the Missouri River, and one into Bon Homme County called the Bon Homme Railroad. It was planned to close the gap between Sioux Falls and Marion Junction.

Also in September, 1905, the Pierre & Fort Pierre Bridge Railway Company was organized for the purpose of building a huge steel structure over the Mis- souri River at a probable cost of $1,250,000, and to run thereafter regular trains between those two points.

The building of the Chicago and Milwaukee line from Chamberlain to the Black Hills served to set at work a small army of Sioux warriors. Hundreds were employed in grading and at numberless other tasks necessary in the con- struction of the new lines. A crew of twenty-six Sioux Indians with teams and scrapers were soon at work on the heavy grades near the Missouri River opposite Chamberlain. They were from Crow Creek Agency and had gone to work at the request of Maj. H. D. Chamberlain, Indian agent located there. The Indians gave satisfaction as laborers. This group had several sections to grade and were under the immediate supervision of John Van Patter, an agency employe.

During 1904-05 the state railway commissioners duly considered the appli- cation of the people of Springfield for better railroad facilities. It was shown that in early days the people of that city had a dispute with the Milwaukee Railroad Company authorities which resulted in the location of the depot 11/2 miles from the city, where it had ever since remained, much to the inconvenience of the traveling public. Three citizens of Springfield were appointed to com- municate with the railway commissioners to secure the relief demanded.

When the Milwaukee line was constructed to Chamberlain in the early 'Sos the plan was to extend it shortly as far as the Black Hills at least. At that time the territory between the Missouri River and the Black Hills was embraced in the great Sioux Reservation, but it was believed that this tract would soon be opened to settlement. It was at this time that the agents of the railroad com- pany, as a sequel of a grand council of the Sioux Indians, secured free consent to construct the proposed railroad across the reservation, and a treaty between the Indians and the railroad company to that effect was ratified by Congress. The death of President Merrill of the Milwaukee Company apparently changed

CHICAGO & NORTHWESTERN BRIDGE OVER THE MISSOURI RIVER AT PIERRE Showing the draw open and boat passing

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the plans, because no further attempt to extend the road westward of Chamber- lain was made at that time. However, successive congresses were asked to confirm the railroad's privilege to right of way across the reservation. In 1888 and 1889 the opening of the reservation was consummated and in February, 1890, under the terms of the treaty, about 11,000,000 acres west of the Missouri was open to white settlement. There was then a renewal of the hope and belief that the Milwaukee Company would at once extend its line from Cham- berlain to the Black Hills; but year after year passed without any attempt to carry this improvement into effect. Chamberlain, however, did not abandon hope. It was aware that it was only a question of time until the line would be extended. Thus the years passed until 1904 when, during the state capital campaign, it was rumored on the best of authority, that the extension would be begun in the spring of 1905. It is not improbable that this plan of the railway company was due in a large measure to the influence which Mitchell exercised during the capital contest. Those who were interested, however, had been disappointed so qften that they preferred to see work actually begun before they would accept as true a statement of that character. However, in the spring of 1905 carload after carload of bridge and other building material was unloaded in the Cham- berlain railroad yards and at points along the Missouri River in that vicinity, and when it was officially announced that work on the extension would soon be commenced and when grading actually began, the people of Chamberlain and Oacoma, after years of disappointment and weary waiting, rejoiced exceedingly in the evidence that the extension was about to be made.

It was the original intention of the Northwestern Railway management to continue its Pierre division through to the Black Hills without halting at the Missouri River. More than half of the intermediate territory was at that time the Big Sioux Reservation and was therefore unprofitable ground for railroad business. The railroad officials and the representative men of Dakota endeavored to secure the relinquishment of the reservation by the Indians and had that been accomplished the road would have been built into the Hills in the early '8os. The Indian Rights Association interfered with the project, and it was many years before the reservation was reduced in size and an opening made to the Black Hills for railroads and for settlement. Meanwhile the Northwestern built around the Indian country and entered the Black Hills through the State of Nebraska. This gave the Northwestern the South Dakota business which it would have secured over a direct line from Pierre westward, and it was satisfied with its arrangements until the Milwaukee Company began building from Chamberlain in the direction of the Hills region whereby the Northwestern was then compelled in 1905-06 to carry out its original design. It is thus a fact that the settlement of the vast region between the Missouri River and the forks of the Cheyenne and the commercial linking of the two widely separated sections of the state was delayed for a quarter of a century by the interference of the Indian Rights Association. This was an organization of down East well meaning humanitarians who were trying sincerely to ameliorate the condition of a once savage tribe of the West. It interfered with every project of western enterprise that had any relation to the Indian. It made other equally as flagrant mistakes in addition to the stoppage of development of the trans-Missouri region of South Dakota, one being the stoppage of the development of Indian civiliza- Vol. III-20

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tion. Had it not been for this unwise act the Indian would have been trans- formed into a useful citizen twenty-five years earlier. His eastern friends did not seem to understand that civilization civilizes much more rapidly than the breech clout and blanket and visionary and aimless theories of presumed philanthropists.

