History of South Dakota, Vol. I, Part 53

Author: Robinson, Doane, 1856-1946. cn
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 998

USA > South Dakota > History of South Dakota, Vol. I > Part 53

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).

more than two hundred yards away, who in- stantly leveled their guns and fired. He return- ed to the outpost and Colonel Frost took the First and Second Battalions and attacked, receiving a heavy fire at short range. Rushing onward, the skirmish line of the enemy was encountered and many of them were riddled with bullets before they could escape. One Filipino was found with five bullet holes through his neck, thirty dead Filipinos were found and two prisoners were taken. The regiment advanced about one hundred yards further, when it was ordered by General Hale to halt until the Iowans came upon the right. During the wait a heavy fire was received, killing one man and wound- ing three others. A left wheel was made with a view to punishing the enemy, but the Fili- pinos were too spry and kept out of range of the Springfield rifles of the volunteers.

The soldiers were returned to their quarters about dark and rested until about 3:20 the next morning, when the outposts were attacked again. The regiment was quickly assembled and moved into position where it waited under a desultory fire until daylight, when General Hale came out and inoved the First and Second Battalions to the right outpost, leaving the Second Battalion front- ing a sugar mill, where the enemy were supposed to be in force. The enemy waited in extended order until the Iowans came upon the right where it moved forward toward the sugar mill, from where the Filipinos opened fire. Com- pany A faced left and returned the fire, while the other companies executed a left wheel and drove the enemy from the mill, killing and wounding several of them. The Iowans made a circular movement, but encountered no enemy. The South Dakotans returned to quarters, having fought their last engagement in the Philippines.

The losses sustained were: Killed, Dan Colleran, Company G; wounded, First Sergeant George Barker, Company A: Corporal David Martindale, Company C; Private Edward Heald, Company D; Corporal Carl McConnell, and Privates Bert Kellet and James Black, Company G.

385

HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

The regiment remained on an outpost until June 10th. The men were under fire almost every night and the nervous strain was great. When the order came to relieve them they had been on the firing line one hundred and twenty- six days; most of the time being compelled to sleep in their clothes and much of the time having only the muddy, poisonous earth for a bed. There was not more than an average of eight men to a company capable of doing duty. When the record was shown General McArthur, he said to Dr. Boyd: "The record of the South Dakota regiment in the Philippines has no parallel in military history, so far as I know."

The regiment, under orders, returned to Manilla on June Ioth for recuperation, where they were located at Camp Santa Mesa until June 23d, when they were again ordered out to assist in guarding the lines around Manilla. The First and Third Battalions, under Colonel Frost, were stationed near San Francisco Del Monte, guarding the line from Baligbalig to the sunken church near La Loma, the Second Battalion, under Major Howard, relieving a battalion of the Twenty-first Infantry in guard- ing the line between the Pasig river and the Deposito. On August 5th the regiment was relieved by the Twenty-fifth United States In- fantry and sent into quarters at Manilla, and on August 10th received their final orders to take transports and were embarked on the "Sheri- dan," which left Manilla on August 12th, arriving in San Francisco in September, 1899. at which point the regiment was mustered out of the United States service.

The return of the First Regiment was a source of great rejoicing to the people of South Dakota, whose pride in its achievements was unbounded. The congressional delegation, many of the state officers and citizens met the regi- ment at San Francisco and gave them a hearty welcome, there and at home funds were collected and the expense of reaching their home was paid and afterward assumed by the state. The trip home was made by way of the Northern Pacific to Jamestown, and thence down the James valley. President Mckinley so timed his western tour as to be at Aberdeen to welcome

the South Dakotans upon their arrival on the morning of October 14th, and at every town and hamlet through which they passed, they were given an ovation. Again at Yankton that evening, the President met them and the occasion will ever stand out as a red letter day in the history of the State.

GRIGSBY'S COWBOYS.

