History of Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Encyclopedia
This article deals with the history of Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Sioux Falls is the largest city in the U.S. state
of South Dakota
. Founded in 1856, the city was abandoned, sacked, resettled and later grew to become a city with an estimated 2006 population of 148,000 people.
. The falls were created about 14,000 years ago when the last glacial ice sheet
redirected the flow of the river into the large looping bends of its present course. Fueled by water from the melting ice, the river exposed the underlying Sioux quartzite
bedrock, the hard pinkish stone of the falls. The quartzite itself is about a billion and a half years old. It began as sediments deposited on the bottom of an ancient, shallow sea.
The lure of the falls has been a powerful influence. A prehistoric people who inhabited the region before 500 B.C. left numerous burial mounds on the high bluffs near the river. These people were followed by an agricultural society that built fortified villages on many of the same sites. Tribes of the Lakota and Dakota
, widely ranging nomadic bison hunters, arrived sometime around the 18th century. Early maps indicate they used the falls as a place to rendezvous with French fur trappers, considered the first European visitors at the falls.
and French scientist Joseph Nicollet
explored the region in 1838 and also wrote a description of the falls. Both are considered second hand accounts rather than evidence of an actual visit.
The first documented visit was by Philander Prescott
, an explorer, trader, and trapper who camped overnight at the falls in December 1832. Captain James Allen led a military expedition out of Fort Des Moines in 1844. The early descriptions of the falls were published in The States and Territories of the Great West, an 1856 book by Jacob Ferris which inspired townsite developers to seek out the falls.
and Iowa
during the mid-1850s inevitably turned toward the Big Sioux River
valley. Sioux Falls was founded by land speculators who hoped to build great wealth by claiming prime townsites before the arrival of railroads
and settlers.
Two separate groups, the Dakota Land Company of St. Paul
and the Western Town Company of Dubuque
, Iowa
organized in 1856 to claim the land around the falls, considered a promising townsite for its beauty and water power. The Western Town Company arrived first, and was soon followed by the St. Paul-based company in 1857. Each laid out 320 acres (1.3 km²) claims, but worked together for mutual protection. They built a temporary barricade of turf which they dubbed "Fort Sod," in response to hostilities threatened by native tribes. Seventeen men then spent "the first winter" in Sioux Falls. The following year the population grew to near 40.
Although conflicts in Minnehaha County between Native Americans
and white settlers were few, the Dakota War of 1862
engulfed nearby southwestern Minnesota
. The town was evacuated in August of that year when two local settlers were killed as a result of the conflict. The settlers and soldiers stationed here traveled to Yankton
in late August 1862. The abandoned townsite was pillaged and burned.
Fort Dakota, a military reservation established in present day downtown, was established in May 1865. Many former settlers gradually returned and a new wave of settlers arrived in the following years. The population grew to 593 by 1873, and a building boom was underway in that year.
, which convened in the territorial capital of Yankton
. The village charter proved to be too restrictive, however, and Sioux Falls petitioned to become a city. The city charter was granted by the Dakota Territorial legislature on March 3, 1883.
The arrival of the railroads
ushered in the great Dakota Boom decade of the 1880s. The population of Sioux Falls mushroomed from 2,164 in 1880 to 10,167 at the close of the decade. The growth transformed the city. A severe plague of grasshoppers and a national depression halted the boom by the early 1890s. The city grew by only 89 people from 1890 to 1900.
was easily obtained in Dakota Territory. As a result, both Sioux Falls and Fargo
(in later North Dakota
) became known as "divorce capitals". Thousands of people traveled to the towns seeking a divorce, with the resulting divorce rate in Minnehaha County during this period being nearly three times that of the national average. Although many local residents were unhappy with the notoriety, the surge of "tourists" necessitated the construction of a number of new hotels and restaurants, and the situation brought a level of attention uncommon for towns of a similar size. Divorce laws were tightened after statehood, and the phenomenon had ended by the early 1900s.
and a military radio and communications training school in 1942, and the completion of the interstate highways in the early 1960s, Sioux Falls grew at a moderate but steady pace in the early and middle years of the 20th century. During this period, the city's economy was largely centered on the stockyards and the meat packing industry. Sioux Falls was home to one of the largest stockyards in the nation at the time, and the John Morrell plant was by far the largest employer in the city.
Beginning in the late 20th century, Sioux Falls began growing at a considerably faster pace than during previous decades. The economy became more service-based, and word began to spread about the relatively low levels of unemployment and crime. Several large shopping malls opened during the 1970s, and the retail and dining industry began to exert a growing influence on the city's economy. In 1981, Citibank
transferred its credit card
operations from New York to Sioux Falls to take advantage of recently relaxed state usury
laws. Several other financial companies also moved to Sioux Falls or expanded its existing business in the city, resulting in a large present-day banking and financial presence in the city. A third factor contributing to recent growth is the expansion of the local healthcare industry. The two largest hospitals in the city, Sanford Health
and Avera Health
, are also the two largest present-day employers in the city.
