CONDITION AND RESOURCES
OF
SOUTHERN DAKOTA.
PROSPECTIVE TRADE AND TRAVEL
OF THE
DAKOTA SOUTHERN RAILROAD.
BY .JOHN BRENNAN.
I hear the tread of pioneers of nations yet to he—
The first low wash of waves where soon shall roll a human sea.
The rudiments of empire here ant plastic yet and warm—
The chaos of a mighty world is rounding into form.
H E SIOUX CITY, IOWA:
DAILY JOURNAL PRINTING HOUSE AND BINDERY
1872.
•2771
:> >
SIOUX CITY
FOUNDRY I MACHINE WORKS
J. P. DENNIS, A. W. HUBBARD. E. H. BUCKNAM.
J. P. DENNIS & CO.,
Manufacturers of and dealers in
Engines, Boilers, Grist Mills
Brass Work, Building Castings,
Iron Fronts, Saw Mills,
Steam Gauges, Gas Pipe and Fitting
Bolting Cloths, Brass Valves,
Bridge Bolts and Girders.
And all kinds of machinery and Iron and Brass Castings. Sugar
Mills of our own make, equal to the best. Agents for the
LEFFEL DOUBLE TURBINE WHEEL
The best Water Wheel known; the Gardner Fire Extinguisher
and Eureka Smutter and Separator.
We pay the highest cash price for old Cast Iron, Brass and
Copper.
Steamboat Work a Specialty.
Having the patterns for many steamboat brasses and other
machinery, we are prepared to furnish at short notice anything
in this line.
Repairing Promptly Attended to.
Being near the Dakota border we can furnish work more
promptly and as cheap as any house in the West.
Send in your orders to
J. P. DENNIS & CO., Sioux City, Iowa.
CONDITION AND RESOURCES
y . <T7 >1 /
c/t A
fir
/ y
OF
SOUTHERN DAKOTA.
PROSPECTIVE TRADE AND TRAVEL
OF THE
DAKOTA SOUTHERN RAILROAD
I hear the tread of pioneers of nations yet to be—
The first low wash of waves where soon shall roll a human sea.
The rudiments of empire here are plastic yet and worm —
The chaos of a mighty world is rounding into form.
SIOUX CITY, IOWA:
DAILY JOURNAL PRINTING 'HOUSE ANi) BINDERY.
1872.
. S<STS«fc
LIBRARY ,,
BUREAU OF RAILWAY ECONOMICS,
WASHINGTON, D. C.
MAR 16 1911
>
SOUTHERN DAKOTA.
INTRODUCTORY.
When we tell the reader that Dakota's acres are reckoned
by the tens of millions; that settlements have existed upon
its southern border of more than a dozen years; and that
its white population to-day is only 25,000, he will naturally
demand an explanation of facts that seem irreconcilable. He
will ask, If the soil of Dakota is as fertile, her air as pure,
her people as prosperous and her institutions as free as men
represent them to be, why is her population so small, and
why are her settlements confined to her southern border?
The answer to this inquiry, or series of inquiries is, want of
railroads. People may seek an explanation in the scarcity
of timber, in imaginary Indian difficulties, or from many
other causes, but as railroads would remove all these diffi¬
culties and be the common cure for the several diseases, want
of railroads may be set down as the great drawback to set¬
tlement in Dakota.
The great and powerful State of Iowa, which is divided
from Dakota only by the Big Sioux River^ was regarded as
a wilderness only twenty years ago, yet, to-day it stands in
the foremost rank of the States of the American Union,
with a population of a million and a quarter. Three years
ago millions of its acres were open to settlement; to-day
^ there is a rush to its northwest corner to seize the last of its
vacant government claims in the timberless county of
Osceola. And why was the settlement of Iowa so rapid and
progressive? The answer is simply—Railroads. That
Iowa has done more railroad building in twenty years than
4
any other State oi the Uftion, and as a result the increase of
population has been correspondingly rapid.
The deduction from the foregoing arguments as applied
to Dakota, is, that as railroads have built up the population
and material wealth of Iowa; and as the climate, soil, min¬
eral productions and agricultural resources of the State and
Territory are nearly alike, railroads will do for Dakota all
that they have done for Iowa.
In the commencement of summer of the present year
(1872), the first railroad engine crossed Dakota's Minnesota
border over the track of the Northern Pacific Railroad.
This event was indeed of importance to the northern por¬
tion of Dakota Territory and to the whole nation, for the
iron horse entered a new field that lay upon his road to the
Pacific. But about the same time, an event of far greater
importance to Dakota was transpiring on her southern bor¬
der: one hundred and fifty men were cutting through the
hills between Sioux City, Iowa, and the Big Sioux bridge,
and building the grade of the first five miles of the Dakota
Southern Railroad. We say the building of the Dakota
Southern is of far greater importance to Dakota, because it
enters the most fertile and populous portion of the Territory
and connects with the outer world 25,000 people who have
hitherto been isolated; and because it enhances by 100 per
cent, the value of every acre of land and town lot in all the
southern counties of the Territory.
GEOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.
We shall reserve for another chapter our notice of the
Dakota Southern in connection with the other prospective
roads of which the Southern is to be the common parent;
while we glance briefly at the past and present conditions of
the Territory and look in imagination into her probable
future.
The Territory of Dakota is as large as the State of Cali
I'ornia, and three times as large as the State of Iowa
5
embracing within its borders 150,000 square miles, or
90,000,000 acres. It is as large as the Republic of France,
with her 38,000,000 inhabitants, and nearly twice as large as
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland with
their 30,000,000 of inhabitants. If it were as thickly
settled as the countries of the Netherlands, its population
would be about 18,000,000, or if settled as thickly even as
Iowa is, it would have a population of three millions and
three quarters. It is bounded on the north by British
America, on the south by the Missouri and Niobrara rivers,
which divide it from Nebraska, on the east by the Red
River of the North and the Big Sioux rivers, which separate
it, respectively from the States of Minnesota and Iowa, and
on the west by Wyoming and Montana Territories. It lies
between the 42d and 49th degrees of north latitude, and
between the 19th and 27th degrees of longitude west from
Washington.
HISTORICAL.
The portion of Dakota lying east of the Missouri river
was formerly a part of the Territory of Minnesota, to which
it was attached by act of Congress in 1849. In the year
1854 the Territory of Nebraska was formed, embracing
within its limits that portion of the present Dakota which
lies west of the Missouri river. Thus what is now known
as Dakota Territory was divided between the Territories
Minnesota and Nebraska. In 1859, when Minnesota was
admitted as a State, with her western border extending no
further than the Red River of the North, all that tract of
country between the western border of Minnesota and the
Missouri was left without any local government, and subject
only to the United States. This region then contained
only a few settlers, composed of fur traders, residing in the
neighborhood of Indian agencies and military posts. A
provisional legislature was held at SiouX Falls during
the winter of 1856-9, and in the winter of 1800-1 Dakota
6
was organized as a Territory by Congress. Its population
was then, perhaps, 1,500 inhabitants. From 1860 until 1865
the settlement of the Territo^ was greatly retarded by the
Indian raids and Indian scares. After that time individuals
and colonies settled" in the valleys of the Missouri and the
Sioux, and along the wooded streams between these rivers •
and within the past three years settlers have been making
their homes on the table lands in all the counties in the
southern portion of the Territory. The Federal census of
1870 estimates the population of Dakota at little more than
14,000 white inhabitants. The vote in October, 1870, taken
as the basis of calculation, shows the population then to
have been about 18,000, and it is safe to approximate
Dakota's population to-day at not less than 25,000 white
inhabitants.
CLIMATE.
The climate of Southern Dakota does not differ materially
from that of Northern Illinois, the southern counties of the
Territory lying in the same latitude as the northern counties
of that State. The summers of Dakota, however, have a
more even temperature than those of Illinais, while the air?
in winter, as well as in summer, is dryer and more bracing
than that of Illinois. It is not uncommon to see consump¬
tives from the Eastern States traveling through or residing
in the Territory for the recovery of their health, and a case
of death from consumption or other pulmonary diseases has
never come under the knowledge of the writer, though he
has traveled through every county in Southern Dakota.
SURFACE AND SOIL.
The surface of Southern Dakota, generally speaking, is
rolling prairie, there being scarcely anything deserving the
name of mountain, while its hills or blulfs are mere low and
rounded inequalities generally situated along the rivers and
creeks. The soil of the prairie is generally a dark, sandy
7
loam, and that of the valleys a loam still darker with a large
admixture of alluvial soil or decayed vegetable matter. This
lj CD
soil covers the whole country between the Sioux and
Missouri rivers to a depth of from four to seven feet.
MINERALS.
Though many evidences of the existence of coal have
been discovered in the settled counties of Dakota, no scien¬
tific prospecting or practical mining has yet been done'
Veins of coal from ten to fifteen feet have been discovered
at Fort Rice, on the Missouri River, and inexhaustible beds
of this mineral are known to exist in Western Dakota.
"The actual discoveries of Astor's fur parties in 1811, and
of Capt. Bonneville in 1834, of Harney in 1855, Warren in
1856-7, of Dr. Hayden in 1858-9, Gen. Sully in 1864, and
Col. Sawyers in 1865, prove conclusively that the Black
Hill region abounds not onty in the precious metals, but in
iroiq coal, lead, salt and petroleum, aside from its vast for¬
ests of magnificent pine and cedar."
"Prof. Gregg, of New York, who visited Dakota and
Montana in the summer of 1865, after analyzing some of
our iron ore, says: 1 That the carbonate of iron or clay iron
stone similar and equal to the English iron ore, crops out
on the Missouri river from Bijou Hills to above Fort Sully,
a distance of one hundred miles, and that the bed in some
places is fifty feet thick and inexhaustible.' George Alex¬
ander Batchelder, who has seen the iron ore and fully con¬
firms the above statement of Prof. Gregg, says that in the
vicinity of Fort Sully, D. T., there is no limit to iron ore.
The men that accompanied Gen. Harney's expedition to the
Black Hills say that iron was found so pure that it was
used by the blacksmiths of the expedttion in its native state;
also, the Ponca Indians have brought into the white settle¬
ments specimens of iron from these hills in a very pure
state."
Sand-stone, lime-stone, granite and chalk-rock, a soft but
s
beautiful blue and white stone resembling marble in appear¬
ance and extensively used for building purposes, abound in
nearly every county in the Territory.
Salt has been discovered in the region of the Red River
of the North., and recent discoveries go to prove that gold
exists in the Black Hills. This region of the Black Hills is
unquestionably rich in minerals, but its occupation by hos¬
tile Indians, and their persistent refusals to permit white
men to enter that region, has prevented the possibility of
mining, and greatly hindered the progress of geological ex¬
plorers.
TIMBER.
In speaking of the counties tributary to the Dakota South¬
ern Railroad, we propose to convey to the reader a correct
idea of the extent of timbered lands within them, and shall
now only speak in general terms of timber in Dakota. In
the southern portion of the Territory, timber is confined
chiefly to the valleys of the Missouri, Big Sioux and James
Rivers, and to the streams flowing into them. The cotton-
wood tree is the most common and widely distributed kind
of timber in Southern Dakota. A forest of Cottonwood from
one to three miles wide and several hundred miles in length
lines the banks on the Missouri River; and groves of the
same tree beautify and enrich the several minor valleys,
and the homesteads of the prairie farmers. Oak, ash, elm
maple, vvhitewood, and other trees abound in the vicinity of
the streams, and flourish wherever planted artificially.
II there is anv one thing more than another to be won-
v O
dered at in Dakota it is the rapid growth of timber. A
slip of cottonwood stuck into the earth attains a height of
twenty to twenty-five feet in four years, and when ten years
old, is from six to nine inches in diameter. The settlers on
the timberless prairie lands, taking advantage of this wise
provision of Nature, are cultivating this tree extensively.
Many oi the early settlers planted from one to ten acres
eacli in cottonwood and other trees the first year of their
settlement, so that now the whole of the settled portions of
the southern counties are dotted .with juvenile groves.
The " Black Hills country " contains millions of acres of
pine forests which are now inaccessible, but which will
eventually yield timber sufficient not only to supply the
wants of the Territory, but to give building material to the
States of Iowa and Nebraska.
RIVERS AND STREAMS.
In estimating the value of Dakota?s rivers and streams,
their usefulness as channels of navigation must not be regard¬
ed as their only worth or even their chief blessing to humanity
The Missouri is the only stream which in the past has been
usecl for the purpose of navigation, and except this and the
Yellowstone, it is not believed that any other stream is
navigable for heavy draft eteamers. But, as we have s&id,
their usefulness for this purpose is not so much to be desired
as the many other blessings they confer upon mankind. In
many of Dakota's valleys, where the sound of the steam
whistle has never been heard and may not be heard for years,
the waters of her streams furnish the power for saw mills
and grist mills. In addition to this the dampness of the
grasses upon their margins protect the growing trees from
the all-consuming prairie fires, and thus insure a supply of
timber to the inhabitants residing in the valleys and ad¬
joining table lands. Again: herds of cattle grazing on the
level prairies find abundance of water in the valleys, and
the whole country is drained by the hundreds of little
creeks that empty themselves into these streams. Such
have been the uses to which these natural arteries have been
applied in the past; but the value of the principal valleys
\of Southern Dakota in the future, as affording beds for the
several lines of railroad that are destined to connect the
-Dakota Southern with the Northern Pacific, is another con¬
sideration that cannot be over estimated.
