There were few towns and post offices in Dakota Territory in 1870.  The number had made but a slight increase from 1860.  The traveler coming in to the territory from Sioux City and crossing the Big Sioux River on the Government Bridge would travel a distance of twenty miles to Elk Point before reaching a town.  However, a post office had been established at Jefferson, eight miles to the east of Elk Point.

For some reason, no domestic settlement of Jefferson was established at that time.  Perhaps since Elk Point was established as the county seat of Union County, no development was initiated at Jefferson in 1870.

As the county seat, Elk Point had grown into something of a village with a weekly newspaper, The Elk Point Leader.  It was important that those living in the community and area support their local paper and its advertisers.  History clearly shows that a newspaper was one of the most important factors in the development and continued growth of a community.  It was the glue which held the community and surrounding area together.  The population of Elk Point was claimed to be 500.

On the journey west, the traveler observed a fair sprinkling of log cabins and some frame residences along the road.  Eight miles to the northwest was a new town called Liberty, owned by the Curtis family who were somewhat famous as vocalists.  In addition to the Curtis family, a post office, sawmill, schoolhouse, and black smith could be found in the village.

From Liberty, it was seven miles to Vermillion, situated along the bank of the Missouri River, fated to be its destroyer ten years later.  At the time, the population of Vermillion was about 600 citizens.  It was the county seat of Clay County, home of the Dakota Republican newspaper, a land office, and the seat of the United States Court for the First Judicial District.

Clay County had made considerate progress in the development and establishment of an agricultural enterprise.  It was fairly well settled in the southern townships an along the lower valley of the Vermillion river.  Travelers crossed the Vermillion River at the Government Bridge, eight miles east of the outpost of Lincoln which served only as a post office and stage station.

The quantity of wheat produced in the Territory of Dakota in 1872 was estimated to be 2.3 million bushels.  The number of flour mills in the territory of white settlements was ten at the time.  Clay County had the most with four, one at Vermillion, Bloomingdale, Lodi, and Liberty (Meckling area).

Sixteen miles further northwest was the James River which was crossed by the Government Bridge and four miles beyond the James the traveler would reach Yankton, the capital of the Dakota Territory.  It was said to be the finest natural town site along the Missouri River.

Yankton was now an incorporated city, with fine hotels, two church edifices — Episcopal and Congregational, a public school, an academy, the Dakota Hall, for young ladies seeking a higher education, two newspapers – the Union and Dakotaian, and the Yankton Press.  It was a town of about twelve hundred population, governed by a city charter and the usual city officials provided by legislative regulations.

Twenty miles by land due west of Yankton was the tiny town of Bon Homme which was the county seat of Bon Homme County.  It was said to have a “fairly good hotel,” a school, and a couple of residences.  It also had a post office and courthouse.

Eight miles farther west was the new town of Springfield which was located opposite the new Santee Indian Agency and Reservation in Nebraska.  Beyond Springfield thirty-five miles was Greenwood in Charles Mix County.  It was the official residence of the Yankton Indian agent, and the seat of the Yankton Indian Reservation.

Fifteen miles above Greenwood on the opposite side of the Missouri was Fort Randall which had been established in 1856.  It was garrisoned by four companies of United States troops. Opposite Fort Randall was a post office called White Swan.  It later developed into a small village.

The first settlement was made at what would become White Swan on November 4, 1794 by Jean Batiste Trudeau where he built the “Trudeau House” and spent one year along the river.  On some maps, it was referred to as the “Pawnee House.”  It is thought to be the first roof built by a white man in Dakota Territory.

The first actual account of exploration of the upper Missouri River is in the journal of Chevalier Verendrye in 1743.  The early visitors thereafter were Trudeau in 1794 and finally Lewis and Clark in 1804.  Thereafter the accounts of travels through the region are almost constant.

During the Civil War, a small contingent of the Dakota Calvary remained in South Dakota to protect the frontier folks from outlaws and desperadoes.   The Minnesota uprising of August 18, 1862, required the services of the Dakota troops who were concentrated in the White Swan and Fort Randall area.  Winter quarters were built and they carried the mail and dispatches up and down the river.

The fort occupied the broad sloping tip of Handy’s Point on the west side of the river.

 

Author Author Clarence Shoemaker, originally published in the Gregory Times-Advocate on February 19, 2025