A list of the names of the post offices established in Dakota Territory up to the close of 1874 indicates quite clearly the progress of white settlement of the area up to that time.  Post offices had been established at Platte Creek, White Swan, and Greenwood in Charles Mix County.  Fort Randall and Ponca Agency was also delivering the mail.  Eleven were already open in Bon Homme County and Crow Creek was distributing the mail in Buffalo County.

The Daily Press and Dakotan began its career at Yankton as a morning newspaper on Monday, April 26, 1875.  It was the first daily paper to be published in the territory and is still in operation today, one-hundred and fifty years later.

Dakota Territory was thinly populated, while Yankton was a town of about three thousand people.  As a business proposition, there was just not much inducement to justify the publishing of a daily paper at Yankton with the telegraphic news at a cost of $150 ($4,304 today) a month.  But there was an early future that seemed to justify the project, in which the community of Yankton and the territory was vitally interested.

The promising future was based on the early opening of the Black Hills country to white settlement.  The United States Government was about to conclude a treaty with the Sioux Indians who held the title to the hills.  General Custer made an exploring and investigating visit into the area in 1873.  He found the country rich in natural resources, including gold and pine forests.

As the people of Dakota Territory became apprised of this, they very properly assumed that there would be a large immigration to Dakota as a consequence of these assets.  Visions of prosperity on a large scale haunted the minds of our pioneers.  Word came from abroad of hundreds of organizations forming for the purpose of going into the gold region, and as a rule they would come by way of the Missouri River route.

Yankton people and interests had been working to secure the lawful opening of the Black Hills for over ten years, having information from the most reliable sources that gold was abundant in the region.  Its early opening to settlement promised great benefit to commercial Yankton.  It was the nearest railroad point to the Hills, and steamboats were carrying passengers and freight to all points on the upper river, including Fort Pierre.

It was the Fort Pierre-to-Deadwood Trail that was the main line of transportation between central and western Dakota Territory during the latter half of the 1800s.  It was the Interstate-90 of that day.

One of the least appreciated but important jobs during the era of the western expansion was moving freight to provide everything from food to machinery, household goods, ore, and needed equipment for the rancher, miner, farmer, households, and storekeeper.  Yet the “mule skinner” or “bull whacker” ranked near, if not at the bottom, on the scale of importance in stories about the old West.  Even during their time they were looked down upon.

Depending on your team of animals those who drove the freight wagons were called mule skinners or bull whackers.  The mules, of course were not skinned, but the “bull whackers” did have long whips with which to “urge the oxen along.”

Typically drivers were loners, and might go days without seeing another human, a bath, decent food, or necessities.  They slept in the open or under the wagons and most often the larger wagons had no place to sit, so the freighter rode on the last animal that was in harness or yoke.  Some of the wagons had wooden bench seats but men often walked since it was easier on the body than the bouncing of the wagon.

The teamsters usually traveled light, carrying only a hat, knife, rifle, and the clothes they wore including heavy boots.  A rough and ready group, full of profanities and lack of social etiquette, their work day began early and ended late – taking care of the animals and feeding themselves.  Many would often say that he “only knew one driver who did not chew tobacco, swear, or drink.”

The life on the trail and vices generally meant that most were single and when they did have free time it was often spent on booze, gambling, and women.  The pay of around $70 – $80 a month for an experienced hand was above that of common laborers or miners who generally got from $2.00 – $3.50 a day.  To put that in perspective, during the Civil War, the soldiers stationed in the West received no more than $15 a month.

In deliveries to towns of any size there often was an area of town where the needs of the freighters, such as reshoeing and repairs, could be obtained.  More often, especially on lonely, isolated stretches, the laborer and driver performed the chores.  Fortunately the wagons were so carefully and sturdily built that despite the difficult conditions serious breakdowns were infrequent.

Yankton had been well advertised as an outfitting point and there was a substantial expectation that there would be a large immigration by the Yankton Route.  Because of the business and growth that would come to Yankton as a result of immigration to the gold fields, local investors were encouraged to invest in the Daily Press and Dakotan.

Yankton, however, did not secure the advantage and benefits to which her location authorized.  The emigrants did not come in overwhelming numbers.

 

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