The principal rivers of Dakota are the Missouri, the
10
Yellowstone, the Big Cheyenne, the Big Sioux, the Dakota
or "Jim River," the Vermillion and the Niobrara. The
Missouri River rises in the mountains of Montana, runs
diagonally across Dakota from northwest to southeast, forms
a confluence with the Mississippi near St. Louis, and falls
into the Gulf of Mexico. The steamboats of the Northwest
Transportation Company, some fifteen or twenty in number,
ply upon this river between Sioux City and Fort Benton,
M. T., during eight manths of the year, carrying freight
and passengers to the military posts, Indian agencies and
settlements in Dakota and Montana. [Further on in this
volume, we will furnish an estimate of the carrying irade
on the Upper Missouri. ] The Yellowstone river, a clear,
navigable stream (rarely navigated), falls into the Missouri
near Fort Buford. The Cheyenne river rises in the Black
Hills and falls into the Missouri near Fort Sully. The
Dakota or Jim River rises near Devil's Lake, and falls into
the Missouri a few miles below Yankton. The Niobrara
river, which divides Dakota from Nebraska, falls into the
Missouri below Fort Randall. The Big Sioux -rises in
Northeastern Dakota, divides the State of Iowa from
Dakota and falls into the Missouri two miles above Sioux
City, Iowa. The Vermillion River rises at Lake Thompson
and falls into the Missouri at Vermillion in Clay county.
We have thus passed hurriedly over the rivers of Southern
Dakota, not pausing to describe their surroundings, because
in describing the counties drained by them and tributary to
the Dakota Southern Railroad, we must necessarily speak of
the streams and valleys.
AGRICULTURE.
In speaking of the counties, instances of the kinds and
amounts of crops are given, which renders a general notice
on the subject of agriculture unnecessary. The wheat, conf
and oats crops of Dakota in 1872, we are pleased to hope,
will so far exceed the same crops in the Eastern States
11
that Dakota will be regarded, not only as a good agricultural
country, but, pre-eminently the agricultural region of the
West.
STOCK-RAISING.
Stock raising must certainly be classed as the safest in¬
dustry and most profitable of rural pursuits in Dakota.
And j^et it seems strange how sadly it has been neglected.
But the cause of this neglect is perfectly clear to the mind
of every Dakota ran. Most of the settlers are poor when
they enter the Territory, and the small amount of capital at
their disposal is otherwise employed. Thus leant of capital
is the eause that must be assigned for the neglect of this
profitable industry. To the man with a capital of $500,
$1,000 or more, no finer field for investment is presented in
the world than the millions of acres of Dakota's grassy
lands. It might be well to observe here that there exists
is the Territory what is known as the herd law, an act by
which men are bound to restrain their stock from entering
the cultivated fields. The application of this act protects
the farms, and does away with the necessity of building
fences. But, at the same time, it practically permits herds
to roam over the whole of the uncultivated portion of the
country, so long as they are guarded and restrained from
entering the cultivated fields. It would be aside from our
duty and the truth to indorse the representation that "cattle
live and flourish all the year round upon the grass of the
prairie wfithout shelter." It is true that thousands of cattle
live through the winter in the open air, but no stockraiser
who desires to profit by his business would send his cattle
adrift in winter in a country where excellent hay may be had
anywhere for the cutting of it. As no State or Territory
in the nation produces better grasses than Dakota, and as
these grasses are absolutely free to the owners of cattle, it
must be admitted, and it is admitted that as a stock-raising
country Dakota cannot be excelled.
12
DAKOTA'S RAILROAD SYSTEM.
The Yankton Press, in an article upon the railroad sys¬
tem of Dakota, accompanied by a map illustrating that sys¬
tem, laconically speaks this forcible truth : " The railroad
system proposed by this map is no purely ideal affair"—and
we repeat, the railroad system of Dakota "is no purely
ideal affair." If we commence by saying that within five
years from to-day Dakota will have half a dozen railroads
in operation,, the reader may seem disposed to regard the
prediction as an unreasonable flight of hope not warranted
by the prospects of the Territory; but, when we tell the
reader that that portion of Iowa on the Missouri River
slope, which ten years ago possessed a population of less
than 25,000, without a mile of railroad to accommodate
them, to-day reckons its population at 100,000, and is tra¬
versed by railroads in all directions, our hope, expressed
with regard to Dakota, will not seem so unreasonable.
The only railroads now actually constructed or being*
constructed in Dakota are the Northern Pacific and the Da¬
kota Southern. Of the railroads prospective, we will first
cite those for whose construction competent and substantial
companies have been formed; and lastly we will name the
roads which, so far as there is any prospect of their im¬
mediate construction, are "purely ideal."
THE DAKOTA GRAND TRUNK.
A company was organized last spring whose purpose, as
set forth in their articles of incorporation, is to gridiron
Dakota with railroads. The company is known as " The
Dakota Grand Trunk Railroad Company," and among its
incorporators are Gov. J. G. Smith, of the Northern Pa¬
cific, Thomas, A. Scott, the Pennsylvania railroad king, and
Governor Burbank, Judges French and Brookings, Con¬
gressman Armstrong, Secretary McCook, and other promi¬
nent men of Dakota. The different lines which this com¬
pany propose to construct are as follows:
13
The Dakota Central, from Yankton up the James or Da¬
kota River, to the Northern Pacific.
The Vermillion Valley and North Pacific.
The Yankton and Sioux Falls Railroad.
A line from Yankton to Springfield, and thence north to a
connection with the Dakota Central, at Rockfort, on the
«•
James River.
The Elk Point and Sioux Valley, to connect Elk Point
with the Sioux City and Pembina road.
A line frt>m the Yankton and Sioux Falls road, from the
center of Turner County to a point at or near Canton, on
the Sioux.
And a line from Springfield to the Minnesota State line,
near Big Stone Lake.
x\t*the last session of Congress a bill passed both houses,
and on the first of June was signed by the President, grant¬
ing right-of-way to the Dakota Grand Trunk Company. The
privileges granted by this bill are thus set forth in the Con¬
gressional Globe, of the 30th of May:
u For the purpose of enabling the Dakota Grand Trunk
railway company, a corporation organized under the laws of
Dakota, to extend its road and branches by the most advan¬
tageous and practicable lines, in accordance with its charters,
the right-of-way through the public lands in the Territory of
Dakota is by the bill granted to the company to the extent
of one hundred feet in width on each side of the central line
of the1 road and branches, where they may passover the
public lands; and there is also granted to the company all
necessary ground, not to exceed twenty acres for each ten
miles in length of the main line of the railroad, for station-
buildings, workshops, depots, machine shops, side-tracks,
switches, turn-tables, water stations, &c. When it may be
necessary to use material from the public lands for the con¬
struction of the road it may be done, but no private prop
erty is to be taken for the use of the company except in the
manner now provided by the laws of Dakota relative to the
taking of such property for like uses, and in which manner
it may be done, with compensation to the owners as therein
provided.
14
"The company is to have power to mortgage, in the usual
manner, its franchise, road bed, and all property of every
kind belonging to it, to an amount not exceeding $25,000
per mile for the entire length of the road upon such terms
as to the company seem best; but in no case shall the United
States be liable, in any manner whatever for any act or
thing done by said company."
OTHER PROSPECTIVE ROADS.
The Dakota Central, in a great measure, covers by it.
scheme the many roads hitherto proposed in and for Dakota
As its branches are intended to extend their iron limbs over
the priacipal valleys of the Territory, and accommodate the
trade and travel of the most thickly settled regiods tributary
to the Dakota Southern and the Missouri Valley, but by no
means is the scheme of the Grand Trunk Railroad Company
identical with theproposed railroad system of Dakota.
The other roads, whose immediate construction is deemed
necessary to the development of Dakota, and whose comple¬
tion is only a question of very little time, may be set down
as follows:
The McGregor and Missouri River Railroad from
McGregor, on the Mississippi, to Yankton, by way of Sioux
Falls. This road is now completed to a point in North¬
western Iowa, and is being rapidly extended westward.
The St. Paul and Sioux City Road, from Sibley, Osceola
County, Iowa, to Yankton.
The Yankton and Columbus Road from Yankton to
Columbus, Neb., on the line of the Union Pacific.
The Omaha and Northwestern road, from Omaha, Neb.,
to Niobrara, Neb., with branches to Yankton and Spring¬
field.
The Winona and St. Peters (Minn,) Railroad, which is
being pushed westward through Minnesota. It has
reached a point forty miles east of the Dakota line, and by
the terms of its land grant is bound to run to the Sioux
River, in Dakota, before the close of the present year, thus
giving the Territory forty miles of road in Duell or Brook¬
ings County.
15
fc
ROADS INDEFINITELY PROSPECTIVE.
By " indefinitely prospective," in this case, we mean that
there is a prospect of the following roads being built at
some future time, but that this time is indefinite. We thus
separate the real from the ideal, and merely add the fol¬
lowing named proposed lines as railroad probabilities :
The Big Stone Lake (Minn,) and Chippewa Railroad.
The Springfield, Yankton and Iowa Railroad, from
Springfield to the mouth of the Rock River, Iowa.
The Fremont (Neb.,) Springfield and Niobrara Railroad.
The Hastings, Minnesota and Dakota River Railroad to
the western bank of the Missouri River in the direction of
the Big Cheyenne river.
And another road which is now being spoken of, to be
built by the Northern Pacific Road from Duluth, Minn., via
St. Paul, through Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, Arizona,
and New Mexico to the Pacific Ocean.
TIIE DAKOTA SOUTHERN.
The Dakota Southern Railroad Company was organized
on the 17th of March, 1871, "for the purpose of construct¬
ing and operating a line of railroad from the city of Y ank-
ton, on the Missouri river, eastward through the counties of
Yankton, Clay and Union, to a point on the Big Sioux
River, between townships 88 and 93, both' inclusive." The
organization was formed under the general incorporation
act of the Territory, approved January 6th, 1868, entitled
"An act to regulate incorporations." In the spring of 1871,
a special session of the Dakota Legislature passed an act,
which was approved by the Governer, April 27, 1871, en-
Titled "an act to enable organized counties and townships
to vote aid to any railroads, and to provide for the payment
of the same." Some doubt having arisen as to the legality
of this special session of the legislature, a bill was present¬
ed to congress, at its last session, in the spring of 1872, and
Congress passed an act legalizing the action of said special
session, " So far as it related to the Dakota Southern rail-
16
road, from the Big Sioux River to the west line of Bon
Homme County." Under the act of this special ses¬
sion, subsequently legalized by Congress, entitled, " An
act to enable counties, &c." the county of Yankton voted
$200,000 in 8 per cent. 20-vear bonds, to aid in the con¬
struction of the road. The township of Elk Point, Union
county, in May, 1872, voted $15,000 for the same purpose,
and it is confidently expected that other townships will vote
further aid, so as to increase the amount to $250,0.0.
Wicker, Meckling & Co., of Chicago, a firm who, for
years, have been railroad building in Iowa, Minnesota and Il¬
linois, have undertaken the work of constructing the Dakota
Southern, and have given bonds to Yankton County suffi¬
cient to warrant its completion before the 1st of January,
1873. The road is now graded in Iowa, from Sioux City to
The Big Sioux River, a distance of five miles, from the Big
Sioux West through Union County, some fifteen miles> and
from the James or Dakota River to the city of Yankton,
five miles, making in all at this date, July 4th, 1872, a dis¬
tance of twenty-five miles graded.. Ties are distributed
along the whole line, and iron is arriving daily at Sioux
City, and the road is being hurried to completion as fast as
100 or 150 men with teams can build it.
N
LINES CONNECTING WITH THE DAKOTA SOUTHERN.
At Sioux City, Iowa, the Dakota Southern connects with
the Illinois Central, a line running directly across the whole
State of Iowa, and through Illinois to Chicago. At the
same point it will connect with the Sioux City and Pacific,
a line running southeast from Sioux City-, and forming a
link in the chain of connecting lines between Yankton and
St. Louis. Here it will also connect with the Sioux City
and St. Paul, a road nearly completed; with the Des Moines
W estern, from Sioux City to De» Moines; and, in the course
of time, with the Sioux City and Columbus, a road project¬
ed from Sioux City to Columbus, Neb., on the Union Pacific.
