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Preface
This history was compiled as a project for our nations Bi-Centennial. Local history can not be traced back 200 years. It could be said that until the 1800's, the years that the first pioneer families came to make this "new" land their "new" home, there is no history. The story of this land, prior to settlement, goes back to the beginning of time. Knowing some of this previous history helps us to understand why this area that our ancestors called "Dakota" is what it is today.
Clarck County and the Spirit Lake Area have two distinct types of land. Most of the townships are in the "prairie Coteau", hilly land filled with lakes and potholes, gravel beds, and rich loamy soil. All of Richland and portions of Hague and Rosedale townships are part of the wide, flat James Rive Valley. This "lay of the land" was caused by the glaciers that covered eastern North America thousands of years ago. There were at least three ice ages, and the movement of the glacier ice pushed up the hills, deposited the rich soil, and left the deposits of rock and gravel in the "coteau". The water from the melting ice formed a giant, slow-moving stream, and flattened the land of the James River Valley.
The first inhabitants were the Native American Indians. The mounds of earth near Spirit Lake were the burial grounds of these earlier settlers. The "Mound Builders" had disappeared by the year 800 A.D. Other tribes migrated into and out of this region until it became the homeland and hunting ground of the mighty Sioux Nation. The movement of the Sioux into the area occurred during the 1700's.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, expeditions came from Europe to explore the "New World". Because of this the land in the Mississippi and Missouri River valley was claimed by 3 nations: France, England, and Spain. Until 1763, the French were in control of the area, and it was named Louisiana in honor of the King of France. Traders and explorers followed the earlier expeditions. Some of the rivers and lakes were named and charted. Contact was made with the Indian tribes. The Verendrye Plate, found by school children near Fort Pierre in 1913, is evidence of this. This lead plate, dated 1743, was left by the La Verendrye expedition. The inscription on it claims all the land in this region for the King of France. During the time the French controlled Louisiana, an active and profitable fur trade was started with the Indians.
In 1763, the French were defeated by the English in the French and Indian War, and Louisiana was ceded to Spain. The Spanish expanded the "fur trade", trading posts were established along the rivers in what is now South Dakota.
In 1800, Spain ceded Louisiana back to France. In 1803, after much negotiation, France sold the territory of Louisiana to the United States for $15,000,000. This was less than 3 cents per acre. This additional territory doubled the size of the young nation. Lewis and Clark were sent by President Jefferson to explore the region. They traveled up the Missouri River in South Dakota in 1804, and came back along the same route on their return journey in 1806.
As the American frontier moved west, the indians were pushed before it. The uninhabited land west of the Mississippi River was set aside by the Federal Government as Indian Territory. In 1832, the remnants of many of the Indian tribes that had lived in the east were moved to this area. But the agreement was short-lived. Settlers began moving further west. In 1858, a treaty was made with the Sioux nation, and they ceded the land east of the Mississippi River to the U.S. Government. This land had been part of the Minnesota Territory. That same year, Minnesota became a state, and the area between the Minnesota line and the Missouri River became "unorganized" territory. Land speculators quickly moved in. The Distribution and Pre-Emption Law passed by Congress in 1841, guaranteed "squatter's rights" to anyone settling the land. As early as 1856, town site companies were formed so they could be the first to secure choice locations for towns in the new territory. Up to 320 acres of land could be claimed as a town site, in the hope that the lots would be sold at a profit to the future "city dwellers". Towns were platted that never came to be. Others, like Sioux Falls, have become thriving cities.
After much Political maneuvering, including padding the list of legal voters to prove that enough people lived in the region to justify it becoming a territory, the Organic Act was passed in 1861. This congressional act created "Dakota Territory". President Buchanan signed the bill, and the Dakota settlers had a form of government. Wm. Jane was appointed by President Lincoln to be the first territorial governor.
One year after the formation of Dakota Territory, the Homestead Act was passed by congress. This granted 160 acres of free land to the head of a household, if he complied with certain regulations and lived on and improved the land for five years.