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
Sioux Falls is the largest city in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
. Founded in 1856, the city was abandoned, sacked, resettled and later grew to become a city with an estimated 2006 population of 148,000 people.
Prehistory and exploration
The history of Sioux Falls revolves around the cascades of the Big Sioux RiverBig Sioux River
The Big Sioux River is a tributary of the Missouri River, long, in eastern South Dakota and northwestern Iowa in the United States. The United States Board on Geographic Names settled on "Big Sioux River" as the stream's name in 1961....
. The falls were created about 14,000 years ago when the last glacial ice sheet
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
redirected the flow of the river into the large looping bends of its present course. Fueled by water from the melting ice, the river exposed the underlying Sioux quartzite
Sioux Quartzite
The Sioux Quartzite is a Proterozoic quartzite that is found in region around the intersection of Minnesota, South Dakota, and Iowa, and correlates with other rock units throughout the upper midwestern and southwestern United States...
bedrock, the hard pinkish stone of the falls. The quartzite itself is about a billion and a half years old. It began as sediments deposited on the bottom of an ancient, shallow sea.
The lure of the falls has been a powerful influence. A prehistoric people who inhabited the region before 500 B.C. left numerous burial mounds on the high bluffs near the river. These people were followed by an agricultural society that built fortified villages on many of the same sites. Tribes of the Lakota and Dakota
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
, widely ranging nomadic bison hunters, arrived sometime around the 18th century. Early maps indicate they used the falls as a place to rendezvous with French fur trappers, considered the first European visitors at the falls.
Early visitors
The falls also drew the attention of early explorers. An August 1804 journal entry of the Lewis and Clark expedition describes the falls of the "Soues River." Famous pathfinder John C. FremontJohn C. Frémont
John Charles Frémont , was an American military officer, explorer, and the first candidate of the anti-slavery Republican Party for the office of President of the United States. During the 1840s, that era's penny press accorded Frémont the sobriquet The Pathfinder...
and French scientist Joseph Nicollet
Joseph Nicollet
Joseph Nicolas Nicollet , also known as Jean-Nicolas Nicollet, was a French geographer and mathematician known for mapping the Upper Mississippi River basin during the 1830s....
explored the region in 1838 and also wrote a description of the falls. Both are considered second hand accounts rather than evidence of an actual visit.
The first documented visit was by Philander Prescott
Philander Prescott
Philander Prescott . He was a native of Phelps, Ontario County, New York...
, an explorer, trader, and trapper who camped overnight at the falls in December 1832. Captain James Allen led a military expedition out of Fort Des Moines in 1844. The early descriptions of the falls were published in The States and Territories of the Great West, an 1856 book by Jacob Ferris which inspired townsite developers to seek out the falls.
Founding and resettlement
The focus of intense land speculation activity in MinnesotaMinnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
and Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
during the mid-1850s inevitably turned toward the Big Sioux River
Big Sioux River
The Big Sioux River is a tributary of the Missouri River, long, in eastern South Dakota and northwestern Iowa in the United States. The United States Board on Geographic Names settled on "Big Sioux River" as the stream's name in 1961....
valley. Sioux Falls was founded by land speculators who hoped to build great wealth by claiming prime townsites before the arrival of railroads
Rail transport
Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...
and settlers.
Two separate groups, the Dakota Land Company of St. Paul
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
and the Western Town Company of Dubuque
Dubuque, Iowa
Dubuque is a city in and the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. In 2010 its population was 57,637, making it the ninth-largest city in the state and the county's population was 93,653....
, Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
organized in 1856 to claim the land around the falls, considered a promising townsite for its beauty and water power. The Western Town Company arrived first, and was soon followed by the St. Paul-based company in 1857. Each laid out 320 acres (1.3 km²) claims, but worked together for mutual protection. They built a temporary barricade of turf which they dubbed "Fort Sod," in response to hostilities threatened by native tribes. Seventeen men then spent "the first winter" in Sioux Falls. The following year the population grew to near 40.