At the Big Sioux Bridge, five miles west from Sioux
i
City, the Dakota Southern,forms a junction with the Sioux
City and Pembina road, a ]ine projected from Sioux City
up the valley of the Sioux to a connection with the North¬
ern Pacific.
»
At Vermillion, the proposed Vermillion Valley and
Northern Pacific road will tap the Dakota Southern.
To Yankton, which is destined to be a great, railroad,
center, we find the following lines pointing and heading
westward from the East to a connection with the Dakota,
Southern: The Yankton, Sioux Falls and Minnesota South¬
ern road; the Omaha and Northwestern; the Yankton and
and Columbus; the Dakota Central; the McGregor and
Missouri River road; and a line which will undvmbtediv be
built from Yankton up the valley of the Missouri, west to
the Northern Pacific. A maioritv of these lines are yet to
J ./
be constructed, but constructed they must and will be as
** . .
sure as water will find its level.
The routes oi the several roads projected from the Missouri
river to the Northern Pacific are not simply feasible, but ad¬
mirably adapted to the construction of railroads. The val¬
leys of the Sioux, Vermillion, James, and Missouri are level
as a pine board, while the table land alongside these valleys
would require not an inch of tunneling, and very little gra¬
ding.
The country between the Missouri and the Sioux, over
which roads from Minnesota and Iowa must run to tap the
Dakota Southern, is generally rolling prairie, with here and
there a patch of country broken by the waters and wind¬
ings of some narrow creek. In fact, there are few places
in the southern or southeastern part of the Territory where
a grade of more than three feet will be required.
Thus, it will be seen that schemes already moulding inter
form, with money, power and influence to back them, are at
work to secure tor Dakota railroad connections east, west,
north and south. By following the directions of the several
18
•roads named, it will be seen that the railroad system of
Dakota proposes to connect the Dakota Southern and the
Northern Pacific by three different routes. It is further
.proposed to connect the Dakota Southern with two lines
which are being built westward towards the Big Sioux?
'through Minnesota, and .with two lines in Iowa, one of which
is being built and the other to be built immediately. At
Sioux City the Dakota Southern secures connection by the
Illinois Central aud Chicago and Northwestern to Chicago
and the East, and by the Sioux City and Pacific over the
chain of connecting roads to St. Louis. In fact the Southern
will, in five years from to-day, be the main line of Southern
Dakota, fed by and feeding eight lines of road to the East
and West.
It will require time, energy and money to build these
several roads, and they, of course, cannot be constructed
without Eastern capital. Nor is it hoped that they will be
built until the growth of the Territory's wealth>and popula¬
tion warrant their construction, but that the Dakota South¬
ern will be a profitable enterprise, we propose to demon¬
strate ; and the results of its operations will be the best ar¬
gument that can be adduced in favor of other roads.
We will now proceed to show the condition of the coun¬
ties of Union, Clay, Yankton and Bon Homme, from which
the Dakota -Southern is to draw its local trade. These
counties we shall clas«s under the general head of
THE MISSOURI RIVER COUNTIES.
Five miles from Sioux City, Iowa, we cros-s the Big
Sioux River and enter the Territory of Dakota. The first
county one the line of the Dakota Southern Railroad is
UNION COUNTY.
Union county lies in the southwestern corner of Dakota.
It is irregular in form, bearing some resemblance, as we
look at it on the map, to the picture of a boot. It is bounded
19
on the east by the Big Sioux river, which divides it from
the State of Iowa; on the west, by Clay county: on the
north by Lincoln county, and on the south by the Missouri
river, which divides it from the State of Nebraska. Its
greatest length from north to south is 42 miles, and its great¬
est breadth from east to west is 17 miles. It contains 540
square miles of land or, in round numbers, 345,000 acres.
THE SOIL.
About one-half of Union County is bottom land, lying in
the valleys of the Missouri and the Sioux. In these valleys
the soil is a rich, dark, sandy loam with a large proportion
of alluvial and vegetable mould. The soil on the table land
is a pure dark loam, except in the northwest corner of the
county where the land is sandy and in rare cases rocky.
The soil in the bottoms is from two to four feet deep, and at
no point in the county its there less than two feet of soil.
PRODUCTIONS.
To prevent repetition in enumerating the natural produc¬
tions of the several counties of Southern Dakota, we might
say here that all kinds of cereals grown in northern latitudes
flourish to a degree calculated to excite the admiration of
agriculturalists. The soil and climate seem adapted partic¬
ularly well to the growth of corn. It is no uncommon
thing to see corn ten, twelve and even fourteen feet high in
the Missouri valley, and the yield of this crop ranges from
fifty to eighty bushels an acre. Wheat, potatoes, cabbages,
oats, turnips, onions, carrots, peas, beans, and almost all veg-
etable cultivated on eastern farms are raised here with
ample and satisfactory profit to the husbandman.
TIMBER.
The Missouri river for twenty miles, along the whole
length of the southern line of the county, is bordered by
immense forests of cotton wood, elm, ash, liackberry and
blackwalnut. The average width of this belt of timber is
two and and a half miles. Along the Sioux for a distance of
50 miles, the whole eastern border of the county is skirted
with groves of cottonwood, maple and willow. It may be
20
safely estimated that the timber of Union county is sufficient
to supply the wants of her people for a century to come,
. <md the artificial groves now being planted constitute am¬
ple provision for unborn generations.
VACANT LANDS.
From estimates furnished by Joseph P. Walters, County
Surveyor, we find that at the date of this writing, June 18,
there is still vacant in the county some 48,000 acres of gov¬
ernment lands, which are open under the homestead and
pre-emption laws to actual settlers only. These lands which
are situated in the northern portion of the county, are
adapted to farming and stock-raising, possessing a rich soil
and being liberally supplied with springs and little creeks of
pure, living water.
STREAMS.
The streams that drain and water Union county are the
Missouri and Big Sioux Rivers, and the Brule, Union and
Pattee Creek, of which a more extended notice will be seen
in another portion of this volume.
RAILROADS.
There is at present no road operating in the county, but
the Dakota Southern from Sioux City, Iowa, to Yankton, is
now in course of construction and will be completed before
the end of the year 1872. This road will run across the
%/
whole southern portion of the county, a distance of twenty
miles. The McGregor and Missouri River road is surveyed
across the northern end of the county* Jts terminal points
are McGregor, Iowa, and Yankton, D. T.
TOWNS AND VILLAGES.
Elk Point is the principal town and the county seat of
Union county. It is situated some 22 miles from Sioux
City, 45 miles from Yankton, and o miles northeast from
the Missouri river. The Dakota Southern Railroad is lo¬
cated through the town. Its population, basing our esti¬
mate upon election returns, is about 500. It contains three
churches, three general mercantile establishments, one bank,
t wo hardware stores, one drug store, one shoe store and
21
harness shop, two hotels, one furniture store, two black¬
smith shops, two meat markets, a newspaper, the Coumer
office, six law offices, one variety store, one livery stable and
one lumber yard. A „ steam grist mill, with three run of
burrs, is in course of construction, and there is a steam saw
mill three miles south of town, where cottonwood lumber
may be bought for $10 per thousand feet.
Richland, a small, thriving village with a population of
about fifty inhabitants, is situated at the junction of the
Brulft Creek and Big Sioux River, six miles northeast from
Elk Point.
The Postoffices of Big Sioux, Adelescat, Liberty, Leroy,
Spink, Blair, Virginia, Sioux Valley, and Texas, are each
the centre of a little hamlet, containing from three to a
dozen houses, with thickly settled settlements around them.
TAXATION AXD FINANCE.
The total valuation of real and personal taxable property
in Union county, according to the assessment rolls on Jan,'
1st, 1872, was $856,13-1.50. This estimate may seem extra¬
ordinarily small for a county so rich in agricultural wealth
and every acre of which is capable of a high state of culti¬
vation; but it muct be remembered that three-fourths of
the real estate of the county is occupied by settlers under
the homestead and pre-emption law, whose real estate is not
taxable until they receiv.e their patents from the United
States. The general tax for Territorial and county purposes
is 11 mills upon the dollar of valuation. This, however does
not include the district school tax, which varies in the dis¬
tricts from 5 to 10 mills, making the total taxation for all
purposes from 16 to 21 mills upon the dollar of valuation.
The debt of Union county is about $3,000, and for the
payment of this the county will make provision at the next
session of her county commissioners.
POPULATION.
The total voting population of Union County on the 1st
of January, 1872, was 1,184, which, multiplied by five would
give us a total population of 5,920. The increase in popu-
22
lation, according to an approximation by the Register of
Deeds, would make the total population at present at least
6,000.
Of the people who inhabit the county it is estimated tliat
of every seven, two are Anglo-Americans, two French, two
Scandinavians and one Irish, there being only about a dozen
German families in the county. Nine-tenths of the whole
population live by agricultural pursuits, the remainder being
employed at the various mechanical trades, milling, trad¬
ing, &c.;
CLAY COUNTY.
Clay county is the second county from Iowa, in the
southern tier of Dakota counties. It is bounded on the
east by Union county, on the west by Yankton county,
on the north by Lincold and Turner caunties and on
the south by the Missouri river, which separates it from
Nebraska. Its width from east to west is 18 miles, and its
length from north to south from 20 to 24 miles. In form
the county is nearly rectangular, three of its boundaries
being straight lines, but the Missouri river for its southern
boundary destroying the regularity of the rectangle. It is
estimated that the county contains 396 square miles, or
253,440 acres.
SURFACE AND S*OIL.
Five-sixths of the land of Clay county is rolling prairie
or bench land, one-sixth being bottom land lying in the
the valleys of the Missouri and Vermillion rivers. The soil
is a dark loam on the rolling prairie, and a sandy loam with
a large mixture of vegetable mould in the Missouri river
bottom. The soil varies in depth from four to seven feet.
The land of the whole county is suitable for-farming and
stock raising, not an acre being entitled to the name of
waste land. The Missouri river valley produces spontane¬
ously a rich heavy growth of red-top and blue-joint grass,
and in the \ ermillion valley the grass is chiefly blue-joint.
Cattle feed and flourish on the wild grass of the rollings
23
prairie, and abundance of hay is produced in the valleys
amid the gently rolling hills (if ir/deed we may call the
undulations of the prairies hills.)
productions. ,
Wheat and oats are principal productions of the county,
being generally regarded as the most profitable crops.
Corn and potatoes are extensively cultivated, and rye, bar¬
ley, turnips, carrots, and all other northern crops flourish
here.
timber.
The timbered land of Clay county is situated in the
Missouri valley, with here and there a grove in the Vermil¬
lion valley and in the ravines and along the creeks in the
interior of the county. The amount of timber in the
count}7 is sufficient for its present inhabitants; and, as was
said of Union county, the present generation is providing
for the future.
vacant lands.
There is very little government land vacant in Clay
county. It is estimated that at the date of this writing,
June 20, some 15,000 acres are still open to settlement un¬
der the homestead and pre-emption laws; but every acre of
this will, in all probability, be occupied before the close of
the year 1872. Near the county seat, Vermillion, land .sells
from $5 to $50 an acre, and 10 miles north of the Missouri
it varies in price from $3 to $10 an acre.
towns and villages.
Vermillion, situated at the junction of the Missouri and
Vermillion rivers, is the chief town and county seat of Clay
County. Its population is estimated, basing the estimate
on the vote, at 450, but its growth is more rapid than any
other town in the Territory. It contains one newspaper,
the Republican, four general mercantile establishments, four-
hotels, one bank, the United States district land office, two
hardware stores, one harness shop, one tailoring establish¬
ment, one butcher shop, one jeweler's shop, three drug
stores, three agricultural implement and machine ware"
24
bouses, one lumber yard, one grist mill, two saw mills, two
livery stables, six attorneys, four physicians, a photographer
and a barber. The people of the whole county and a por¬
tion of the population of adjoining counties trade at Ver¬
million.
Bloomngdale is situated in the Vermillion vallev 10 miles
CD %/
miles nortn of Vermillion. Its population is approximated
at fifty persons. It contains a grist mill, a general mer¬
chandise store, an agricultural warehouse, a hotel, a black¬
smith shop and school house.
Lodi, a hamlet of some forty inhabitants, is situated in
the Vermillion valley, six miles north of Bloomingdale. It
contains a grist mill, a blacksmith shop, a hotel, and a store-*
Lincoln, eight miles west of Vermillion, with half a dozen
houses, is the only other village in the count}'.
RAILROADS.
The Dakota Southern railroad is located across the whole
southern end of the county, passing through the town of
Vermillion, and running east and west to Yankton and Sioux
City. It is expected that it will be built to this point by
the loth of September.
A company has been organized for the purpose of building
a road up the Vermillion valley, wTith hfitent to extend it at
some future dav to a connection with the Northern Pacific
«/
railroad.
RIVERS AND STREAMS.
The Missouri and Vermillion rivers and Clay and Turkey
creeks are the principal streams of the county—the Mis¬
souri alone being navigable.
TAXATION AND FINANCE.
