USA > South Dakota > The Baptist history of South Dakota > Part 2
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THE BAPTIST HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
was erected near Chamberlain. Both of these ceased to be used as military posts in 1858. More than fifty years ago several trading establishments were located along the James river. Previous to 1830 the only facili- ties for navigation were by means of canoes and barges. During that vear Pierre Choteau was instrumental in bringing up the Missouri river, as far as Pierre, the steamers Antelope and Yellowstone.
These facts are mentioned to indicate the early be- ginnings of immigration and civilization. Progress in taking possession of a country so fertile and so full of resources, was necessarily slow but sure. Numerous acts of hostility by Indians gave evidence that the original inhabitants resented the encroachments of white settlers and traders. A few settlements that started were abandoned, but here and there little com- munities of hardy and courageous pioneers were estab- lished. These were mainly in Yankton, Clav, Union and Minnehaha counties in the southeastern portion of the territory, and the Pembina settlement in the north- east.
According to the census of 1860, the population of the territory, not including hostile Indians, was only 4,837, and of these 2,261 were Indians not sustaining tribal relations. Repeated Indian raids, especially along the Sioux river in 1856-7-8, convinced the early settlers of the necessity for some kind of organization which would give them a claim on the general govern- ment for protection.
The fact has been already shown that after Minne- sota became a state, May 11, 1858, for nearly three years Dakota had no legal existence and consequently no recognized government. Notwithstanding the weakness, numerically, of the white population, a con-
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THE BAPTIST HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
vention was held at Sioux Falls, September 18, 1858, various localities being represented. It was decided to form a provisional territorial organization, and an election was ordered to choose members of a territorial legislature. Henry Masters as president of the coun- cil was made acting governor, and A. G. Fuller was sent as delegate to Washington, with a memorial asking Congress to establish a territorial government. This movement was unsuccessful. In 1859, another provi- sional legislature was elected. W. W. Brookings was chosen governor in place of Henry Masters, deceased, and J. P. Kidder was sent as delegate to Congress. Another memorial was presented, and this also resulted in failure.
The first treaty with the Dakota Indians . was made at Traverse-de-Sioux in 1851, at which time the north- ern tribes ceded to the government a large portion of western Minnesota, and also a narrow strip on the east side of what is now South Dakota, between the Sioux river and the state line of Minnesota, and extending northward along the western shore of Big Stone Lake. The next important treaty was consummated April 19, 1858. At this time the Indians were prevailed upon to sell to the government a territory equal to about two- thirds of the present state of South Dakota, lying east of the Missouri river, and south of a line running from the north end of Lake Kampeska westward to the Mis- souri. In consideration of this cession of their land, the United States government agreed to pay to the Indians at stated times, covering a period of fifty vears, an amount equal to $1,600,000, and the Indians were removed, some of them unwillingly, to their res- ervations north and west.
After these treaties, which encouraged immigration
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THE BAPTIST HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
and promised greater safety to settlers, the way now seemed to be open for another movement towards securing a territorial government. Former efforts had been unsuccessful. A convention was held at Yank- ton, commencing December 27, 1860, and soon after an earnest memorial to Congress was adopted, January 15, 1861. A bill to establish Dakota Territory was passed in the closing days of President Buchanan's administration. It was approved by him March 2, 1861.
One of the first official acts of President Lincoln was the appointment of territorial officers, including Wil- liam Jayne, of Illinois, as governor. At the beginning of his administration Governor Javne ordered a cen- sus of the territory to be taken. This was imperfectly done, and resulted as follows: Clay and Union dis- tricts, 696; Sioux Falls district, 40; Bon Homme dis- trict, 269; Yankton district, 287; Red River district, 500. Total, 1,776. Of these 560 were half breeds. Of the 1,216 white people, 757 were males and 459 were females. Another report, which was unofficial, made the total white population 2,402, and the total white and mixed population 2,879. The following persons served as governors of Dakota Territory: William Javne, Newton Edmunds, A. J. Faulk, John A. Burbank, John L. Pennington, William A. Howard, N. G. Ordway, Gilbert A. Pierce, Louis K. Church and A. C. Mellette.
