Happy 200th Birthday

Jun 14, 2017

Fort Pierre, South Dakota’s oldest organized town, became a community when Joseph La Framboise opened a trading post at the junction of the Bad and Missouri rivers. Fort LaFramboise fizzled out, but in 1832 it was rebuilt as Fort Pierre Chouteau, named for a key owner of the American Fur Company. Chouteau’s post prospered for decades, and the name Fort Pierre stuck. Our May/June issue includes a story on the town and its 200th anniversary. Bicentennial celebrations are planned throughout the summer. Bernie Hunhoff visited Fort Pierre and took several photos. Here are a few extras that didn't fit into the issue.

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David Dahl, owner of Diamond D Western Wear & Saddle Shop, makes a saddle a week with help from his grandson, Drew Harper.
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Artist Marty Hallock works from 605 Studio in downtown Fort Pierre, creating unusual sculptures using found materials.
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Several buffalo live near town, including a few light-haired ones on the Eric Nordstrom ranch.
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Re-enactors will be part of the pageantry surrounding the bicentennial celebration, like history writer Bill Markley, Kristi Vensand-Hall and Terry Hall.
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Curt Mortenson lives north of Fort Pierre, near a cottonwood tree that steamboats were moored to in the 1880s.
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Patti and John Duffy pose with their children Eddie, Maddie, Cormac and Lis. John guides local history tours along with Verendrye Museum Board Chairman Darby Nutter and historian Karl Fischer.
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After the town’s original railroad depot closed in 1964, Shirley Miller of Mud Butte moved it to his ranch for sheep shearing and wool storage. He took good care of it and it has since been returned. After a $1 million renovation, the depot looks like it did in its prime.