The total valuation of the real and personal taxable prop¬
erty of Clay county, according to the refcords in the clerk's
office is $570,670. Remembering that this assessment was
made as two-thirds of the actual value, and considering that
not more than one-half of the real estate is taxable, the
other half being held under the homestead and preemption
la Wj it is safe to assume that the real value of real and per-
25
sonal property m Clay county is more than a million dollars.
The rate of taxation for territorial and county purposes is
'9^- mills upon the dollar of valuation, but this does not in¬
clude district school tax, which varies from one-half to one
per cent., making the total taxation for all purposes from
ITj to 20 mills upon the dollar of valuation. f?he present
assessment is sufficient to pay the county's liabilities^ which
is equal to the fact that it is free from debt.
POPULATION.
The voting population of Clay county, according to the
poll list, is 1,205, which, multiplied by five, would give
6,025 as the total population of the county. The population
has increased 33 per cent in the past two years, and its an¬
nual increase for five future years will, it is estimated, be
at least 20 per cent.'
About one-third of the population are Anglo-American,
one-third Scandinavians, one-sixth Irish, and one-sixth Ger¬
man and French, the Germans being very few.
THE CROP OF 1872.
Our estimate of Clay county's crop must necessarily be
an approximation, as that crop is still growing, but in mak¬
ing this approximate estimate we shall confine ourselves to
the truth, and rather under estimate than exaggerate the
facts. Wheat, as has been said, is the leading or staple
Crop of Clay county. There are some 1200 farms in the
county, whose crops of wheat vary in extent from 10 to 160
acres. Taking 25 acres as the average on each farm, and
25 bushels as the average to each acre, we find that 740,000
bushels of wheat will be produced in Clay county in 1S72.
Add to this 260,0*00 as the number of bushels of oats, bar¬
ley and rye, and the grain crop of Clay county cannot fall
far short of a million bushels. The corn crop, at eight acres
as the average on each farm, and fifty bushels to the acre,
will amount to 480,000 bushels.
YANKTON COUNTY.
*
Yankton is the third county west from Iowa in the south¬
ern tier of Dakota counties. Its surface and soil do not differ
26
materially from those of Union and Clay, and a repetition
of the description applied to these counties is therefore
deemed unnecessary. Yankton county is bounded on the
north by Hutchinson county, on the south by the Missouri
river, on the east by Clay county, and on the west by Bon
Homme county.
In form, Yankton county is rectangular, except that the
regularity of its southern border is broken by the windings
of the Missouri river.
VACANT LANDS.
There still remains vacant in the county a vast amount of
government land, but the immigrants now rushing to Soutli-
ern*Dakota will soon occupy it.
TIMBER.
The timber of Yankton county is confined mainly to the
valleys of the Missouri and the James rivers, but considera¬
ble groves of hardwood are found in the ravines and along
the creeks in the vicinity of these valleys. The timber
here, as in the other counties, is chiefly cottonwood, but
maple, ash, oak, hackberry and other kinds of hardwood
abound in the county.
RIVERS AND STREAMS.
The Missouri river flows along the whole southern border
of the county, furnishing an outlet for its surplus produce,
and placing its peop.e in connection, by steamboat, w ith the
various centers of trade on the Missouri and Mississippi
rivers.
The Dakota, or James river, a stream possessing valuable
hydraulic power, and solid, well defined banks, runs diag¬
onally across the county from northeast to southwest.
Beaver creek and numerous other little streams traverse
the county and empty themselves into the James.
In Yankton county, as indeed in all the southern counties
of the Territory, there are many springs of pure, fresh water,
and good water may be found everywhere in Southern Dakota
by digging wells from 10 to 30 feet.
27
MINERAL PRODUCTIONS.
Chalk-stone bluffs crop out and exist along the Missouri
river near the city of Yankton, thus furnishing an ample
supply of building material.
VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS.
Agriculture in the county of Yankton, it must be con¬
fessed, has been sadly neglected in the past. The reason of
this is obvious. Yankton has been to the Territory of
Dakota all that Paris has been to France—the seat of its
government and the center of its trade and fashion. While
the homesteads of Clay and Union counties wete occupied
by actual settlers and active workers, the richest lands of
Yankton county have been claimed by men who never
handled a plow in their lives, but lived in the city of Yank¬
ton on the profits of their trade or the proceeds of some
Federal, Territorial or oounty office. Thus, as we have said}
agriculture has hitherto been neglected. It is only within
the past two years that farming has been practiced to any
great extent in the county. Now, however, the attention of
the people is aroused to the profit and necessity of agricul¬
ture as a certain source of life to the rising city of Yank¬
ton, and in every section of the county new farms are being
opened. Our remarks as to the neglect of agriculture will
not apply to that portion of Yankton county Which lies in
the Missouri river valley. The thousands of acres of this
delightful valley are cultivated with as much care and profit
as any portion of the State of Iowa, and the yield of crops
will not fall behind anything in the Western States. The
principal crops of Yankton county are wheat, corn and oats-
No accurate estimate can be made of the amount of produce
growing in 1872, but it is safe to presume that of grain and
corn Yankton county will have a surplus for export of half
a million bushels.
TAXATION AND FINANCE.
The total valuation of real and personal taxable property
in Yankton county1, according to the records in the office of
the rcgistor of deeds, on the 1st of January, 1872, was
28
$1,300,000. In 1871 the valuation amounted to $50,000
more than in 1872; but this was owing to the fact that
the rate of valuation in 1871 was much higher than in 1872;
If the property in Yankton county were estimated at the
same standard of valuation as in 1871, its taxable value
would now be $1,700,000; and as this is little more than
two-thirds of its real value, that real value must be over two
millions of dollars. The rate of taxation for county and
territorial purposes is 11-J- mills upon the dollar.
POPULATION.
I
The population of Yankton county, in round numbers, is
perhaps 5,000; but as any statement as to the rate of its in¬
crease must be a mere approximation it is impossible to
state what the number of its people will be next year. In
another chapter we propose to show the rlate of increase in
the several^counties as deduced from the records of the Ver¬
million land office, and from this calculation it will appear
that Yankton county's population is increasing at least 25
per cent, per annum. Of the nationalities that contribute
to make up the population of Yankton county, the Scan¬
dinavians andAnglo-Americans predominate. Perhaps one-
half are Yankees, one-fourth Scandinavians, and one-fourth
Bohemians, Germans and Irish.
TOWNS AND VILLAGES.
The city of Yankton, the capital of Dakota Territory and
county seat of Yankton county, occupies one of the most
beautiful locations on the Missouri river. The river forms
a bend at this point which seems, and really is, semi-circular,
so that from any street in the city there is an excellent
view of the water and of the groves in Nebraska, on the
opposite shore. The city is built on a plateau or plain of
elevated prairie land which rises abruptly from the river
bottom to a height of some thirty feet above the level of
the river.
The vote of Yankton in the spring of 1872 was about 475.
This would indicate a population of over 2,000, but such in
dication would be based upon the false assumption that the
29
voting population is one-fifth of the whole number of in¬
habitants, when really there is one voting citizen for every
three-and-a-half of the city's inhabitants, owing to an undue
proportion of bachelors. The actual population of Yankton
is about 1,650 or 1,700 inhabitants. In 1869, the popula¬
tion was less than 1,000, and in 1870 it was less than 1,200
Thus the rate of increase in five years has been some 70 per
cent., or 14 per cent, per annum.
The trade of the city of Yankton is not merely local. The
people of Yankton, Bon Homme, Charles Mix, Buffalo,
Hanson, Hutchinson, Turner, and a portion of Clay coun¬
ties, and two counties of Nebraska contribute to her jobbing
trade, and among her mercantile establishments are some of
the wealthiest in the Northwest, outside of Sioux City.
There are some fifty stores in the city, whose business
covers the whole range of trade and whose field of opera¬
tion in the Territory is limited only by want of railroads.
Among her institutions Yankton contains three excellent
weekly newspapers, a bank, a high school, a saw mill, a
grist mill, the capiiol building, and the offices of all the
Federal and some of the Territorial officials.
Town lots range in price from $50 to $2,000, and land in
the neighborhood.of the city sells from $10 to $100 per acre.
With good educational institutions, with a splendid farm¬
ing country surrounding it, with a healthful climate, railroad
arid river locomotion and other advantages, Yankton cannot
fail to be a prorperous, progressive and populous city.
The village of Zizkov, in the Bohemian settlement, ten
miles from Yankton, is the only other town or village in the
county.
BON HOMME COUNTY. '
lion Homme county is fourth in the southern tier of
Dakota counties west from the State of Iowa. It is irreg¬
ular in form, its northern and eastern boundary lines being
straight, and its southern and western lines being curved or
crooked. It contains about 625 .square miles or 400,000
30
acres. It is bounded on the north by Hutchinson county;
on the south by the Missouri river; which divides it from
the State of Nebraska; on the east by Yankton county,
and on the west by Choteau creek, which divides it from
the Yankton Indian Reservation. From the records in the
Springfield land office we find that about 100,000 acres or
one-fourth of the land of Bon Homme county is occupied.
The surface and soil are like those of Yankton county.
TIMBER.
Bon Homme county is liberally supplied with timber, but
unfortunately nearly all of this timber is in one large elon¬
gated body on the bank of the Missouri river. We say
unfortunately, because if the timber of the county were
equally distributed on every township the people would
have sufficient fuel and building material for 50 years; but
while a cottonwood forest from one to three miles wide lies
along the southern border of the county, the northern part
of the county must depend upon scattered groves iu the
ravines and along the creeks, or its people must haul their
fuel from the Missouri river, in some cases 10 to 20 miles.
Hence it ma}7- be said, in general terms, that there is abund¬
ance of timber in Bon Homme county, but it takes travel
and labor from people living on the prairies to get it The
settlers are cultivating groves extensively.
RIVERS AND STREAMS.
The Missouri river flows along the whole southern border
of the county^ and is the only navigable stream. Flowing
into the Missouri river and running through the county
from north to south, are Choteau, Emmanuel, Cooper,
Snatch and Silver creeks. These creeks'are all fed by
springs. Their waters are clear and pure, and their beds are
of gravel, sometimes mixed with alluvial soil washed down
by rains from the hills and ravines. Dawson creek, in the
eastern portion of the county, flows into the Dakota river
In many parts of the county there are small shallow lakes
and springs, and abundance of water ma}7" be found by dig¬
ging wells from 10 to 30 feet.
31
TOWNS AND VILLAGES.
Springfield, the seat of the United States district land, of¬
fice lies in the centre of the county, east and west, on the
Missouri river. Its population is estimated at 200. It con¬
tains, in addition to the land office, a newspaper, the Times,
(Republican), two general mercantile establishments, two-
hotels, two blackshith shops, two carpenter shops, a boot
and shoe factory, a telegraph office, and some twenty-five
residences. The land is all occupied for six miles around
the town. New settlers are coming in every day and the
town shows signs of doubling its population within a year.
The town of Bon Homme, the seat of Bon Homme
county, is situated on the Missouri river, twenty-two miles
west from Yankton. Its population is estimated at 125.
The town contains one general mercantile establishment,
two hotels,.one blacksmith shop, one wagon shop, one bil¬
liard hall, and a tin shop. Lots sell from $25 to $100 and
measure 50 by 150 feet.
Scotland, a town site of high hopes but few houses, is
situated in the northeast corner of the county.
TAXATION AND FINANCE.
The total valuation of real and personal taxable property
in Bon Homme county according to the assessment rolls
compiled in January, 1872, amounts to about $100,000.
The rate of taxation for county and territorial purposes is
a trifle less than 10 mills upon the dollar of valuation, and
the district school tax amounts to about $1 per capita of
the voting population.
The debit of the county, in round numbers, is $800.
POPULATION.
The voting population is between 300 and 400, and the
total population about 1*500. About one-half the popula¬
tion are Bohemians, two-sixths Anglo-Americans and one-
sixth Irish.
CHARLES MIX COUNTY.
The county of Charles Mix lies west of Bon Ilomnie and
borders on the Missouri river. Although one of the largest
it) the Territory, its population is very small. Its settle¬
ments are confined to the Missouri river valley. Stock rais¬
ing, trading, and ''keeping ranche" are the principal pursuits
of its inhabitants. White Swan is the only village.
BUFFALO COUNTY.
A general description of Charles Mix will apply exactly
to Buffalo county. It is situated west of Charles Mix and
contains only a few inhabitants.
TODD AND GREGORY COUNTIES.
The counties of Todd and Gregory, on the west bank of
the Missouri river, are mere names upon the map of Dakota
being included in the Indian and military reservations of
Dakota, and being in reality closed to-white settlers.
. THE YANKTON RESERVATION.
Immediately west of Bon Homme county, 011 the Mis¬
souri river, lies the Yankton reservation, a tract of land con¬
taining 400,000 acres, and occupied by the semi-civilized In¬
dians of the Yankton tribe.