The capital of the territory was located at Yankton in 1861, and remained there until it was removed to Bismarck in 1883. The first two or three sessions of the legislature were devoted mainly to getting the machinery of the territorial government in operation, establishing military posts, and public highways, and providing means of defense against Indian depreda- tions. These continued to be of frequent occurrence,
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THE BAPTIST HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
and kept the early settlers much of the time on the defensive, and on two or more occasions, caused many of them to abandon their new homes and growing crops. In 1862, two companies of volunteer cavalry were an- thorized by the Secretary of War for frontier defense. These companies, which were commanded by Captains Nelson Minor and William Tripp, were kept for the protection of the settlement in the southern portion of the territory. In 1853. after the massacre at New Ulm, Minn .. the Indians became more hostile. Gen- eral Sully was sent into Dakota with a force of nearly 2.500 troops. and rendered effective service in holding the southern tribes in check, and punishing them severely. Fort Sully was built by his command, and it was continued as a military post for nearly thirty years. General Sibley was also sent into the territory in command of an army of over 4,000 soldiers, and after several successful encounters with the northern tribes, they were compelled to submit to the authority of the government.
After 1866, Indian outbreaks were of comparatively rare occurrence, and peace and quietness generally prevailed. This resulted in the substantial growth of settlements already in existence, and the formation of new ones in various localities. The population rapidly increased, especially in seven or eight of the south- eastern countries. According to the census of 1870 the total population of the territory was 14, 182.
During the following decade, and especially near its close. the immigration to Dakota from eastern states and foreign countries was marvelous. The census of 1880 developed the fact that the population had in- creased to 135,180. At the close of 1883 the lowest estimate was 250,000. In the earlier vears, with the
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THE BAPTIST HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
exception of Pembina and a few localities along the Red river, nearly all of the settlements had been es- tablished in the southern counties of the territory. From this period onward many of the northern coun- ties were rapidly occupied by courageous and enter- prising settlers. Scores of thriving young cities and villages were created, and for several years they had a rapid growth. Railroads were constructed, churches and school houses were built, and all the signs of pros- perity seemed to be abundant.
The wonderful increase in population and the pos- session of all the elements of strength and prosperity, led the people to desire something better than a terri- torial form of government. The territory was so large that the successful administration of any form of government was difficult. For several years there was a practically unanimous desire for the division of the territory and admission to the union as two states. Efforts and appeals for the accomplishment of this end were begun in 1871. and several times renewed. In 1883 an attempt was made to bring about a division of the territory and the admission of the southern half of it as a state. Three hundred and fifty delegates rep- resenting the southern half of the counties in the ter- ritory assembled in convention at Huron, June 19, 1883. to consider the needs and possibilities of statehood. This resulted in the calling of a constitutional conven- tion at Sioux Falls, September 4. at which time a care- fully prepared constitution was approved and sub- mitted to the voters of the proposed new state. The result of this election was the adoption of the constitu- tion by a majority of 5,522, out of a total vote of 19,150.
The portion of the territory out of which it was pro-
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THE BAPTIST HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
posed to form the new state was practically the same as that which is included in the present state of South Dakota. It had an area of over 76,000 square miles, a population of 200,000, and over 1.500 miles of railroad lines. It had numerous prosperous cities and villages, and there were among its inhabitants all the resources of wealth, energy and enterprise necessary to consti- tute a flourishing state. The appeal to congress was ignored and the hopes of the people were disappointed. The question of statehood had become one of supreme importance, for it deeply concerned all the people of the territory. The persistent failure of congress to admit Dakota into the union either as one state or two, was the result, not of statesmanship, but of partisan- ship. The appeals of the people were deliberately dis- regarded, and they were denied the rights of citizen- ship, though they had long met all the conditions pre- requisite to admission.