In addition to the First Regiment South Dakota also furnished five troops of cavalry. officially known as the Third Regiment of the United States Volunteer Cavalry, but popularly designated Grigsby's Cowboys. The regiment was recruited a under special commission issued to Colonel Melvin Grigsby, of Sioux Falls, who was made com- mander of the brigade, with the pay of a brig- adier general. The officers of the regiment were: Melvin Grigsby, colonel; Charles F. Lloyd, lieutenant colonel; Robert W. Stewart, of Pierre, major; Otto L. Sues, of Sioux Falls, adjutant; Ralph W. Parliman, of Sioux Falls. quartermaster; Golon S. Clevenger, of Pierre, chaplain ; Troop A, Deadwood-Seth Bullock, captain ; Myron E. Wells and James E. Cusick. lieutenants ; Troop B, Sioux Falls-John Foster, captain ; George Grigsby and John N. Wright, lieutenants. Troop C, Belle Fourche-George E. Haire, captain; Rush Spencer Wells and Almond B. Wells, lieutenants. Troop D. Sturgis -John E. Hammon, captain ; Daniel F. Conner and Walter L. Anderson, lieutenants. Troop E, Pierre-Joseph B. Binder, captain ; John W. Laughlin and Lowell G. Fuller, lieutenants.

The regiment was ordered to the camp at Chickamauga, where it was held until the close of the war and therefore did not see active ser- vice before the enemy.

Mark W. Sheafe, of Watertown, was ap- pointed a brigadier general of volunteers, by the President, but the war closed before he was given active service.

In addition to the foregoing, a large number of patriotic South Dakotans, failing to get into the state organizations, went out of the state and joined other regiments and did praiseworthy service, both in Cuba and the Philippines.

CHAPTER LXXI

CIVIL AFFAIRS OF 1898 AND 1899.

While the war occupied the thoughts of the people of South Dakota during the exciting period, but relatively a very few persons could in any way engage in its activities and the great mass went on with their affairs as usual, plant- ing a large crop which yielded a bountiful har- vest and sold for a satisfactory price. Live stock and dairy interests expanded, trade was pros- perous, building was revived and the story began to gain credence out in the world that South Dakota was prospering. Above everything be- side, the South Dakotan began to exhibit pride in his state. He no longer hung his head when asked whence he came. Politically it was an active year. With the first of March, by the ex- piration of the terms of two members of the board of charities, Governor Lee secured control of the charitable and reformatory institutions and the Republican incumbents were displaced to make room for the political adherents of the Populists and Democrats. In place of Dr. Leonard C. Mead, of the insane asylum, Dr. Valdimar Sebiakin-Ross was established as superintendent. Nye Phillips, warden of the penitentiary, made way for John Bowler, and Cephus W. Ainsworth, of the reform school, was succeeded by William H. Tompkins.

The first political convention was held by the fusionists at Aberdeen and Governor Lee and Congressmen Kelly and Knowles were re- nominated without opposition. The Republicans met at Mitchell and selected Kirk G. Phillips for governor and Robert J. Gamble and Charles

H. Burke for congress. At the end of a vigor- ous campaign Governor Lee was re-elected, but the Republicans secured the congressmen, the entire state ticket and the legislature. The average Republican majority was about six thou- sand, but Governor Lee had three hundred and twenty-five votes more than Mr. Phillips. The woman's suffrage amendment to the constitution . failed by three thousand, two hundred and eighty-five votes, but the initiative and referen- dum carried by seven thousand three hundred and thirty-three and the dispensary by one thou- sand four hundred fifteen.

On June 8th the Presbyterians determined to consolidate the Pierre University and the Scotland Academy, at Huron, as Huron College, and that institution dates from the action mentioned.

On October 14th an earthquake shock dis- turbed the southern part of the state, no damage resulting.

Ex-Governor Andrew J. Faulk died at his home in Yankton on September 5th. He was the third governor of the territory, serving from 1865 to 1869, and left an excellent record both as an official and as a citizen. He was a gentleman of the old school, thoughtful, gra- cious and entertaining. He was a native of Kittanning, Pennsylvania, and had attained the age of eighty-five years.

On October 20th Governor Charles H. Sheldon, while upon a speechmaking political campaign in the Black Hills, died at Dead- wood, after a brief illness. Governor Sheldon

387

HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

served from 1893 to 1897. He possessed a highly developed gift as a public speaker and great popularity as an official and strove to give the state a safe and economical administration through the trying years of panic, drought and during which the Taylor defalcation so seriously embarrassed the state. He was a native of Ver- mont and was fifty-eight years of age at his death.