A new territory was opened, free land was available, and the Sioux Indians had been moved west; but there was no made rush to come to Dakota. The Civil War was raging in the east, the Santee uprising in 1862 frightened potential settlers, and there was no easy way to get into the new territory. The Railway Grant Acts of the early 1860's, that had given as much as 40 sections of land per mile of track to the railroad companies, were repealed in 1871. The railroad companies, had vast holdings to dispose of, so there was no incentive to build new lines into Dakota. A rush of gold-seekers entered the territory set aside for the Sioux nation, This lead to war and the final defeat of the Indians in Dakota. They were put on reservations and more land was opened for settlement. In 1877, the railroad companies felt it would be profitable to extend their lines into Dakota Territory, and thus began the "boom" that lasted from 1878 to 1887.
Surveyors had been at work in the territory since 1859. The Land Act passed by Congress in 1796 provided for rectangular survey of the land. It was to be devided into six mile square township units, and each township was again divided into sqaure sections. Starting in the southeaster corner of the state and working to the north and west, the land was marked off into neat grids. By 1879, Clark County had been surveyed.
They came by the thousands to Dakota to file claims on the public domain. A Pre-emption claim could be filed first. then in six months, a homestead could be started, and if land was available, a tree claim could be secured. Three quarter sections of land could be filed on and "proved up" by one Dakota pioneer.
The Distribution and Pre-Emption Law of 1841 stated that the head of a family, a widow, or a single man over twenty-one years of age could file a claim for 160 acres of public domain. The claimant was required to erect a dwelling, lived on the land for six months, and pay $200.00, after making proof of his settlement to the register and receiver at the Land Office. If he desired, the claimant could have the Pre-Emption transmuted to a Homestead, and the payment of $200. was not necessary. "Land grabbers" abused the Pre-Emption Law, and it wasrepealed in 1891.
The Homestead Act of 1862 provided (1) that any person or head of a family, that had reached the age of 21 and was a citizen of the U.S., or had filed declaration of his intention to become such, and who had never borne arms against the United States Government was allowed to file on 160 acres of land in certain specified areas. (2) For each 160 acres the homesteader was charged a fee of $18. of which $14. was paid at the time of filing on the land and the balance at the making of proof. (3) The person had to be on the land and improving it six months after the date of filing, and had to plow ten acres into crops and establish a residence. (4) The entry man had to make the homestead his residence for five years from the date of filing. He could make final proof on the land and get his patented title to ownership any time after five years, but not later than seven and a half years after filing. The final proof included evidence and sworn statements by the homesteader and two witnesses that he had fulfilled all the requirements. After living on the land for 14 months, the claimant could commute the homestead and pay $200. and get complete title to the land. This was done by some people because the land could then be mortgaged. (The Homestead Act stated above was revised and changed several times, but most of the homesteads in this area were filed under this form of the Act.
The Timber Culture Act was first passed by Congress in 1873 and revised in 1878. The revised law stated that any person planting 10 acres of trees and keeping them growing for 8 years would receive a title to 160 acres of the public domain. The patent could issued if there were 675 living trees at the end of an 8 year period. Only one "tree claim" was allowed per section of land. Congress passed this law with good intentions, "to encourage the growth of timber on the western prairies." This law was abused. Tree claims were filed with no intention of fulfilling the agreement. Only1/4 of the tree claim in the eastern part of the state were patent under the "Timber Culture Act". The rest was relinquished for a "fee". Because of the abuses in the law, the Territory Culture Act was repealed in 1891.
As the surveying of the land progressed and more settlers arrived, the Territorial Legislature formed new counties. In 1873, Clark County was created from a portion of Hanson county. It was named for Newton Clark, a territorial legislator. Beadle county was created the same year, and one township in the southeast corner of Clark County became part of Beadle. In (1879 in the Doane Robinson History) the Brown Bill was passed by the Legislature, and eastern portions of the county became part of Codington and Hamilin counties. The boundaries were re-adjusted for the final time in 1885. The northern row of six townships became part of Day county.
Map of Clark Co. before breakup.
Majoity of this page taken from "The Clark County Bi-Centenial Book"