Although conflicts in Minnehaha County between Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
and white settlers were few, the Dakota War of 1862
Dakota War of 1862
The Dakota War of 1862, also known as the Sioux Uprising, was an armed conflict between the United States and several bands of the eastern Sioux. It began on August 17, 1862, along the Minnesota River in southwest Minnesota...
engulfed nearby southwestern Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. The town was evacuated in August of that year when two local settlers were killed as a result of the conflict. The settlers and soldiers stationed here traveled to Yankton
Yankton, South Dakota
Yankton is a city in, and the county seat of, Yankton County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 14,454 at the 2010 census. Yankton was the original capital of Dakota Territory. It is named for the Yankton tribe of Nakota Native Americans...
in late August 1862. The abandoned townsite was pillaged and burned.
Fort Dakota, a military reservation established in present day downtown, was established in May 1865. Many former settlers gradually returned and a new wave of settlers arrived in the following years. The population grew to 593 by 1873, and a building boom was underway in that year.
Incorporation and early growth
The Village of Sioux Falls, consisting of 1200 acres (4.9 km²), was incorporated in 1876 by the 12th legislative assembly of the Dakota TerritoryDakota Territory
The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of North and South Dakota.The Dakota Territory consisted of...
, which convened in the territorial capital of Yankton
Yankton, South Dakota
Yankton is a city in, and the county seat of, Yankton County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 14,454 at the 2010 census. Yankton was the original capital of Dakota Territory. It is named for the Yankton tribe of Nakota Native Americans...
. The village charter proved to be too restrictive, however, and Sioux Falls petitioned to become a city. The city charter was granted by the Dakota Territorial legislature on March 3, 1883.
The arrival of the railroads
Rail transport
Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...
ushered in the great Dakota Boom decade of the 1880s. The population of Sioux Falls mushroomed from 2,164 in 1880 to 10,167 at the close of the decade. The growth transformed the city. A severe plague of grasshoppers and a national depression halted the boom by the early 1890s. The city grew by only 89 people from 1890 to 1900.
Divorce capital of the nation
Beginning in the 1880s, a 90-day residency law and lax oversight on the part of local judges concerning sworn testimony caused word to spread across the United States that a legal divorceDivorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
was easily obtained in Dakota Territory. As a result, both Sioux Falls and Fargo
Fargo, North Dakota
Fargo is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Cass County. In 2010, its population was 105,549, and it had an estimated metropolitan population of 208,777...
(in later North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
) became known as "divorce capitals". Thousands of people traveled to the towns seeking a divorce, with the resulting divorce rate in Minnehaha County during this period being nearly three times that of the national average. Although many local residents were unhappy with the notoriety, the surge of "tourists" necessitated the construction of a number of new hotels and restaurants, and the situation brought a level of attention uncommon for towns of a similar size. Divorce laws were tightened after statehood, and the phenomenon had ended by the early 1900s.
Twentieth century
With the opening of the John Morrell meat-packing plant in 1909, the establishment of an airbaseAirbase
An airbase is a military airfield that provides basing and support of military aircraft....
and a military radio and communications training school in 1942, and the completion of the interstate highways in the early 1960s, Sioux Falls grew at a moderate but steady pace in the early and middle years of the 20th century. During this period, the city's economy was largely centered on the stockyards and the meat packing industry. Sioux Falls was home to one of the largest stockyards in the nation at the time, and the John Morrell plant was by far the largest employer in the city.
Beginning in the late 20th century, Sioux Falls began growing at a considerably faster pace than during previous decades. The economy became more service-based, and word began to spread about the relatively low levels of unemployment and crime. Several large shopping malls opened during the 1970s, and the retail and dining industry began to exert a growing influence on the city's economy. In 1981, Citibank
Citibank
Citibank, a major international bank, is the consumer banking arm of financial services giant Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, later First National City Bank of New York...
transferred its credit card
Credit card
A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...
operations from New York to Sioux Falls to take advantage of recently relaxed state usury
Usury
Usury Originally, when the charging of interest was still banned by Christian churches, usury simply meant the charging of interest at any rate . In countries where the charging of interest became acceptable, the term came to be used for interest above the rate allowed by law...
laws. Several other financial companies also moved to Sioux Falls or expanded its existing business in the city, resulting in a large present-day banking and financial presence in the city. A third factor contributing to recent growth is the expansion of the local healthcare industry. The two largest hospitals in the city, Sanford Health
Sanford Health-MeritCare
Sanford Health is a non-profit, integrated health care delivery system, with its headquarters based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota with additional offices in Fargo, North Dakota. It was formed on with the merger of Sanford Health, based out of Sioux Falls and MeritCare Health System, based out of...
and Avera Health
Avera Health
Avera Health is a ministry of the Benedictine Sisters of Yankton, South Dakota and Presentation Sisters of Aberdeen, South Dakota.The network serves eastern South Dakota and surrounding states with hospitals, nursing homes, clinics and other health services at more than 100 locations.-Regional...
, are also the two largest present-day employers in the city.