Charles Mix County was first settled on November 4, 1794 when Jean Batiste Trudeau built the first white man’s house in Dakota country near what would later become Fort Randall.  The county was created in 1862 and was reorganized in 1879.

The county seat was first located at Wheeler, where it remained until it was finally moved to Lake Andes after numerous heated and contested elections.  Popular elections defeated removal to Geddes in 1900 and 1904 and to Wagner in 1910.

Charles Mix County had a traveling seat of government in the early days, but settled at Wheeler in 1887; removed to Lake Andes in 1914 by popular vote after several ineffectual campaigns to locate it elsewhere.

In 1887, the Duluth and Denver Railway, an associate of the Great Northern, was completed to Watertown, and graded as far as Huron.  The line was projected to cross Dakota Territory and would cross the Missouri River at Wheeler.  At the time, a bill was then pending in Congress to grant the company a franchise to bridge the river at Wheeler.

Located on the east side of the river, Wheeler was directly across from where the Whetstone empties into the Missouri River.  In 1888, a ferry was established by Ben Reynolds at what was then referred to as “Wheeler Crossing.”

In 1879 Ben Reynolds entered a claim to a homestead near Wheeler.  He began operations with an old flat boat, which he constructed himself.  He later built a new boat, which he operated by tread power, while finally the demands placed upon the ferry led him to install a gasoline engine for its operation.  He operated the ferry for fourteen years, the venture proving a profitable one in a financial way.  He sold the ferry in 1902 at a nice profit.

Wheeler served as the residence for the Indian Agent assigned to the area and was also the site from which commodities were distributed to the several tribes living nearby.  Those traveling on the west side of the river regularly stopped at Whetstone for supplies, rest, and the opportunity to visit.

On November 21, 1894, Starcher was established near the river south of Whetstone Creek.  In 1898 it was moved a little farther south near the river.  In 1902 it was moved north almost to Whetstone Creek and west of the Whetstone Agency away from the river.

It was named for Edwin Starcher who was elected as the first County Judge for Gregory County.  He was engaged in the practice of law, banking, real estate, and the abstract business.  Starcher closed in 1908 and the mail went to nearby Bonesteel.  It is now listed on the U. S. Geological Survey Map as “historical.”  The place where steamers and barges docked on the West side of the river at Whetstone was also referred to as “Porter’s Landing.”

Area newspapers in late May and early June of 1900 contained these headlines:

“Drowning of a Deck Hand in the Missouri River – Alleged He Was Pushed Off the Boat” and “Probably a Murder.”

According to information received at Sioux Falls from Porter’s Landing, on the Missouri River in Gregory County, a young man named Smith, who was employed as a deck hand on the steamer Dakota may have been murdered.  It was alleged that a short time before Smith fell overboard and drowned he had trouble with some of his companions on the boat.

It was claimed that the young man slipped on a piece of coal and fell into the river.  While attempting to swim ashore, the paddle wheel of the steamer struck him, breaking his back.  No attempt was made to rescue him.

It was the belief at a number of points along the river near where the young man lost his life that he was purposely pushed off the boat into the river.  Later, officials made efforts to determine the cause of his death; however, nothing could be proven.

As the waters of Lake Francis Case began to rise in 1953 behind the Fort Randall Dam, sections of the Wheeler Bridge which were utilized by Highway 18 were floated upstream 70 miles to become part of the new Chamberlain Bridge.  The six spans from the Wheeler Bridge were added to the four spans of the old Chamberlain bridge to form the new bridge at Chamberlain.

The Missouri River in South Dakota was not bridged until 1907, in which year the Chicago and Northwestern Railway completed the massive bridge at Pierre, having a draw-span for the passage of navigation.  In the same year, the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway erected a high bridge at Mobridge for its Pacific Coast line.

In 1919 the citizens of Yankton launched an enterprise to bridge the Missouri River at that point.  Through the sale of stock, supplemented by a small bond issue, they accumulated $1,250,000 which they invested in a massive combination vehicular and railroad bridge which was completed and dedicated in October of 1924.  The Meridian Highway Bridge opened as a toll bridge connecting Nebraska and South Dakota.  In 1953 the bridge was refurbished, the toll was removed, and the bridge became a free facility, which the State of South Dakota took ownership of shortly afterwards.

 

Author Author Clarence Shoemaker, originally published in the Gregory Times-Advocate on February 26, 2025