After the failure to secure recognition in 1883, the provisional legislature, elected under the constitution that had been adopted, provided for holding a constitu- tional convention, September 8, 1885, at Sioux Falls. The constitution submitted by that convention and soon afterward adopted, is substantially the same as the present constitution of the state of South Dakota. A legislature was elected and state officers chosen. The legislature met in Huron, the place agreed upon for temporary capital. The provisional governor, A. C. Mellette, presented his message, bills were passed in the interest of prospective statehood, and G. C. Moody and A. C. Edgerton were elected United States Senators. This effort to secure a recognition of the rights of the people was also ignored. Four years more of uncertainty and tedious waiting were neces-
DANEVILLE BAPTIST CHURCH (DANISH), VIBORG. CHURCH ORGANIZED DECEMBER 31, 1 73- FIRST HOUSE OF WORSHIP DEDICATED JUNE 14, 157S. DESTROYED BY FIRE APRIL 2, ISSO. PRESENT HOUSE OF WORSHIP DEDICATED NOVEMBER 10, ISSO.
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THE BAPTIST HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
sary before justice was done to a long suffering and not always patient people. Relief came in 1889. A bill passed both houses of congress, and was approved by President Cleveland February 22, 1889, by which Dakota Territory was divided, and the necessary con- ditions of statehood were specified, including the elec- tion of state officers and the adoption of a constitution. These conditions having been fully met, by proclama- tion of President Harrison, dated November 2, 1889, the two states of South Dakota and North Dakota were formally admitted into the Union.
CHAPTER II.
SOUTH DAKOTA.
The history of Dakota Territory, briefly summarized in the preceding chapter, is practically the history of the early events and experiences in South Dakota. The first settlements in the territory began in the southeastern portion and extended in a northwesterly direction along the Missouri river, and northward along the valley of the Sioux river. With the except- ion of the early settlement at Pembina, in the extreme northeast corner of the territory, the entire northern portion was for many years practically unoccupied by white people. A few resolute pioneers ventured to settle along the fertile valley of the Red River of the North, but the entire population of what is now the state of North Dakota, did not exceed five hundred until sometime after 1870.
On the division of the territory in 1889, the dividing line was the seventh standard parallel. The state of South Dakota has an area of 76,620 square miles, or 29. 036,800 acres. The greatest length, from east to west, is three hundred and sixty miles; its breath, from north to south, is nearly two hundred and fifty miles. Its natural divisions are the valleys of the Missouri. Sioux and James rivers, the Sioux Indian reservation and the Black Hills. It has seventy-nine counties; some of these are unusually large. The Black Hills,
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THE BAPTIST HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
occupying an area of about six thousand square miles, are located on the west of the state. The portion of the state that has been longest settled and brought under cultivation is the eastern half. lving east of the Missouri river.
Some of the difficulties and dangers connected with the early settlement of South Dakota have been already mentioned. Occasional venturesome explorers gave in- formation to the outside world of the boundless prairies and seemingly fertile soil of this desirable but unoc- cupied portion of the great northwest. Though having no right of settlement. for the title of the land was vested in the Indians, vet little bands of pioneers began to appear along the borders, and, in anticipation of the treaties that were afterwards made, they risked the location of homes on the frontier of the territory.
The first attempts to establish settlements were made at Sioux Falls and Flandreau in 1857. though preliminary visits were made in 1856. About the same time a town site was located in the southern part of Brookings county, which was called Medary. It was intended by its originators to make this the capital of a territory vet to be organized. The prime movers in these plans to occupy Dakota were the Western Town Site Company of Dubuque, Iowa, and the Dakota Land Company of St. Paul, Minnesota. Within a few months Indian hostilities began, the little village of Medary was burned, and all of the small settlements along the Sioux river were temporarily abandoned. Near the close of that year a few buildings were erected at Sioux Falls. The population consisted of sixteen men. This number had increased to sixty or more in June, 1858. On the renewal of hostilities they built a fort for their protection. For several years the
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THE BAPTIST HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
peace of the future metropolis of South Dakota was frequently disturbed by real and threatened attacks by the Indians.