THE JIM RIVER COUNTIES.
The counties of Hutchinson and Hanson we shall desig¬
nate as the Jim River counties, to distinguish them from
fdiose known as the Missouri valley counties and the Sioux
valley counties, and because the James or Dakota river runs
through them.
HUTCHINSON COUNTY.
Hutchinson is one of the counties of Dakota in the second
tier north from the Missouri river. It lies north of Yank¬
ton and Bon Homme, and is watered and drained by the
James river, which runs diagonally through it from north¬
east to southwest, and cuts it into two parts, almost equal.
It is bounded on the north by Hanson county, on the
33
south by Yaakton and Bon Homme counties, on the east by
Turner coui\ty, and on the west by Charles Mix county. The
city of Yankton is its market place, and, commercially, it is
tributary to the Missouri valley, as no town or village of
any importance has yet been built within its borders. The
county was organized in October 1861, when its voting pop¬
ulation was 29, and its total population about 100 persons.
The population has increased 100 per cent, within the past
eight months, and it is not unreasonable to suppose that ere
the close of 1873, at least 500 inhabitants will dwell within
its borders.
SURFACE AND SOIL.
The soil of Hutchinson county is not inferior to that of
any other in the Territory. Its valle}rg are made up of the
dark loamy soil common to northwestern valleys, and the
soil of its table lands are a rich, black, sandy loam. The
wild grasses that cover its surface are remarkable for their
richness and variety. Blue joint, red top, wild timothy,,
buffalo grass and a species of grass known as rice grass or
wiid oats abound upon its surface and flourish to a remark¬
able degree.
A very remarkable and valuable soil, resmebling peaty
and mistaken for peat, lies in large deposits in basin or
shallow lakes which lie everywhere amid its rolling prairie*
TIMBER.
The timber of this county is confined to the James river
bottom, to a few ravines, and to the creeks tributary to the
James. It consists principally of oak, ash, hackberry, and
elm. Ihe groves are sufficient to supply the population of
the county for a few years, and by that time the artificial
groves now growing, and the importation of pine lumber
will supply the wants of the future residents of the county.
RIVERS AND STREAMS.
1 he only river is the .Fames above mentioned, whose aver¬
age width is about 100 feet. It is useless for the purpose of
navigation, but powerful for good when applied to mill pur¬
poses, I he principal creeks are ti c Twelve-Mile, Lone
*
c
34
Tree, Dry creek, Dawson and Maxwell creeks, which flow
generally from northwest to southeast and empty themselves
into the James. Flowing into the James, upon its east side,
are the Red Earth and Wolf Creeks. Small lakes or springs
lie in every section of land in the county.
towns and villages.
There is 110 town in Hutchison county. Its juvenile vil¬
lages are two. Their names are Maxwell City, at the mouth
of Lone Tree creek, and Millville, at the mouth of Twelve
Mile creek. Maxwell City is the county seat, and will
probably be the town of this county when the country be¬
comes thickly settled. It has been laid out and platted, and
from its position, in one of the loveliest and most fertile
portions of the James river valley, it must at an early day
be a place of considerable importance. A grist mill is being
built on the town site. It is twenty-eight miles northwest
of Yankton and tributary to that city. Both, of these vil¬
lages receive two mails once a week.
taxation and finance.
No tax has yet been deemed necessary in Hutchinson
county and none has been levied.
population.
Its people are mostly American born, with a sprinkling
of Irish, French, Germans and Scandinavians.
producing capacity.
A county so beautifully supplied with the gifts of nature
as Hutchinson is cannot remain long unoccupied, and when
occupied and cultivated who can imagine its productive
capacity. With its 720 square miles of land, or 400,800
acres, one-third of it, properly cultivated, will yield ten
million bushels of wheat in the crop of a single year.
HANSON COUNTY.
Hanson county is the youngest, fairest, and most vigorous
and hopeful of the new counties of Dakota. It lies north
of Hutchinson county, in the third tier north from the Mis-
35
souri river. The James river flows through it from north
to south, and into this river flow many beautiful creeks.
The principal of these creeks are the Twelve Mile, Wolf,
Enemy, Firesteel and Rock. Their valleys range in width
from half a. mile to a mile, and for richness of soil and sur¬
face are unrivalled in the Territory. Lakes, springs and
groves abound around the heads and along the courses of
these streams. A species of granite, red and hard and use¬
ful for building material, enriches this county of Hanson.
Immense quarries of this stone exist around the confluence
of Firesteel creek and the James river.
THE TOWN.
Rockport, at the mouth of Firesteel creek, on the James
river is the only town yet laid out in the county, and to
this town and its vicinity there is just now a great rush of
immigrants. It is situated sixty miles north of the city of
Yankton, on the proposed route of a branch of the Dakota
Grand Trunk Railroad.
THE BIG SIOUX COUNTIES.
The counties of Lincoln, Minnehaha, Brookings and Duell
we classify as the "Big Sioux Counties," because the Big
Sioux river flows beside or through all of them. And here
we might properly remark that the Big Sioux is one of the
principal streams of Dakota. It is useless for the purposes
of navigation^ but its hydraulic power for mills has proved
of immense value in the past, and when fully utilized will be
a great source of wealth to the Territory.
LINCOLN COUNTY.
Lincoln county lies on the eastern border of the Terri¬
tory, north of Union and south of Minnehaha. It is a
large county containing 720 square miles of land. About
one-half the land of the county is still vacant and open to
actual settlers under the homestead and pre-emption laws.
The Sioux river flows along its whole eastern border, and
36
numerous creeks flow through the county from west to east .
Its surface is slightly undulating, and its soil resembles that
of the table land in the Missouri river counties.
The population of Lincoln county is estimated at 2,500,
which is composed chiefly of Yankees and Scandinavians.
TOWNS AND VILLAGES.
Canton, on the Sioux, is the county seat. It contains
some six mercantile houses, two hotels, several mechanical
workshops, a postoflice and a school house.
Eden and Fair view, sites of hotels and postoffices, are the
only other villages in the county.
RIVERS.
The county is watered by the Sioux and Vermillion ri vers
and Turkey Ridge creek.
TAXATION AND FINANCE.
Taxation in this, as in all the Sioux river counties, is
merely nominal, except that there is generally a levy for
school purposes in the districts, and the good condition of
schools everywhere throughout the Territory is ample evi¬
dence that this tax is properly, applied.
MINNEHAHA COUNTY.
The name Minnehaha is borrowed from the Indian lan¬
guage, and it means " laughing water." It lies north of
Lincoln county, and south of Brookings county. The
county is nearly square in form and contains about 800
square miles. It is more bountifully supplied with water
than any other county in the Territory, and immense quar¬
ries of red granite abound in the vicinity of the Big Sioux
river. Timber, to a limited extent, fringes the Big Sioux
and other streams.
TOWNS.
Sioux Falls is the only town of importance in Minnehaha
county. It is beautifully located on the left bank of the
Sioux near the celebrated cataract from which it derives its
name. Its population is approximated at 200 inhabitants.
Its chief advantages are: a good farming country around it.
abundance ©f building stone, and the most powerful water-
power in the northwest. Five regular lines of stages run
to and from the town. Of the business houses, there are
five mercantile establishments, three hotels, three law and
land offices, several mechanics shops, and a republican
weekly newspaper.
Dell City, a settlement romantically located on the Sioux
some twenty miles above Sioux Falls, is the only other vil¬
lage.
SURFACE AND SOIL.
The surface and soil resemble those of Lincoln county. '
POPULATION.
It is estimated that Minnehaha county contains a voting
population of 500, or a total population of 2,500. The pop¬
ulation is mainly composed of Anglo-Americans, and Scan¬
dinavians.
; Taxation is merely nominal. Three-fourths of the land is
still vacant and open to settlers.
BROOKINGS COUNTY
Lies north of Minnehaha. Its soil is excellent, its climate
good, stone abounds within it, and there is a limited amount
of timber, but owing to the absence of locomotive connec¬
tion with the world its settlements are very few. With
the development of Western Minnesota, which borders
Brookings county, the county will unquestionabl}'' be thick¬
ly settled.
DUEL COUNTY.
Duel county lies north of Minnehaha, and west of Minne¬
sota. Looking on the map of Southern Dakota, we find
that Duel is a blank patch, which indicates that topograph¬
ers, lithographers and geographers know nothing about it,
but the pioneers who have located there declare that it is
rich in natural wealth, with good climate and soil; and that
it needs onl}' a railroad to develop that wealth. The county
38
has an area of over 1,000 square miles. The Winona and
St. Peters road, which is now being extended westward
through Minnesota, will enter Duel county during the pres¬
ent year, and then, it may be confidently hoped, Duel will
take her place as one of the most prosperous counties in the
Territory.
TURNER COUNTY.
Turner county, which we shall designate as " the Ver¬
million river county," occupies a central position in South¬
ern Dakota. It lies west of Lincoln and east of Hutchinson,
and contains 600 square miles of land. As no county in
the Territory contains better soil, no portion of the Territory
is being so rapidly settled and developed. The records of
the land office at Yermillion go to show that 150 new set¬
tlers have made their homes there this spring. It is water¬
ed by the Vermillion River and Turkey Ridge creek.
Town sites have been laid out at Turner and Swan Lake
and the population in both these places is rapidly increasing.
PEMBINA COUNTY.
The only county now organized in the " Red river coun¬
try," in the extreme northeastern portion of the Territory,
bears the name of Pembina. It is quite thickly settled,
being an excellent agricultural country, well watered and
heavily timbered along the rivers which are numerous.
The largest towns in the county are St. Joseph and Pembina.
The Red river country forms an important part of Dakota
and when the Northern Pacific railroad is completed, this
section will develop rapidly.
INCREASE OF POPULATION.
The only means of ascertaining the increase of Dakota's
population is by the vote of her people biennially, and by
the records of the government land offices showing the in¬
flux of immigrants who settle upon her vacant lands. Re-
39
garding the latter means as the truest, we adopt it as the
basis of calculation.
The number of acres taken in each county in the Ver¬
million land district during the month of May, under all acts,
was as follows:
Lincoln 11,020 74
Clay 9,993 59
Turner 7,730.54
Minnehaha 7,006 14
Union j 9,435*36
Yankton 4,838 40
Brookings 1,758.40
Total... 50,693.27
Supposing that each 160 acres is represented by a family
of five, or even that each 50 acres is represented by one
person, we find the increase of population to be 1,000 in a
single month in seven of the principal counties of the Ter¬
ritory. Add 1,000 more as the natural increase, and we
find Dakota doubling her population in 1872. Making all
due allowances, it is safe to assume that five years from to¬
day Dakota will have 100,000 inhabitants.
VACANT LANDS.
As we have said, Dakota embraces within its borders
some ninety million acres. Of these, five million acres have
been surveyed, and of these only about a million and a half
of acres are occupied. Thus millions of acres are still va¬
cant and open to settlement. Any citizen of the United
States, any man over twenty-one years of age who lias de
clared his intention to become a citizen, or any woman, be
ing single, or being the widowed head of a family^, is entitled
to 160 acres of this land " without money and without
price," and is also entitled to purchase an additional 160
acres at $1.25 per acre, subject only to the condition of
making such land their home.
40
THE FUTURE OF DAKOTA.
Look at the great State of Illinois with her two and a
half millions of inhabitants; see the State of Iowa with
half that number; look at Nebraska with lier population
increasing biennially in an arithmetical ratio; compare and
find the similarity of each and all of these States in their
unimproved conditions to the Territory of which we write,
and then contemplate the future of Dakota. Imagine a city
of 25,000 inhabitants at Yankton; see in imagination the
towns of Vermillion, Elk Point, Canton, Sioux Falls and
Richland with 5,000 inhabitants in each. Look forward to
the birth of new counties, towns and villages 200 miles
north from Yankton where the white man has never trod.
Imagine, if you can, a railroad running up the valley of the
Missouri, with ten connecting lines running eastward, and
two lines of road gliding through the Black Hills, the high¬
est peaks of the Rocky Mountains and down the golden
slopes of the Pacific. Revel in the gratification of seeing
the millions of your surplus grain passing over the iron rails
to feed the hungry millions of Europe. Imagine the work,
worn pioneer sitting at his fireside and relating to his family
his recollections of the time when Dakota was a wild, un¬
cultivated Territory. Imagine half a dozen of the little
boys that travel over the prairies for miles to some country
school, now grown up in manhood, and, as' the representa¬
tives of 100,000 Dakotaians, see them knocking at the
doors of Congress, seeking and finding admission for their
Territory into the sisterhood of States. Then contemplate
the future of Dakota. Shall we live to see all this realized?
The question may be modified to this: Shall we live ten
years? All that we hope for has been accomplished by the
Nebraskaians in ten years, and in ten years will all this be
accomplished in Dakota.