1899 was another year of growth and pros- perity for South Dakota; crops were abundant, herds increased, prices good, business satis- factory and building operations carried forward with greater vim than since the old days of the boom. There was a marked revival of immigra- tion and a decided growth of public spirit and state pride. The legislature met in January and organized with A. G. Somers, of Grant county, as speaker. There were no great matters of party policy involved in the session. The chief matters under consideration were the dispen- sary amendment to the constitution and the ref- erendum. It was incumbent upon the legis- lature to enact laws to make these amendments operative. The amendment vested the manu- facture and sale absolutely in the state and to carry out this provision meant the expenditure of large sums of money, beyond the constitu- tional power of the state to supply. After a thorough investigation of the situation the legislature resolved to resubmit the provision to the people and meantime to permit the state to continue under the high license law. A care- ful law was enacted for the operation of the initiative and referendum amendment.

President Mckinley appointed Judge Bart- lett Tripp the American member of the Samoan high joint commission, which adjusted the titles of the United States, England and Germany to the Samoan islands.

The proposition to engraft the initiative and referendum upon the constitution of the state originated with Father Robert W. Haire, a Catholic clergyman of Aberdeen, who ten years previous began to agitate for it under the name

of the people's legislature. At that time he was not aware of the Swiss method, but his attention being called to it, he adopted the names of initi- ative and referendum. In practice it has un- doubtedly exercised a salutary negative influence, but it has never been invoked to the initiation of, or submission of a law to the people.

While this session was in progress one of the dormitories of the State Insane Asylum at Yankton burned, and with it seventeen inmates lost their lives. This accident aroused the legis- lature to action and large appropriations were made for additional buildings, improvements and maintenance of the asylum. The Northern Normal and Industrial School was located at Aberdeen by this session and an appropriation was made for the maintenance of the blind school at Gary.

Several notable deaths occurred this year. Robert Lowry, of Huron, one of the grand old men of the state, who had served as the first register of the Huron land office, died April 16th. Mr. Lowry was a member of the last territorial legislature and had the distinction of, in his youth, serving as a member of the national con- vention, which in 1840 placed William Henry Harrison in nomination for president.

On April 20th Peter C. Shannon, chief justice of Dakota from 1873 to 1881, was killed by falling from a carriage at San Diego, Cali- fornia. He was a strong man, and had left a splendid record as a jurist and citizen. He was a close personal friend of Abraham Lincoln. Judge Shannon was born in Pennsylvania in I821.

Junius W. Shannon, president of the regents of education from 1863 to 1896, and for many years editor of the Huronite, died April 27th. He was a native of Illinois and at his death was sixty-five years of age.

The judicial election ocurred in the autumn of 1899 and Howard G. Fuller, Dick Haney and Dighton Corson were re-elected over Julien Bennett, Cornelius B. Kennedy and Edmund Smith, fusionists.

CHAPTER LXXII

THE END OF THE CENTURY.

The year 1900 found South Dakota making great forward strides. The people were awake to their opportunities. Several years, in which every citizen was pocketing more new wealth than were the people of any other community anywhere, were having marked effect. Debts which but recently had appeared insuperable were wiped out like magic. The Dakotans were coming to their own. The products of the farms and pastures were becoming enormous. The gold mines were doubling in the output of bul- lion. The flow and thrill of prosperity was felt on every hand.

The people were becoming ambitious. The previous year they had reached out and brought to Sioux Falls the national convention of butter makers. A vast concourse of experts in one of the leading industries and the hospitality be- stowed upon them had carried the fame of South Dakota throughout the land. This success whet- ted the appetite for other similar victories. When the national committee of the Populist party as- sembled to determine the time and place of the national convention to nominate candidates for president and vice-president, South Dakota was on hand and, in spite of the derisive smiles of the big convention cities, actually landed the prize, and the convention met at Sioux Falls on May 9th and there placed Mr. Bryan in nomi- nation. It was a great meeting of all the strong and representative men of the party from every state, and Sioux Falls splendidly entertained them.

On the 23d of May the Republican state con- vention met at Sioux Falls, and elected delegates to the national convention and placed in nomina- tion a full list of state officers. Charles N. Her- reid received the unanimous nomination for gov- ernor, as did Charles H. Burke and Eben W. Martin for congress. The Republicans, now thoroughly aroused in opposition to Senator Pet- tigrew, due to his conduct in the previous presi- dential campaign, were determined to prevent his return to the senate by the next legislature. Emiel Brouch, George Rice, Louis L. Lostetter. A. H. Betts, Charles B. Collins, Marcus P. Beebe, James Halley and Granville G. Bennett were sent to the national convention at Phila- delphia. The management of the campaign was entrusted to Frank Crane.

