The Hamilton settlement was the next point where a small colony of white settlers made a settlement on Platte Creek, on the east side of the river above Wheeler.  This was the home of Major Hamilton and his sons, along with a few other settlers who were searching for their “Eldorado.”

Hamilton had been on the frontier for over fifty years, and had become a quite famous citizen.  He was highly respected by those who knew him and immediately became a friend to strangers.

Just after moving to Platte Creek, Hamilton was summoned by the Territorial District Count to appear in Yankton on Wednesday, November 3, 1875 as a Yankton County petit juror by Sheriff Baker.  Major Hamilton was one of twenty-four men called for jury duty in the first trails to be held in the county.

In the early days of the postal department, individuals would pick up their mail at post offices which were established in the towns and at individual homes out on the wide open prairie.  For the vast wide open spaces of Dakota Territory, individual homes were selected to distribute the mail.

This was a responsibility which those out in the country cherished.  It gave them an opportunity to make new acquaintances and at the same time “catch up on the gossip.”  The coffee pot was always on and this served as the basis for the social network which was so important for the settler’s sanity.

For those individuals who did not live nearby, a “List of Letters” would be published regularly in the local newspaper.  If the letters were not picked up in 30 days, they were sent to the Dead Letter Office in Washington.

While they lived on Platte Creek, Major Hamilton and his wife found their name listed regularly in the “List of Letters” which appeared in the Press and Daily Dakotaian.  When calling for their letters, individuals were told to refer to them as “advertised.”

In 1887 Hamilton served as the first assistant clerk of the Territorial House and was made secretary of the Board of Regents of the University. The newspaper reporting his appointment to the Board of Regents made this editorial comment in their story:  “The regents have done well in selecting him.”  He had the honor of calling the House to order for the first meeting of the Dakota Territorial Legislature.

In reporting the various appointments for the first meeting of the Dakota Territorial Legislature, almost all of the area papers reported that Hamilton was “the very efficient one-armed man.”

Located at the mouth of Platte Creek was Hamilton Island, twenty-five miles above Fort Randall.  It was here in the fall of 1881 that the government steamer, General Sherman, bound for Yankton, struck a rock and began to sink.  But the Rosebud which was nearby came to her rescue.

Captain John Todd, of the Rosebud, was always right at home with a disabled boat.  In a short time he had the crippled steamer buoyed up by the spars of the Rosebud.  Then he put his pumps to work and got the water out of the Sherman, after which some patching was done and she was left to make her way to Yankton.  Had the Rosebud not been nearby, the Sherman would have sunk.

Hamilton Island was one of the locations on the upper Missouri River where almost all steamers visited.  It was apparently an ideal location to stop and check the condition of their boat.  This neighborhood was also the principal place of residence for Jack Sully and John Kinkaid for a long time.

After spending several years in Charles Mix County, Major Hamilton was appointed to serve as the Indian Agent on the Standing Rock Indian reservation west of the river.  This location was in need of appropriate and adequate supervision.

At the time that the Hamilton Settlement was established on Platte Creek, it was the last of the white settlements on the public lands east of the Missouri River above Fort Randall.

Prior to its settlement, the white man had visited this region at brief intervals from the latter part of the 1700s.  The Missouri river was the main thoroughfare between civilization and the unknown northwest.  Its course was followed by nearly all the explorers, adventurers and fur traders up to within the 1890s.

The history of the county properly began with the ratification of the treaty of 1858 whereby this region as well as the greater part of the state east of the Missouri was opened to settlement.  Those who lived here prior to that time were really intruders and only tolerated by the government and by the Indians.

Those who did live here, however, all had Indian wives and were looked upon by the Indians with a friendly eye.  Moreover they afforded the Indians a market for their furs which enabled them to barter for supplies and the much coveted firearms.

Wheeler, the county seat in 1906, still had the court house, a store, newspaper, bank, hotel, and several residences.

 

Author Author Clarence Shoemaker, originally published in the Gregory Times-Advocate on March 5, 2025