While the first movements towards the location of colonies were made in the valley of the Sioux river, these were soon after followed by pioneers who were scattered along the Missouri river, in what are now Union, Clay and Yankton counties. For greater safety against their common foe they were collected together in settlements at what are now the cities of Elk Point, Vermillion and Yankton. The settlers at and near Vermillion appear to have been the first to establish homes along the fertile valley of the Missouri, in the autumn of 1857 and the spring of 1858. Others came to Yankton in 1858 and to Elk Point in 1859.
For the first few years the dangers and risks of pio- neer life in Dakota were too great to encourage rapid immigration. It required courage to come, and perse- verance in the face of innumerable hardships and obstacles to maintain homes in a new country, away from the comforts and advantages of older civilizations. under conditions where one's life and family and pos- sessions were in constant danger. In consequence of the privations and sacrifices which were the necessary experience of those early days, the pioneer settlers were not crowded by white neighbors. In 1860 the total white population of Yankton county consisted of nine families, and thirty bachelors living in claim shanties.
On account of the disturbed condition of these colo- nies for several years the tide of immigration moved slowly until 1866. From that year onward Indian hos- tilities were of rare occurrence, and the southern coun- ties began to fill up rapidly with settlers. The drift of
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THE BAPTIST HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
population was northward along the Sioux, Vermillion and James rivers, and northwestward along the Mis- souri. Bon Homme county was first settled in 1858, by a colony from Mankato, Minnesota. Lincoln county was first occupied in 1861. McCook and Hutchinson counties received their first settlers in 1870, Hanson county in 1872, Brule county in 1873, and Hughes county in 1876. As the attractions of soil and climate became better known, and the peace and safety of the people were no longer threatened, immigration flowed westward into Brookings, Grant, Deuel, Codington and other counties, until it reached the valley of the James river, and in later years still further westward to the Missouri river. The census of 1870, which showed a population of 14,182, was nominally the population of Dakota Territory, but it was practically the census of South Dakota, since the statement has been frequently made, that until after 1870, there were not to exceed five hundred white inhabitants in what is now the state of North Dakota.
Reference has been made to the fact that the earliest pioneers in Dakota could establish no claim to the land on which they settled, since the title was vested in the Indians, who were the original and rightful possessors. By the treaty of 1851 only a narrow strip, near the Minnesota line, was ceded to the government. The treaty of 1859 secured to the government a large region of country, but the Indians remained in possession, and resisted the encroachments of the white race, until they were compelled to submit, after the military dem- onstrations led by Generals Sully and Siblev. Later treaties opened nearly all of the territory to settle- ment, most of the Indians being removed to reserva- tions lying west of the Missouri river. The latest
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THE BAPTIST HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
treaties were made since statehood was reached in 1889, and extinguished the Indian title to lands in- cluded in the Sisseton and Yankton reservations.
The way was now open for the coming thousands of pioneers from this and other countries to establish homes on the rich prairies of South Dakota. The obstacles that had hindered the progress of civilization were in large measure removed. Indian hostilities were no longer to be feared. The axe of the woodman was little needed. Instead of forests to be destroyed, the hardy settler found an open prairie ready for the plow, and a rich soil ready to produce a crop. There were still sacrifices to be made, and burdens to be borne, but they were those incident to pioneer life, and they were endured with remarkable courage and perse- verance. The early courageous settlers along the valleys of the Missouri and the Sioux, who risked their lives. and suffered untold hardships and privations. were the fore-runners of a mighty host who were after- wards to follow them.
" We hear the tread of pioneers, Of nations yet to be ; The first low wash of waves, where soon Will roll a human sea."
The population of Dakota Territory. which in 1860 was less than 2,500, and in 1870 was 14,182, had grown to 135,180 in 1880. The tide of immigration in the first decade really began its perceptible flow after 1866. Its volume rapidly increased during the second decade. but the marvelous progress in the third decade has rarely, if ever, been equalled in the settlement of any new state or territory. The population in 1890, of what had been, until 1889, Dakota Territory, was 511,527.