In 1905 there was a strong feeling in South Dakota in opposition to the regulation of passenger and freight traffic by the Government board. At first the opposition arose among the land and immigration agents, because they thought that perhaps Government control would lack flexibility and that the state might suffer in consequence. They presented numerous objections, the weight of which was disputed by those who favored the movement. Many thought the movement was calculated to injure the railroads, which finality the people generally did not want because the railroads were all important to the state. They were the advance guard of settlement and what was needed by the state at this time more than any other was the opening of new lines, particularly through the western half. At the time of the great railroad construction era in the '8os Dakota had only small settlements here and there outside of the Town of Yankton. There were a few frontier settlements along the river and else- where in the eastern part of the territory, but they were mere straggling settle- ments without any notable size or prominence and did not become conspicuous until after the railroads had extended a network of lines through the territory. Then the little villages already in existence took on new life, scores of others were started at convenient points along the railroad where only a few months before there had been solitude. With the construction of the railroad came long trains of immigrants with their effects and at every station almost daily through- out the year could be seen the unloading of their goods preparatory to going by prairie schooners to their new homes on the plains. Within a few years they spread over much of the state like a swarm of locusts. All of this was due to the presence of. the railroad. The citizens of this state insisted that no injury should be done the roads, but that they should be given every encouragement possible to extend new lines that would pierce the unsettled regions. It was acknowledged that while freight and passenger rates were high they were no higher than necessary in the new country. None disputed that the railroads had given immigrants every inducement and assistance in their power to come to the new state for permanent settlement. Thereafter as the country was set- tled up, branch lines were projected, first between the more important towns and later through thickly settled farming communities. This liberal policy of the railroads, it was admitted, was the principal factor in securing the great rush of settlement during the 'Sos. It was realized that the railroads in the first place assumed great risk when at a cost of millions of dollars they extended their lines over long distances through the unoccupied regions, where the possi- bilities of productiveness were wholly unknown, or at best were merely a matter of opinion. For these and other reasons many of the people of the state in 1905 did not favor the railroad rate regulation and supervision by the Federal Government, as it was thought that perhaps such control might prevent the farther development and growth of the state, particularly the western part. Residents of South Dakota realized that under Government regulation reduced rates satisfactory to all parties could not be given new settlers as an inducement

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for them to occupy the vacant Government lands and that the result would be no influx of new settlers which was so necessary for the development of the state. This was one of the reasons why the people of South Dakota did not wish to see a change made in the existing order of things so far as the control of freight and passenger rates was concerned. Generally, therefore, they sus- tained the South Dakota delegation in Congress in opposing any change. On the other hand it was realized that notwithstanding the good work that had been done by the railroads during the past twenty years in advancing the pros- perity of South Dakota, there yet remained a vast amount of work to be done along the same line. The state had at this time still vacant about ten million acres of Government land and this quantity would be added to from time to time as surplus lands of the Indians became Government property. Thus the railroad companies were still vastly important to South Dakota, because upon their efforts and right treatment the unoccupied lands of the state would be settled upon and brought under cultivation. Therefore all realized that the railroad companies must be free to continue their present and past liberal policy in granting reduced rates to home seekers. Unless this could be done the further development of the state would largely cease and millions of acres of productive land would continue to be unoccupied and uncultivated.

The newspapers in 1905 charged Mr. Kittredge with inducing the North- western Railway to build the extension west of Pierre so that the range cattle could be hauled to the so-called trust packing houses at Sioux City. The first train to run across the big bridge at Pierre was on December 16, 1905. About this time the Milwaukee road extended a · branch to Armour, a distance of thirty miles, and commenced grading a line from Madison to Sioux Falls. Also about the same time the South Dakota Central Company constructed a line from Colton to Wentworth.

"The last republican state convention, which it was declared was notoriously packed by railroad influence, rejected such resolutions favoring the proposed taxation of railroads as would place upon them their share of the public burden. It was in this convention that the machine gave the state to understand it would protect the railroads against the people, and it was in the last Legislature that the machine gave the state to understand that it would protect the railroads against President Roosevelt. The course of the members of the machine and the utterances of the newspapers of the machine furnished evidence that it will endeavor so to pack the next state convention as to continue to protect railroads against the taxation plans of the insurgents and to secure the passage of a resolution in opposition to the rate legislation proposed by the president. Mr. Roosevelt, therefore, became an issue in the campaign that is to culminate in the republican convention of next June."-Pierre Dakotan, September, 1905.

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History of Dakota Territory, volume III, Part 43

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920 Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1146

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1146