The Democrats met at Chamberlain June 6th and sent to the Kansas City convention George WV. Mathews, Stephen Donohue, Steven Keenen, Thomas W. Taubman, True W. Childs, John J. Conway and Charles S. Eastman and John R. Wilson.

The Democrats and Populists fused at Yank- ton on July 1Ith, nominating Burre H. Lien for governor and Andrew E. Lee and Joseph B. Moore for congress. They placed their can- paign in charge of John Pusey and Don Med- bury.

No such campaign has before been made. National attention was called to the fight upon Senator Pettigrew, who had become particularly obnoxious to the President and Senator Hanna,

389

HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

and both parties thronged South Dakota with their most eminent men. United States sen- ators and men of national repute were nightly out in schoolhouses all over South Dakota. Mr. Bryan made a tour through the state, talking to immense audiences, and Mr. Roosevelt, vice- presidential candidate, and Mr. Hanna at differ- ent times toured the state. For a long time the chances seemed evenly balanced, but toward the end the Republican advantage became apparent and the result was an overwhelming victory for that party, the average majority being about fif- teen thousand. The legislature was one hundred and seventeen Republican to fifteen fusion.

The railways this year began again to extend their lines, the Milwaukee building one hundred miles from Yankton to Platte and fifty miles from Bowdle to Evarts. The Northwestern also threw a spur into the state at Astoria.

The citizens of Watertown this year erected in honor of its Company H, which served with great distinction with the First Regiment, a fine monument, which stands in courthouse square and is highly creditable to the patriotic spirit of the people of the place.

On the 30th of June the Cataract Hotel, at Sioux Falls, burned. It was one of the best known hostelries in the country. Fortunately: there were no fatalities.

Among the prominent South Dakotans who died during this year were Phil K. Faulk, a brother of the governor, who died on March 27tlı. Mr. Faulk was a lawyer and a member of the first state legislature and held many offices at Yankton. He lost an arm in the battle of the Wilderness.

Territorial Governor John L. Pennington died on July 9th. He was governor from 1874 to 1878 and left an enviable record for honesty and good business judgment as an official.

Father Pierre J. Boucher, the first Catholic priest to establish himself permanently in Da- kota and build a church there, died on July 22d, at the age of eighty years.

Martin Charger, a Christian Indian, claiming to be a grandson of Captain Merriweather Lewis, and famous for leading the "Fool Soldier band" of young Tetons to the rescue of the Shetak captives, died at his home at Cheyenne river agency on August 27th, fifty-nine years of age.

On August 25th William F. T. Bushnell, of Aberdeen, publisher of the Dakota Farmer and a founder of the State Agricultural and kindred societies and a leader in the temperance move- ment, died while upon a vacation to Colorado. He was in the prime of life and one of South Dakota's most useful citizens.

CHAPTER LXXIII

IN THE NEW CENTURY.

Just a hasty review of the events of the last three years, for it is too early to write the his- tory of these later days.

The legislature elected in the fall of 1900 convened in January and promptly and with the unanimous vote of the Republicans elected Rob- ert J. Gamble as the successor of Senator Petti- grew.

Among its more conspicuous acts were the creation of the office of food and dairy commis- sioner, the department of history and the endow- ment of the Northern Normal and Industrial School at Aberdeen. New buildings were pro- vided for the Agricultural College, University, Springfield Normal, Insane Asylum, School for Feeble Minded and Blind School. A hot fight for the submission of a proposition to remove the capital to Mitchell failed in the senate, having passed the house. The appropriations for the biennial period reached the sum of thirteen hundred thousand dollars, an indication of the growth of the state. The legislature established the department of law at the State University. It also provided for the revision of the laws and Governor Herreid selected Bartlett Tripp, Gideon C. Moody and James M. Brown to perform this duty.

The harvest was all that could be desired. A prolonged heated spell came in July which caused great alarm, but the crop came through surpris- ingly well.

A great impulse was given to the boring of artesian wells this season by new methods. Most

of the new wells were of small bore, one and a half to two inches.

On the Fourth of July, at Deadwood, a cele- bration of the first quarter of a century of Black Hills settlement was arranged.

During this season the Sault Railway ex- tended its line into the northern portion of Camp- bell county, and the towns of Herreid, Artas and Pollock were founded.

The National Farmers' Congress assembled in Sioux Falls the first week of October.

Hanson county's fine courthouse burned on October 5th.

Gov. Gilbert A. Pierce died on February 15th, aged sixty-five years. He never resided in South Dakota, but was governor of Dakota territory from July 1, 1884, to February 1, 1887. He was a capable, clean man and a good officer.