41
PROBABLE TRAFFIC'OF THE DAKOTA SOUTHERN
We may approximate the carrying tradoand travel of the
Dakota Southern for the immediate future, but to reckon
its trade Efnd travel in years to come we must picture to our¬
selves the future of the great northwest whose inhabitants
.it-is intended to accommodate. It is impossible to figure
exactly what the local trade and traffic of the southern
counties of Dakota will be in their intercourse with Sioux
City, Chicago and the East. But we can give an exact idea
of the amount of through traffic to and from the military
posts and agencies on the Upper Missouri river, whose
freight and passengers are now transported by the steanr-
boats of the Northwest Transportation Company, and other
steamers. The great shipping point for these steamers at
present is Sioux City, but Yankton, the western terminus
of the Dakota Southern road, will take the place of Sioux
City as the great shipping point upon the completion of the
road.
The following table, compiled by Mr. James Doud, Super¬
intendent of the forwarding and commission house of Milton
Tootle & Co., at Sioux City, exhibits the steamboat trade of
the Upper Missouri, during the months of April, May and
June, 1872. The freight shipped consists mainly of Indian
and military supplies, merchandise and grain. As all this
freight comes by rail at present to Sioux City, the head of
the railroad system of the northwest, it will unquestionably
be forwarded over the Dakota Southern to Yankton and
thence transferred to the steamboats.
42
\
Name of Boat,
Nellie Peck
Far West
Miner
Nellie Peck
Silver Lake
Miner
Mary McDonald .
Fontanelle
Miner
Far West
E. H. Durfee
Esper nza
Sioux City
Western
Miner
Sioux City
Katie P Kountz
Ida Stockdale. ..
Miner
Silver Lake
Miner
Nellie Peck
Peninah ...
Far West
Peninah
Sioux Citv
Western
Miner
Date of
Depar
tore.
May 31
May 31
May 31
April 13
April 19
April 20
April 23
April 24
April 26
April 26
April 27
April 28
April 28
May 5
May 5
May 15
May 18
May 25
May 25
May 30
May 31
June 9
June 9
June 12
June 22
June 29
June 29
June 30
Destination.
Whetstone Agency .
Cheyenne Agency ..
Ponca Agency
Fort Benton
Fort Buford
Santee Agency
Fort Benton
Fort Benton
Ponca Agency
Fort Benton
Fort Benton
Fort Benton. ..
Cheyenne Agency...
Fort Benton
Fort Rice
Fort Benton
Fort Benton
N. P . R. R. Crossing
Fort Buford
Fort Buford
Yankton
Fort Benton
Fort Randall
Fort Benton
Fort Randall
Fort Benton
Fort Buford
Santee Agency
Total up-river trips, 28. Total number ol tons carried up
river, 6,683.
To this amount of tonnage we must add an average of
50 tons per boat for each trip down stream, or 1,400 tons as
down river freight, making the grand total of freight trans¬
ported on the Missouri river in three months 8,083 tons or
more than sixteen million pounds. Double this amount to
find the total freight carried up and down river during the
boating season of six months and we have the enormous
aggregate of thirty-two million pounds.
43
By looking at the map of Dakota and observing the
proximity of its extreme eastern point to Sioux City, the
present terminus of the railroad system of the Northwest,
it will be seen that the shape of the southern part of the
Territory, which is long and narrow, insures to a railroad
running from Sioux City to Yankton the greater portion of
the traffic of all the southern counties and of all the coun¬
ties bordering on the Missouri river. We have hurriedly
reviewed the condition of Dakota and speculated as to what
its future will possibly be.
No section of the North American Continent has higher
hopes nor better prospects than Dakota has, and we dare
say that, when her age of railroads arrives, no country will
be more thoroughly developed. And whatever be the ex.
tent of her development and her wealth, as the Dakota
Southern Railroad must share in their creation, its owners
shall share in the honor and the profit to be derived there¬
from.
ADVICE TO IMMIGRANTS.
TO CAPITALISTS.
In works of this kind the writers generally make stirring
appeals to the " landless poor men of the East," and a kind
invitation is extended to them to come and occupy the
vacant lands of Dakota. The charitable and fraternal spirit
that finds expression in such invitation is, indeed, worthy of
the highest praise; but if it is true that in Dakota a
fertile soil, a healtful climate and hopes of indepen¬
dence and happiness are presented as inducements to
the poor, emphatically true is it that to the rich man
there is presented an ample and remunerative field for the
outlay and increase of his capital.
In the city of New York a man finds it difficult to lend
his money with good security for more than 6 to 7 per cent,
per annum. In Dakota the use of money is always worth
12 per cent, per annum. And the reason of this wide dif-
•44
ference in the rates of interest east and west is alike just
and clear, for in Dakota, the truth of the old maxim that
" money makes money," is a certainty in any branch of in¬
dustry into which the capitalist may enter.
Take stock-raising for instance. We assert, from our own
knowledge, that $1,000 invested in young cattle may be
doubled in a single year; and the same may be said of
$10,000. By the increase, if the cattle are kept for breed¬
ing purposes, a man may double his fortune annually and so
increase his capital in a geometrical ratio until, upon his
original investment of $1,000, he finally becomes the pos¬
sessor of an immense fortune. -
To millers, extraordinary inducements are presented.
The streams of Dakota by reason of their well defined
banks, their powerful currents and the groves of hardwood
timber in their valleys are nearly all supplied with gcod
u water powers." Cutting the native timber and grinding
the native grain are the only uses to which these powers are
now applied.
TO MECHANICS.
If the highest ambition of the eastern mechanic is to find
in a western workshop higher wages than he is receiving in
the east, by coming to Dakota he would certainly be disap¬
pointed. A mason, a carpenter or a tailor receives as much
wages per day in Chicago or New York as he can in Yank¬
ton or Vermillion, and the chief advantages to be gained by
his coming to Dakota are a home of his own and business
on his own account. Every village in the Territory needs
mechanics, and long before these villages are supplied other
new towns will spring up, and furnish new fields of labor.
Very little capital is required to establish a mechanic in an}r
of the oidinary trades, and a good remunerative business
is in every case a certainty, provided the mechanic is tem¬
perate, reliable and industrious. Carpenters, blacksmiths,
tailors, shoemakers, tinners and barbers are in demand every¬
where in Dakota. The cash compensation, as we have said,
for their labor may be no higher than in the East, but they
45
may occupy farms of government lands while they are work¬
ing at their trades, and thus, without much labor, become
the owners of homes of their own.
to farmers.
It must be extremely difficult for eastern people and for¬
eigners, whose knowledge of the great Northwest is very
limited, to comprehend the benefits they may obtain by re¬
moving to Dakota.
There are thousands of men who own farms in the East—
farms that they may sell, for $25 to $100 an acre, who, by
moving to the Territory, can obtain from the government
160 acres of land for nothing and another 160 acres at $1.25
per acre. Suppose a New Yorker can sell his place for
$5,000, and come west and settle on a better place for $1,000,
does he not realize $4,000 by his removal?
But before he moves west he desires to ask these ques¬
tions: How is your climate? About the same as New
York. Not so steadily warm as New York in summer, and
not so steadily cold as New York in winter.
Will an acre of Dakota soil produce as much grain or
corn as an acre of land in Illinois? We answer ves.
i/
Can we find a market? Few farmers in the settled por¬
tions are more than ten miles from a market.
Is there plenty of timber? No, there is not, according to
the meaning of the phrase, " plenty of timber," in New
England, New York or Ohio. To the man who has been
raised in the woods of the east a prairie country does not
furnish plenty of timber, but there is enough of wood for
fuel in every county of Southern Dakota. Sometimes a
settler may have to haul his wood three, five, and even ten
miles, but nowhere in the Territory does firewood sell for
more than $4 a cord.
Fencing, as was said in a previous chapter, is absolutely
unnecessary. Cattle graze in herds, and are guarded by a
boy or man who prevents them from trespassing on the
growing crops; or,' where they are few, cows and calves are
46
" picketed "—that is, tied to a stake by a long rope and
thus permitted to feed without roaming.
Nowhere in the world is settlement so easily made as in
a prairie country. The operation of " clearing " is unnec¬
essary, as, on a majority of prairie farms, there is neither
stick nor stone to be cleared.
When a man comes west in the spring, (and, notwith¬
standing others' opinions, spring is, to our mind, the best
time to come west,) he builds himself a small house of sods
or cottonwood lumber at a cost of say $25. He then plows
a few acres, and plants corn or potatoes in the sod. His
cow is staked in a rich bottom, his\)ateh of green vegeta¬
bles grows in front of his door and foul* months after his
arrival at his new home he is at home indeed, with food
growing on his own farm for his family and his cattle.
COLONIES.
In colonies is the way that people should settle in a new
country. Fifty families, including five mechanics, one
attorney, one doctor and three storekeepers constitute a
good colony. And we believe that fifty families are enough
to form a new settlement. By emigrating together they
practically are still at home; for old friends and old friend¬
ships constitute home indeed. The women and children, by
this means, are cured of homesickness, and the men have
the power and the means to help and encourage one another.
WHO SHOULD EMIGEATE.
Two classes of persons should emigrate—those who can¬
not make a comfortable living by honest labor where they
are, and those who pay dearly for land in the East or in Eu¬
rope, while they can get better land in the West for nothing-
Rich men should emigrate in order to increase their riches,
and poor men should emigrate to better their conditions.
Strong people ought to come west, for here strength has
its reward, and weak men ought to come west, for this is
the land of health.
WHO OUGHT NOT TO COME.
The drunkard and the loafer, unless, indeed, a well dis-
• 47
posed man who drinks would fly from the temptations of the
city, and seek a home far away from rum and its accursed
influence.
THE THINGS REQUIRED.
Thousands of men, now wealthy, in the West, have come
here without a dollar. They, however were men of grit, of
thought and of action, caring little for hardship, and deter¬
mined to " do or die.5'
To settle comfortably in the West a man, with a family,
should have $200 to $500; and we would not advise a man
with a family to come West with less than $250. A single
man "can get along anywhere," and so it is in Dakota. If
this little work should fall into the hands of some strong-
handed, stout-hearted boy or young man who is "looking
for a job" at $15 or $25 a month, to him we say: If you
have your fare to Sioux City, Iowa, march down to the
railroad depot and come West. With or without money to
arrive, come West. No one hungers here, and if the land
is not " teeming with milk and honey," it literally teems
with potatoes and pork. Then, in conclusion, let us again
invite you
"To the beautiful West, to the land of the free,
Where the mighty Missouri rolls down to the sea;
Where a man is a man, if he's willing to toil,
Where the humblest may gather the fruits of the soil."
»
- I_
M'KERCHEP & FETT1CREW
WHOLESALE AND RETAIL DEALERS IN
DRY GOODS
t
Dress Goods, White Goods,
Notions,Linen Goods, Clothing
Hats, Caps, Boots and Shoes,
GROCERIES & PROVISIONS
Hardware, Queens ware,
Wood and Willow Ware.
and Farming Tools.
Choice Tobacco and Cigars
Special attention given to orders from adjoining towns and coun¬
ties. Farm produce always taken in exchange for goods.
Special attention given to supplying the "upper
country" with provisions and produce.
cKerelier & [Pettigre w,
VERMSLLI3N, D. T.
MoKTIEI'B
MUSICAL HEADQUARTERS
41 Pearl Street, Sioux City.
PIANOS ANI) ORGANS,
Of the best manufacture kept constantly on hand. Instruments
sold on instalments, and old instruments taken in
exchange. Violins and Guitars, Flutes
Accordeons, etc., etc.
Sheet Music and Music Books
VIOLIN AND G UITAR STRINGS.
TIIE LARGEST STOCK OF
WALL PAPER AMD SHADES
i
In this city can be found at
At the LOWEST PRICES. American ami Scotch Hollands
Tassals, Cords, Fixtures, Cornices and Rands
CZBHE-AJPIEIR, TEE^-TT ZEUATIEIR,.
:fl_ IP. • &m
i. .
FREEMAN BROS.,
DEALERS IN
DRY GOODS
Clothing, Hats, Caps, Boots Shoes,
GROCERIES & PROVISIONS
Glassware, Gueensware,
Wood and Willow Ware.
t
i
And a general assortment of merchandise.
Farmers, Remember the Place. R. P. S
elk pointt, id: t.
Country Merchants supplied at Eastern Prices.
freight added.
J. It. HANSON.
C. H. M'lNTYRE.
Dakota Heal Estate Agency.
HANSOM & McINTYKE,
REAL ESTATE DEALERS
YANKTON, 13, T.
Will buy and sell farming lands, village and city property, on
commission; pay taxes in any county of Dakota and
Northern Nebraska; furnish complete
abstracts of titles:
Money Loaned or Invested for Capitalists
Have for sale a great variety of business and residence lots in
the city of Yankton, and farming and timbered lands in different
sections of Dakota, Northern Nebraska and Minnesota, Letters
of inquiry respecting any portion of the Northwest, solicited and
promply answered.
