Gregory and Charles Mix Counties

By Jan Cerney

In 1804, Lewis and Clark navigated the Missouri River by keelboat, exploring the river border between the two future counties of Gregory and Charles Mix. Their discovery and exploration of the territory acquired in the Louisiana Purchase unleashed the movement west and its subsequent settlement. The area, first described in exploration journals as rich in vegetation and wildlife, remains a scenic wonder.

Since Lewis and Clark's exploration, the area has had its share of interesting history. Using over 200 historic photographs, Gregory and Charles Mix Counties awakens the area's past and highlights some of its most unique attributes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Aug 6, 2004
• ISBN: 9781439615089

Jan Cerney

As a child, Jan Cerney spent many memorable Sundays along the shores of the Missouri. She has written four books for Arcadia: Badlands National Park, Mitchell�s Corn Palace, Gregory and Charles Mix Counties, and Lakota Sioux Missions.

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INTRODUCTION

The history of Gregory and Charles Mix Counties has been influenced by their geographical locations as well as western military and government policies. The Arikara Indians, among the first inhabitants, built their earthen lodges along the Missouri River, the counties’ shared border. The Arikara eventually succumbed to the white man’s diseases and the constant harassment of the Teton Sioux who migrated from Minnesota and crossed west of the Missouri River in 1750. With the acquisition of the horse, the Sioux became dominant over the western plains for the next 100 years.

In the late 1850s, white settlement had advanced east of the Missouri River with sights set on land now occupied by the Yankton Sioux. The Yanktons were pressured to relinquish their hold on the area. Realizing they lacked the strength to resist white encroachment, they signed a treaty in 1858 agreeing to withdraw to a reservation along the Missouri River in present day Charles Mix County. The tribe was to receive annuities of $1.6 million over a 50 year period. In July 1859, white settlers began to occupy the ceded land while the Yankton Sioux left for the Greenwood Agency.

When the white man began crossing the Indian Territory to the gold fields of California and Montana, the Teton Sioux rebelled against the intrusion into their country. Sioux unrest and earlier treaty obligations necessitated the construction of forts along the Missouri. Fort Randall was one such fort constructed in 1856 to keep the peace and distribute annuities. The signing of the Fort Laramie Treaty in 1868 set aside the Great Sioux Reservation for the Sioux in western South Dakota. Non-Indians were not allowed on the reservations except for government employees and officials. The treaty helped to stabilize Indian and white relationships for a time until the Custer Expedition announced to the world that gold had been discovered in the Black Hills in 1874.

The public clamored for government purchase of the Black Hills while they were trespassing on the land in search of gold. Eventually in 1877, the Hills were purchased and later, the reservation further divided into six smaller reservations: The Brule, Standing Rock, Cheyenne River, Crow Creek, Pine Ridge, and the Rosebud. The Allotment Act was passed in 1887 further dividing the land into 160-acre parcels for each Indian family.

In 1904, surplus Rosebud Reservation land was thrown open to settlement in Gregory County. To avoid the land rushes of former years in states like Oklahoma, a lottery system was used to sell 160-acre plots. Land seekers flocked to the registrations points, including Bonesteel and Fairfax, to register for the drawing. Bonesteel attracted its share of thugs, crooks, and opportunists that turned it into a lawless town. The Battle of Bonesteel resulted when law-abiding citizens drove out the undesirable elements.

When the drawings concluded, the lucky winners began to build their homesteads. The cattle empires withered due in part to the advance of the homesteaders into range country. The railroad laid their tracks, linking the area to the outside world. The Indians, relegated to reservations, attempted to adapt to a changing world. The broken prairie yielded to productive crops during the good years, but these years were interspersed with dry weather cycles. The new settlers learned dry land farming methods and prospered in spite of the setbacks. The decade of the 1930s brought the most difficult challenge that the farmers ever had to face. Constant dry conditions and dust storms drove many off their land to regions of more promise. Those that could survive rejoiced when rain finally returned to the county in the 1940s.

The Pick-Sloan Plan of 1944 authorized the building of four rolled-earth dams on the Missouri River in South Dakota to develop irrigation, provide electrical power, control flooding, create recreational opportunities, and enhance navigation. The Fort Randall Dam was the first to be built. After 10 years of construction, the dam was dedicated in August 1956.

This book is just a sampling of the history and events of Gregory and Charles Mix Counties. It is not meant to be a comprehensive history; therefore, not all communities have been included. Photographs were not readily available for certain areas, making it difficult for their inclusion. Nonetheless, the beauty, the spirit, and the lasting legacy of both counties will shine through for future generations.

Wagner’s elevators tower over the railroad tracks. Grain elevators were a trademark