Annie D. Tallent, the first white woman to enter the Black Hills, and the author of an in- teresting history of that section of the state, died on February 17th.

On July Ist Senator James H. Kyle died at his home in Aberdeen. He was forty-seven years of age. Governor Herreid, on July 9th, appointed Senator Alfred B. Kittredge to the vacancy.

1901 was another good year in South Da- kota history.

1902 was uneventful in every way. It was remarkable only as an exceedingly cold season, frost falling every month except July. A killing frost fell on the 21st of June and again on the

391

HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

13th of August. Wheat proved an excellent crop, but corn was of little value. Nevertheless, the aggregate value of the year's productions were greater than in any prior year. There was a vast deal of building and the demand for land approached the boom stage. Values were greatly appreciated during the year and the sales were enormous.

Governor Herreid and Congressmen Burke and Martin were re-elected by vastly increased majorities and the legislature contained but twelve Democratic members. The Populist party disappeared in this campaign.

On December 17th the Northern Normal School building at Aberdeen, then nearing com- pletion, was burned. It was immediately rebuilt.

John L. Pyle, attorney general of South Da- kota, died February 2Ist. He was in the best sense a self-made man, a native of Ohio, forty- two years of age.

On March Ist L. C. Taylor, state auditor from statehood until 1903, died from apoplexy at his office in Alexandria. He was in his fifty- fifth year.

1903 was still an improvement upon its pred- ecessor in the value of the state's productions. Crops of all kinds were excellent and the pros- perity of the people continued without abate- ment. The legislature re-elected Senator Kitt- redge by a unanimous Republican vote, the Dem- ocratic vote being cast for John A. Bowler. Nineteen hundred thousand dollars were appro- priated for the biennial period. Each of the state institutions except the reform school re-

ceived new buildings. The proposition to re- move the capital from Pierre to Mitchell was submitted to the people to be voted upon at the election to be held in November, 1904. The re- vised codes were adopted. The state fair was permanently located at Huron, and the perma- nent camp of the state militia at Lake Kampeska.

It is forty-five years since that day in July, 1859, when the Yankton treaty was ratified and the homeseekers thronging the Nebraska shore flocked over the Missouri to find fortune "on this side of Jordan." Forty-five eventful years have passed and many of the immigrants of 1859 are still with us, witnesses to the development of Dakota from the day of its birth, to testify to its healthfulness, salubrity and productiveness. Loyal Dakotans they are, every one of them, bringing to the younger generation impressive lessons of steadfastness of purpose, courage, en- durance and, too, of the rewards Dakota reserves for the faithful.

The way up through these forty-five years has not all been sunny, but the bright days have dominated. The little handful of settlers sprin- kled along the shores of the Missouri have ex- panded into a half million souls. Material things have developed until a billion dollars' worth of property is possessed by the South Dakotans. Churches, schools and colleges are convenient to every section and are the chief source of pride to our people. Homes of abounding comfort are the inheritance of whoever will possess them and health and happiness are universal. Surely 'tis a goodly land and a goodly people.

CHAPTER LXXIV

BRIEF SKETCHES OF THE COUNTIES.

AURORA.

Aurora county was created by the legislature of 1879, on February 22d. It was organized by Governor Ordway on August 8, 1881. Its first recorded exploration was by George Catlin, while enroute from a stranded steamboat near Yankton, to Fort Pierre, in June, 1832. It was first settled in 1879 by Oliver P. Ames and J. Briedenbach, on Firesteel creek. E. H. McIn- tosh, J. B. Smart and Charles Briedenbach were the commissioners appointed to effect the organi- zation. They located the county seat at Plank- inton, where it still remains. Plankinton dates from August 10, 1880. Besides being the county seat, it is the location of the state reform school, founded in 1887. White Lake is the only other town of importance. B. H. Sullivan, of this county, was United States surveyor general for South Dakota during the Harrison administra- tion. W. M. Smith was state railway commis- sioner, 1892-3. The county is drained into the James by Firesteel creek, contains seven hundred and twenty-four square miles and had a popula- tion of four thousand and eleven in 1900. Its chief industry is stock growing and general agri- culture.

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 South Dakota, Vol. I, Part 53

Author: Robinson, Doane, 1856-1946. cn Publication date: 1904 Publisher: [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen Number of Pages: 998

Author: Robinson, Doane, 1856-1946. cn
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 998