" THE DAKOTA REAL ESTATE REGISTER "
A monthly publication issued by this Agency, gives fall infor¬
mation on all points of interest to Western home-seekers. Cir¬
culation free.
SEND FOR IT.
A residence of twelve years in Dakota, and an experience of
five years in the real estate business, qualifies us to furnish reli¬
able information concerning the various resources of the northwest
and to give satisfaction in making purchases or in disposing of
property.
The best of references in Chicago, Buffalo, Washington, Boston,
Cleveland, St. Louis, St. Paml, Omaha, Sioux City and Yankton,
furnished as to responsibility.
General Business Office cor. Capitol and Third-sts
ILLINOIS CENTRAL R. R.
THE SHORTEST ROUTE
TO
CHICAGO & ALL POSTS EAST
The only route running cars through from
SIOUX CITY TO CHICAGO,
WITHOUT C ZEE AITGEE3.
A daily passenger train leaves Sioux City every morning, arriv¬
ing at Chicago the following morning in time to connect with all
trains for Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, Niagara Falls, New York,
Pittsburg, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Boston, and all
parts of the East. Also for Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Louisville,
and all parts of the southeast. Connecting at Freeport with the
Western Union R. R. for Racine and Milwaukee. At Dubuque
connections are made with trains on the main line of Illinois Cen¬
tral Railroad f©r Dixon, Mendota, La Salle, El Paso, Blooming-
ton, Decatur, Pana, Yandalia, Centralia, and all parts of Illinois
ST. LOUIS A'\ 1 » OA1HO
Connecting at Cairo with southern lines for Memphis, Mobile,
New Orleans and
ALL PARTS OF THE SOUTH.
Connections are also made at Waterloo with trains on the Cedar
Falls and Minnesota branch of the I. C. R. R. for Minneapolis,
St. Paul, and all parts of Minnesota,
Sleeping Cars on Night Trains. Baggage Checked to all
Important Points.
For through tickets, baggage checks and information, apply at
the Illinois Central Depotat Sioux City.
II. A. HAMILTON, A. MITCHELL,
Agent, Sioux City. Gen'l Sup't,Chicago.
W. P. JOHNSON Gen. Pass. Agent, Chicago.
l. is. siKzxisrisriEjK/,
DEALER IN
FURNITURE
Pictures and Picture Frames,
CURTAIN FIXTURES AND BEDDING, ETC.
Warerooms, McElhaney's Block,
Corner Fourth and Pearl Streets, and Corner Second and Douglas-Sts.
SIOUX CITY. IOWA.
auction and commission
o-ieo. idze^toie^ie
Fourth. Street, Sioux City, Iowa.
Particular attention paid to orders and consignments from the
country. Liberal advances made on consignments.
adler7kathrens & coT
WHOLESALE DEALERS IN
WISES, LIQUORS, III.1ILS 1ND TOBMCO
Sioux City, Iowa.
Special attention paid to orders from country dealers and con¬
sumers .
SIOUX CITY AND PACinCR.B.
THE PIONEER ROUTE.
Connects at Missouri Valley with all passenger trains on the
CHICAGO AND NORTHWESTERN RAILWAY
At Sioux City, connects with the
N. W. T. Co.'s Line of Steamboats
For all points on the Upper Missouri river to Fort Benton and
Helena, Montana Territory. Also connects at Sioux City, with the
Northwestern Stage Company's Line of four horse coaches, and
the Missouri River Packet Company's boats, for Yankton and Ft.
Randall, D. T.
At Fremont, connects with all passenger trains on the U. P.
Railroad for all points West. Passengers save 40 miles of travel
and two hours time on the cars. All freights go through to
Fremont without transfer, ana charges at all times as low as by
way of Omaha.
F. C. HILLS, L. BURNETT,
General Freight and Ticket Agent Superintendent.
NORTHWESTERN
Stage and Express Company
Are running a daily line of four-horse coaches from
Sioux City to Ft. Randall, D. T.
Via Elk Point, Vermillion, Lincoln, Yankton, Bon
Homme, Springfield, Choteau Creek, and
Yankton Agency.
Connects at Fort Randall with stages for Fort Thompson and
Fort Sully. We also do a general express business. Money,,
Valuable Packages and Freight forwarded with promptness and
despatch in charge of trusty messengers.
Principal Office, bet. Pearl and Douglas, South side 4th-st., Sioux City.
HASKELL & CHENEY, Props.
To the People of Dakota.
f < ;
BOOTS SHOES
SULLIVAN & SCOLLARD,
Boot and Shoe Store
FOURTH-ST., SIOUX CITY,
IS THE PLACE TO BUY BOOTS AND SHOES
"W IEC "3T ?
1st. Because they keep a large assortment of Boots and Shoes.
2d. Because they sell at cheaper prices than any other house in
the west.
3d. They being practical workmen thomselves they make
Boots and Shoes to order, and warrant a good fit.
The Jobbing Trade supplied.
CLAY COUNTY BAfK.
k _______________
< PRENTICE & NEWTON,
BANKERS
VERMILLION, D. T,
Agricultural College Scrip Depositary for
Dakota Territory.
Do a regular banking and exchange business. Collections in
all parts of Dakota Territory made a specialty. Ileal Estate
bought and sold, money invested for non-residents and taxes-paid,
Refkrrnces—Union Banking Co., Philadelphia, Pa. ; Cook
County National Bank, Chicago, 111,; People's Savings Bank,
North East, Pa.; G. F. Lewis, Cleveland, Ohio.
H. B. BOOSE & CO.,
WHOLESALE GROCERS
And Pork Packers,
Cor, Third and Pearl-Sts., Sioux City, Iowa
F. S. PENNYBACKER
HEAL ESTATE AGENT
SIOUX CITY, IOWA.
Buys, sells, and pays taxes on Real Estate in Northwestern
Iowa, Southern Dakota, and Nebraska.
Xj. McGAE;TY,
WHOLESALE
Grocer and Provision Dealer
Cor, Pearl and 6th-Sts., Sioux City.
Possesses facilities which enable him to sell goods as low as
they can be bought anywhere west of Chicago. Dealers and
consumers are requested to examine goods and prices.
H. W. CHASE,
ATTORNEY & COUNSELLOR
And Justice of tlie Peace.
SIOUX CITY, - - IOTA.
L M LITCHFIELD. C. H. M'lNTYRE.
St. Charles Livery Stable
> Third Street, near Capitol, Yankton, D. T.
LITIHFLLI) & McINTYRE, Proprietors.
A first-class livery feed and sale stable. Our livery is supplied
with good horses and good carriages and buggies, which are
furnished on reasonable terms.
ZMZAJ^HST-A-IRTD HZOTJSIE3
G. C. Maynard, Proprietor,
VERMILLION. - - DAKOTA.
The house is delightfully located at the junction of the Ver¬
million and Missouri rivers, and will be found a pleasant resort
and comfortable. There is a good livery stable attached to the
house.
O-A-IR/ILj L. JB1TSE1T,
DRUGGIST AND PHARMACEUTIST
Graduate In Pharmacy and Chemistry, from Europe, respectfully calls attention to
his store on Broadway,
He is the only druggist in Vermillion who makes a specialty of his business,
confining himself exclusively to the manufacture and sale of such articles as are
usually kept iu a first class drug store. He is therefore prepar d not only to sell at
more rea-onnble rates but to furnish the public with a purer and fresher article than
can he o tained elsewhere in the Territory. Prescriptions carefully compoundsd.
The patronage of the public is respectfully solicited. I keep on hand Paints Oils,
Varnishes, Brushes, Window Glass. Putty, Dye Stuffs, Perfumery, Pine Soaps, Hair
Brushes, Combs, Tooth Brushes, Flavoring Extracts, Fine Cigars, and Tobaccos, and
a complete stock of pure wines and liquors, stationery, office books and school bookB.
surgical instruments and bandages, and all other articles kept in a first-class drug'
store.
Carl L. Jensen/Proprietor of the JAPANESE RHEUMATIC AND NEURALGIA
REMEDY, and Blood Purifier, Vermillion, Dakota
ST "NICHOLAS HOTEL
J. Rtmyan, Proprietor,
VERMILLION", - - DAKOTA.
Having been refitted and extensively improved, Is now prepared to entertain
the traveling public and people generally, in the best possible manner at reason¬
able prices. The traveling public will find it to their interest to patronize this
House. The Sioux City, Yankton and Leniars stages stop at this Hotel. In con¬
nection with the house will be found Good Stabling end attentive Hostlers.
Persons desirous of using good styled livery rigs can be accommodated at the
St. Nicholas Livery Stable.
H.B.&A.D.RICE&CO
DEALER! IN
Pine Lumber
AND
Building Material.
Second Street, Sioux City, lo.
W. R. MeLEAN,
Attorney - at- Law
Surveyor and Land Agent,
Sioux Falls,3D.T
Plate and field notes furnished. Pre¬
emption and Homestead papers prepared
and special attention given to locating
Soldiers' Homesteads. Correspondence
solicited.
0. A. PATTERSON,
SIOUX CITY, IOAYA.
DEALER IN
DRUGS, MEDICINES,
CHEMICALS, FINE SOAFS,
Brushes and Perfumery
•And all articles usually kept on hand
by druggists. Physiciaus' descriptions
carefully compounded.
WM. A. OLMSTEDr
Civil Engineer,
Elk Point, D. T.
Claims located, taxes paid, and a gen¬
eral real estate business transacted.
The Hotel of Sioux City
HUBBARD HOUSE
Fourth Street,
BAL1AKTINE BROS. & BRAGG,
Proprietors.
Call and See
HEDGES & SPALDING
IP YCU WANT ANY
LUMBER
OR
Building Material
OF ANT KIND
SIOUX CITY, IO.
Near Hedges'Elevator.
COAL, COAL. COAL.
Dakotaians, if you want coal, call on or
send your order to
j".w."Y-OTJisra-
Office and Yard on
Secoiid-st. near R, R. Depot,
SIOUX CITY, IOWA,
Blacksmith's Coal Made a Specialty
SAM. H. MORROW,
CIVIL ENGINEER AND SURVETOR
Locates preemptors and homesteaders
makes out the necessary papers, and
furnishes plats of all vacant lands in the
Territory. Makes a specialty of the sale
of lots in Maxwell City, Hutchinsou Co.,
and lands at different points on James
River.
Orders left at the office of Hon. M. K.
Armstrong, Yankton, D., or at Maxwell
City, Hutchinson county, D. T., and at
Rockport, Ilauson county, will receive
prompt attention.
The Newspapers of Dakota,
DAKOTA WEEKY HERALD
Published by Taylor & Singiser, at Yankton, D. T.
Is the Only Democratic Paper in ihe Territory
Circulation about one thousand and rapidly increasing. Sub¬
scription, $3 per year.
The Yankton Press
Published Everj Wednesday by
By STOXE & KINGSBURY.
Subscription price, $2.00 a year in ad¬
vance. Office in No. 4. Stone's block,
Corner of Capitol and Third Streets*
Largest Paper Published in Dakota
The Dakotaian
Edited and Published by
ARTHUR JL,INl<r,
YANKTON,
DAKOTA
The Dakotaian is the oldest and most
widely circulated paper in the Territory.
Politics, Republican. Subscription, $2.00
par year.
Union County Courier
C. F. lilALLAHANj Prop.
THE ONLY PAPER IN UNION COUNTY
Politics, Republican. Circulation 700.
Subscription, $2.00 per year.
THE PARAGRAPH
Published at
SiouS Falls, Minneliaba Co.
By W. F. KITER,
Is a paper lgtely establishdd, with good
prospects. Circulation, 600. Subscrip¬
tion, $2,00
VERMILLION REPUBLICAN
Published at
Vermillion, Clay County,
ZBYT C. JE31. TIRTTIEl,
A live Republican journal and a good
advertising medium* Circulation, 800,
Subecription, $2.00 per year.
Springfield Times.
Published at
Springfield* juakota,
iBYr li. :d,:e\ poors
The Times circulates largely in South¬
ern Dakota. Politics, Republican. Sub¬
scription, $2.00 per year.
I
SOUTHERN DAKOTA.
POE -A-
COPY OF THIS PAMPHLET
SENS FIFTEEN CENTS
TO
JOHNBEENNAN
SIOUX CITY, IOWA.
Yankton Business Directory.
In the following list will be found the names of the most re¬
liable business men and commercial houses in theeity of Yankton.
Parties residing out of the Territory and having business to trans¬
act in their several lines may rely upon their honesty and in¬
tegrity.
ATTORNEYS.
BARTLETT TRIPP, Attorney-at-Law,
Yankton, D. T.
SPINK & WHITE, corner of Cedar and
Second streets, practice in the courts
of Dakota and Nebraska, and do a gen¬
eral law and real estate business.
0, J, B. HARRIS, corner of Capitol and
Third streets, practices law and keeps
an abstract ol ihe real estate of Yank
ton county.
