In 1870, Gen. D. S. Stanley was in command of the military district of Dakota, with headquarters at Fort Sully.  The U. S. Infantry was stationed at the different forts in the territory and at the Indian agencies which included the Whetstone Agency.  From all available accounts, relations were unusually quiet and peaceable.

At the same time, the territory was making encouraging progress in the settlement of the area.  The religious and educational interests of the territory were also notably promoted.  One of the best educators in the West had come to be a Dakotan.

While not connected, officially, with the educational department of the territory, the new surveyor general, W. H. Beadle, was a host in the educational field for which he felt so much friendliness, and earnest interest.  He devoted much of his time to assisting those charged with administering the common schools and speaking to educators.

The church organizations at this time were all under the supervision and direction of superior men and aggressive forces.  Rev. Joseph Ward, of the Congregationalists, settled in Yankton, and became one of the most important early leaders in the area.  He founded Yankton College, the first college to be established in the Dakota Territory, and Ward Academy in northwest Charles Mix County.

In 1864, Congress invited each state to have the statue of two of their prominent citizens placed in the U. S. Capitol Building.  The two representing South Dakota are Rev. Joseph Ward and William H. Beadle.

In 1870 the common school system of the territory was represented by eleven public schools in Union County; six schools in Clay County; three in Yankton with two private schools in the city; four in Lincoln County; one in Bon Homme, and one in Minnehaha.  For those living in other parts of the territory, “Home Schooling” was available since most early settlers brought books with them and the Bible could be found on the corner of a table or on some other special piece of furniture in their home.

A journey up the river in the 1870s revealed that Native Americans located along the river were taking their first steps in learning something of the white man’s ways of living.  The Government was exerting its authority to make successful the new “peace policy.” Little progress was made in getting the Indians to change.

As early as the late 1850s, an attempt was made to pacify the Indians with blankets and other goods; however, the inducement was of short duration.  From the very beginning, the trading transactions did not favor the Indians.

Shortly after D. C. Poole arrived at Whetstone as the Indian agent, he realized that the Indians at the agency had not been treated fairly.  He had been at his post for only a few days when he was made aware that the Indians had been promised an abundance of blankets and Indian goods that spring.  These were to be delivered by the first steamboat up the river when the navigation season began.  That was March 15, 1869.

No record was made when Poole first arrived at the Whetstone Agency; however, by researching countless records and documents, it is estimated that he could not have arrived at Whetstone before sometime during the last half of June.  That is more than three months after the ice disappeared from the river and steamboats began delivering their cargo!

Upon investigating the situation, Poole discovered that although Indians were known to be in existence at Whetstone, no blankets had been purchased for them, much less shipped.  The Indians at the Yankton Agency, some forty miles down the river, were receiving their annual supply, or “annuities;” so also were their friends up the river at Crow Creek Agency.  These facts were well known to the Indians at Whetstone.

After a strenuous effort on the part of Poole, he demanded that the Governor and ex-officio Superintendent of Indians Affairs come up the river on a steamboat with food and supplies for Whetstone.  Finally after more than three months they received their first supplies in 1869.  Think about only going to the store four times a year!

Without being consulted in the matter, Poole was informed that a shipment of ready-made clothing had been made and would soon arrive at the agency.  It consisted of fifteen hundred pairs of pants, the same number of dress coats, seven hundred great coats, and one hundred hats.  The Indians had never expressed to him any desire to change their style of dress. All of them, without exception, preferred the fashion of their forefathers.

The ready-made clothing arrived.  The men showed some interest in the affair.  They were influenced by curiosity and by their unswerving desire to be the recipients of anything.  After examining the clothing, they immediately began to improve on the style.  The legs of the pants were cut off, making rather poor leggings.  The whole upper part discarded.  The overcoats were ripped up and appropriated by the women for making skirts.  The hats were thrown away.

This plan of immediate civilization failed.  Many who believed that it was not necessary to plod through a generation or two of these folks to change their mode of dress to that of their benefactors, were doomed to be disappointed.

That experiment cost more than $25,000 ($578,000 in 2024) and was a total waste!

 

Author Author Clarence Shoemaker, originally published in the Gregory Times-Advocate on October 2, 2024