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THE BAPTIST HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
Several things contributed to this extraordinary growth. The advantageous location of Dakota, about midway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, its fertile soil, its pure, dry atmosphere, and unusually healthy climate, the favorable conditions and the easy terms of payment provided by the government for those who desired to establish homes, and the general drift of population westward, were among the things that helped to bring about such a wonderful movement. Another important factor was the coming of thousands of hardy and industrious people from European coun- tries, where there were limitations and restrictions on their liberty, both civil and religious, to enjoy the rights and blessings of a free government in America.
A liberty loving people who have courageously en- dured the hardships and made the sacrifices necessary in the early settlement and development of a new coun- try, may safely be entrusted with the responsibility of moulding and shaping the destiny of the state. Many of the present citizens of the two states of South Da- kota and North Dakota, were among those who, in the beginning, helped to set in motion the influences that have brought about the present conditions of pros- perity, and tokens of future progress and growth. A large proportion of those who are now citizens of these two states have seen the retreating steps of the In- dians to their present reservations, and watched the growing wave of population coming in to cover with permanent homes the land so recently covered with teepees.
For the purposes to be accomplished in recording the items of history that will be given in succeeding chapters, it has been deemed advisable to furnish a record of early events in the settlement and develop-
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THE BAPTIST HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
ment of the country. The missionary came with the pioneer settler. The religious history of Dakota be- gan with its early settlement. It is necessary, there- fore, to trace both lines of development and progress. The field to be surveyed in this historical sketch is Dakota Territory in its beginning, but mainly the state of South Dakota. As the settlement of the territory, with a single exception, began along its southern bor- ders, its religious history, especially in its early years, is practically identical with that of South Dakota.
REV. TRUMAN II. JUDSON. ISTI-INS4.
CHAPTER III.
EARLY BEGINNINGS.
Among the pioneer settlers in Dakota, especially after some of them risked the danger involved in bring- ing their families with them, early attention was given to laying plans for the establishment of churches and schools. The unsettled condition of things, due to frequent and often expected raids by hostile Indians, at first delaved the carrying out of these plans. Relig- ious services, however, were frequently held in the set- tlers' cabins, or in groves along the water courses.
The earliest known religious organization was in the northeast corner of what afterwards became Dakota Territory. There was a small Roman Catholic church near the beginning of the century among the French Canadian trappers and half-breed Indians emploved at the post of the Hudson Bay Company, located at Pem- bina. A chapel was built there in 1812. At the time of Major Long's expedition to that region in 1823, this chapel was rapidly falling into decay. In 1845 Father Belcourt, a zealous Catholic priest, built a chapel and also a small convent at St. Joseph, afterwards known as Walhalla. The following year he built a chapel at Pembina, and for several years he had charge of both districts. In 1846 he secured for the chapel at Wal- halla the first church bell ever brought into the terri- torv. In May, 1853, a company of missionaries, includ-
3
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THE BAPTIST HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.
ing Alonzo Barnard and D. B. Spencer and their wives arrived at Walhalla. They were members of the "Oberlin Band." from Oberlin college. They had been engaged in missionary work among the Indians at Cass Lake and other points on the upper waters of the Mississippi river, and when missionary operations there were abandoned they came to Walhalla to labor among the Indians there. We have no knowledge of the extent of their work or its results, and can find only a record of martyrdom while engaged zealously in the effort to evangelize the wild and uncivilized inhabitants of the prairie. Mrs. Barnard died October 21, 1853, as the result of exposure and suffering inci- dent to her missionary labors, and Mrs. Spencer was killed August 23, 1854, by the Indians whom she was trying to lead to a higher moral and spiritual life.
For the first religious movements in the south we look to three of the earliest settlements, those at Ver- million, Yankton and Elk Point. The pioneers at and near Vermillion came in the autumn of 1858. There was a trading house and a steamboat landing where Yankton is located in 1857, but the first settlers arrived there in March, 1858. Eli Wixom, the first white inhabitant of Elk Point, established his home there in July, 1859. So far as can be ascertained the first sermon preached in Yankton was by Rev. C. D. Martin, in February, 1859. He also preached the first sermon in Elk Point early in 1860. The first sermon preached in Vermillion was by Rev. S. W. Ingham. October 14, 1860.
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