SAMUEL A. RENTLY, Attorney-at-Law
and Real Estate Dealer, Cedar street,
between Second and Third.
AUCTIONEERS.
D. H. SHEARER, Auctionser and Com¬
mission Merchant, Broadway, corner
of Third.
CONFECTIONERY.
H. A. SOHORREGE, City Bakery, on
Broadway.
J. WALDRON. Groceries, Fruits, and
Confectionery, Broadway.
P. C WALDRON, Fruits, Confectionery,
Cigars and Tobaccos, Third street, next
door to postoffice.
BANKER.
MARK M. PARMER, Yankton, Dakota,
BUTCHERS.
SANBORN, WING & CO., dealers in
Meats, Flour and Feed Provisions and
Grain, Broadway, between Second and
Third, and Capitol street near Third.
BLACKSMITHS.
1NGERS0N & GARY'S Blacksmith
Horseshoeing and Wagon Shop, Third
street, near Broadway.
BILLIARD HALLS.
0. L. ALLEN'S Billiard Hall and Sam¬
ple Rooms, Capilol street, opposite the
St. Charles Hotel. Wines, Ales, Li¬
quors and Cigars.
EVANS & DOYLE'S Billiard Hall, Bur¬
leigh's block. Wines, Ales, 1 iquois
and Cigars. Broadway, bet. Second and
Third street.
BOARDING HOUSES.
JAMES CROWIE'S Boarding House and
Restaurant, Capitol street, near the St.
Charles Hotel.
BOOTS AND SHOES.
J. A. WEEKS, wholesale and retai^
dealer in Boots and Shoes. Second- t.>
near Broadway.
JOHN J. DUFFACK, wholesale and ret-
tail dealer in Boots and Shoes, Leather
and findings, Broadway.
DRUGS.
MILLS & PURDY, Druggists and dealers
in Books and Stationery, Second street
near Broadway.
D. T. & C. E. BR *MB! E, wholesale and
retail dealers in Drugs and Hardware,
and Liquors for medicinal use, corner
Second street and Douglas Avenue.
PHYSICIANS.
DR. F. WIXSON ; office on Broadway,
between Second and Third streets.
DR G. E. MOON, Physiciat and Surgeon
Office on Third street, near postoffice.
DRY GOODS.
L. D. PARMER, wholesale ami retail
dealer in Dry Goods (exclusively), cor¬
ner of Third and Broadway.
FURNITURE.
WOOLEY & BRAY, manufacturers of
and dealers in Furniture, Mattrasses,
lledding, etc. Douglas Avenue, neax
Second street.
GRAIN.
B. S. WILLIAMS, dealer in Grain, Flour
and Feed, Capitol street, between First
and Second.
GENERAL MERCHANDISE
•
BROOKINGS, CARNEY & CO.. whole¬
sale and retail dealers In Dry Goods,
Groceries, Provisions, Agricullural Im¬
plements, Wagon", Reapers, Mowers,
and general merchandise, Capitol-st.
GENERAL MERCHANDISE.
CONTINUED.
BRAMBLE 4 MINER, Wholesale and
Retail dealers in Dry Goods, Groceries,
Clothing, Agricultural Implements,
Hardware and a general stock of
goods.
S. E1SEMAN & CO., dealers in Dry
Goods, Clothing, &c. Broadway, Yank¬
ton.
KETCHUM & BROS., wholesale and re¬
tail dealers in Dry Goods, Clothing,
Boots and Shoes, Hats, Caps, and
Groceries. The cheapest house in the
Territory.
M. U. HOYT & BRO., at the old post-
office building, dealers in Groceries,
Crockery, and Glassware, Teas a
specialty.
GROCERIES.
HARKINS BROS., Capitol street, dealers
in Crockery, Groceries, Stoneware, etc.
Selling out 20 per cent, below cost.
D. G. SILLMAN, wholesale and retail
dealer in Groceries, Fine Cigars, To¬
bacco, etc. Capitol street.
HARDWARE.
DUDLEY BROS, deal rs in Pumps,
Stoves, and General Hardware. Capi¬
tol street, between 2d and 3d.
WYNN, BUCKWALTER & CO., whole¬
sale and retail dealers in Hardware,
Stoves, Tinware, and Agricultural Im¬
plements. Broadway, bet. 2d and 3d.
HARNESS.
G. B. HOFFMAN, manufacturer of and
dealer in Harness, Saddles, Carriage
Goods, etc. Second street, near Broad¬
way.
HOTELS.
THE ST. CHARLES, Capitol street.. The
leading Hotel of the Territory.
CENTRAL HOTEL, Corner Oedar and
Fifth streets. Thomas Griffin, Pro¬
prietor.
LUMBER.
E' P. WILCOX, dealer in Pine Lumber,
Shingles, Lath, Doors, Sash.Moulding,
and Building Paper, Corner Second
and Pine streets.
LIQUORS, ETC.
ADLER, OHLMaN & CO., importers and
dealers in foreign and Domestic Wines
Ales, .Liquors, and Cigars. Broadway.
BRODERSON & CO., dealers in Beer>
Wine, Liquors and Cigars. Third St.,
near Broadway.
C. J. HARDIN'S SALOON, Beer, Wines
and Liquors. Corner of Cedar and
Levee. Also wood for sale.
MISCELLANEOUS.
GEORGE WAGNER., manufacturer and
repairer of Rifles, Shot Guns and Re¬
volvers. Broadway, bet 2d and 3d.
J. S. HORST, wholesale and retail dealer
in Ciga/s and Tobacco. Capitol street.
FRED. L. PACKARD, Livery, Feed and
Sale Stable. Bioadway, near 3d street.
POTTER & WOOD, Watchmakers and
Jewelers. Second street, near Broad¬
way. Repairing done.
M. STOKES' RESTAURANT, Boarding
House and Saloon, Broadway, between
Third and Fourth.
BENJAMIN HAYES, Tailor. Third St.,
near Douglas avtnue.
PRESS & HASKELL, Brokers, Real
Estate and General Insurance Agents.
Third street, Yauxton.
SALOONS.
WM. TRY'S Club Room. Ales, Wines,
Liquors and Cigars. Broadway, near
Third street.
HENRY PFODENIIAUAR, Lager Beer,
W.nes, Liquors and Cigars. Capitol
street, between Second and Third sts.,
below St. gharles Hotel.
LEO BURMEYER, Lager Beer, Wines,
Liqturs, Sweitzer Cheese, etc., Capitol
near Second.
WICKLOW,
A new town, situated in the northeast part of Minnehaha county, D. T,, lies amid a
cordon of beautiful small lakes and borders on two of them. The largest of these
lakes is six miles long, its waters are soft and pure and abound in many kinds of
fish
The town site lies upon the eastern bank of this lake, upon a high plateau, and
being surrounded by small gloves, is in every respect the most beautiful location,
in the west, A magnificent agricultural country, suited for farming and stock-
raising surrounds the town, and It is therefore destined to be the center of a rich
productive and prosperous country. Pleasure seekers now visit the place and are
dolighted with it; and >n years to come it is destined to be the Saratoga of the great
Northwest. Four mail Jroutes are located to the town, connecting it with poiDts in
Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota. J. G. Dowling & Co. are proprietors. Claims of
government land, of an excellent quality, are vacant in the neighborhood.
Parties desiring a good location in and around Wicklow, nould address J. G.
Dowling & Co., Wicklow, D. T., via Sioux Falls; Hon. M. K. Armstrong, M. 0., Yank¬
ton, D, T ., or John Bemoan, Sioux City, Iowa.
Vermillion Business Directory.
W. D. FRASER, General Insurance
Agent. Represents the North British
and Mercantile and St. Paul Fire and
Marine Insurance companies.
MORRISON & GRANGE, dealers in
Hardware and Ag.icultural Imple
ments.
ADBLPHI HOTEL, R. J. Stanley, prop.
Broadway. Stable attacned. >
A. B. "VAN METER, Liver;;, Feed and
Sal® Stable, near Maynard House.
L. LEWISON, Merchant Tailor and
dealer in Ready-Made Clothing, Hats,
Caps, Boots, Shoes, Gents' Furnishing
Goods, Trunks, etc.
THOMPSON & LEWIS, Insurance and
Loan Agents, dealers in Grain, and
Agents for Reapers, Seeders, Plows,
Rakes, Wagons, and Howe's Sewing
Machines. Broadway.
S. JONES, dealer in Hardware and Agri¬
cultural Implements.
LEE & PRENTIS, dealers in General
Merchandise. Headquarters for Dry
Goods and Machinery.
H. P. HANSON, Watchmaker and Jew¬
eler. Repairing neatly done. Broad¬
way .
AUSTIN & PALMER, dealers in Dry
Goods, Groceries, Hats, Caps, Boots
and Shoes. P. 0. Building.
TAYLOR & GILBERT, Butchers, and
dealers in Provisions and Hides. Salt
Meats a Specialty.
LYMAN & MACOMRER, dealers in
Drugs and Groceries. Lyon's Block,
Broadway.
BOLT HOIMIIvEIEEj,
The County Seat of Bon Homme County, is situated on the Missouri River, 22 miles
west of Yankton. A good farming country surrounds it, and government land may
be found within five miles of town.
BUSINESS FIRMS.
H. C. DAVISON & CO., wholesale and retail dealeis in general merchandise.
W. W. WARFORD'S Billiard Hall, Two elegant tables. Retail dealer in wines,
ales, liquors and cigars. ,
MRS. COCAN'S Hotel, the leading house in Bon Homme. There is an excellent
stable attached to the house.
BARNEY COLE, Blacksmith.
ANDREW J. LOGAN, Carpenter and Wagonmaker, and inventor of the Dakota
Spring Wagon Seat.
SPE-I1TGPIBLD,
Situated on the Missouri River, 30 miles west of Yankton, is the seat of the District
United States Land Office, chief town ol Bon Homme County, prospective terminus
of the Dakota Southern, Northern Nebraska and Central Dakota and Grand Trunk
Railroad. It is the most inviting home for immigrants in Dako a. Thousands of
fertile acres lie vacant and open to settlers within a tew miles of it, and lots caa
be bought in town from $60 to 400. Pure fresh water, timber and building stone
abound in the neighborhood.
BUSINESS MEN.
The following is a list of the leading aud reliable business men of Springfield;
LEE ROY WOODS, Attorn* y at Law, Real Estate dealer and agent for the
town company. For information address Mr. Woods, enclosing stamp.
D. G, S. AGERSBORG, Receiver U. S. Land Office.
NEWTON & WOOD, photographers and druggists, Eighth street.
Da. TH08. B. EAGLE, physician and druggist.
II. E. BONKSTEKL, wholesale and retail dealer in general merchandise.
RAY CAVENBER, proprietor of the Star billiard hall, and dealers in ales, wines
liquors and cigars.
H. 0, DAVISON & CO., wholesale and retail dealers in dry goods, groceries,
clothing, hardware, etc.
JAMES A. FOSTER, Brunswick Billiard Hall.
LAND AND TITLE OFFICE
OF
M. K. ARMSTRONG,
Cor. Capitol and 2d-Sts., Yankton, Dakota.
ESTABLISHED 11ST 1850.
This office is prepared at all times to furnish Descriptive
FIELD NOTES, TOPOGRAPHICAL PLATS
And. Title Briefs
Of all lands surveyed in Southern Dakota. Scrip and warrants
located from personal survey. Funds loaned or judiciously
invested for other parties. Preemption and homestead papers
prepared; conveyances executed; taxes paid, titles examined and
a strictly real estate business transacted in all its branches.
J. M. PINCKNEY & CO.
WHOLESALE AND RETAIL DEALERS IN
BOOKS, BLANK BOOKS, STATIONERY
Flat Papers, Paper Hangings,
Window Shades and
SCHOOL FURNITURE A SPECIALTY.
P. O. Book Store, Fourth-St., Sioux City.
JOHN A. SCHMIDT & CO.
B A, N E R S
and real estate agents,
%
SIOTTX CITY, - - IOWA.
SIOUX CITY PHARMA
■. '
ARMSTRONG & CSABY,
PBACTICAL
Druggists and Apothecaries
Proprietors and Sole Manufacturers of
Frontier Baking Powder,
Our Own Flavoring Extracts,
Our Own Stomach Bitters,
Aromatic Ext. dinger, Etc.
Every article that we manufacture we guarantee to be as good
if not better than the best. Our prices are full as low as those
of Eastern manufacturers, and lower when bought in quantities.
GIVE OUR GOODS A TRIAL
And be convinced that you can get as good a thing at home as
abroad, and thus show a willingness to encourage home industry.
Our stock of DRUGS and MEDICINES is fresh and complete.
Everything that we sell is warranted to be as represented.
Physicians' Prescriptions and Family Recipes
Carefully compounded by ourselves, at all hours, day or night
Remember the Place, Douglas-St., above Jfth,
+ •
SIOUX CITY, IOWA. i