Our September/October issue includes an article on the artists and art collections of Mobridge. The city of 3,500 in Walworth County is famous for fishing and ranching, but it has also wrangled sculptures and paintings by some of the West’s preeminent artists. Bernie Hunhoff traveled to the Missouri River town last summer to explore and take photos — too many to print. Here are some that didn’t make the magazine.
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It’s been a few years since my last trip through Walworth County. I was working on a travel piece for the magazine that followed state Highway 20 from the Minnesota border to the Missouri River, so that made Walworth County the last leg on that journey. I ate lunch at Dakota Maid in Selby, where the influence of a Civil War veteran is still present. I caught glimpses of the vast Lake Oahe, which has turned Akaska and Mobridge into walleye fishing hubs. Altogether, I probably spent five or six hours in Walworth County, not nearly enough time to see all the points of interest. The place probably got short shrift in our magazine story, so here’s a chance delve a little deeper.
Walworth County was created in 1873 and organized in 1883. It is named after Walworth County, Wisconsin, the home of Civil War captain Newton Kingman, who moved his family to this as-yet unnamed portion of Dakota Territory in 1883. The Kingmans had arrived in Aberdeen and toured Edmunds, Faulk and Potter counties. When they arrived in the area that would become Walworth, Kingman knew he was home. Charmed by the prairie grass, he called it “Blue Blanket Valley.”
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| John Hirning, Newton Kingman’s great-grandson, and Justin Randall, the Eagle Scout who put a replica cannon on the Walworth County courthouse lawn. |
He learned from railroad officials that the tracks would probably cross through the center of the county, and he figured the county seat would eventually be moved to a railroad city. He chose his homestead near the town site of Bangor, and guessed properly. Farming never quite satisfied him, so he became a country postmaster, realtor, banker and published a newspaper called The Blue Blanket. He became a leading citizen of the small town of Bangor, which took county seat status from Scranton in 1884.
But in 1900, when Milwaukee Railroad officials selected a route 4 miles north of Bangor for their east-west track, that town’s demise was only a matter of time. The courthouse records and the plums that go with them were moved to Selby in 1908, and an entire block was reserved for a courthouse. Soon after the records were moved, some citizens went to Forest City and dug cedar saplings, which they planted on the borders of the square. By 1911, a beautiful brick and block courthouse was completed and it still serves as Walworth County’s seat of government. You can still see the cedar trees that surround the courthouse, but a marker south of Selby is all that remains of Bangor.
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| Rodney and Sheryl Stroh operate Dakota Maid in Selby, a restaurant and gift shop. |
You’ll also find a cannon outside the courthouse. Even though Kingman was 63 years old when Selby was founded, he moved his real estate and abstract company north and became one of the new town’s leaders. To show his patriotism, he placed two Civil War cannons on the courthouse square, but they were melted during World War II. In 2000, Justin Randall raised money to buy a replica cannon and placed it atop a brick and concrete pedestal. The project earned him an Eagle Scout badge.
I met Justin’s mother, Sheryl Stroh, at her restaurant and gift shop called Dakota Maid, which stands along Highway 83. Stroh and her husband Rodney operated a gift shop in the basement of their home but soon ran out of space. They bought the town’s old Amoco service station along the highway in 2009 and created Dakota Maid, which became a full service restaurant, coffee shop and gift store featuring South Dakota made products.
If I’d had more time, I would have visited Lake Hiddenwood, about 5 miles northeast of Selby. The area had been home to Indian tribes for centuries, and was along a well-traveled path between Big Stone Lake and the Rocky Mountains that early explorers frequented. Walworth County settlers decided on the name Hiddenwood because they could spot no trees on the prairie until they reached the crest of hills overlooking the valley.
In the 1920s, locals decided to boost the recreational appeal of the area by adding a lake. The state Game, Fish and Parks Department began construction on an earthen dam along Hiddenwood Creek in May 1926, one of the first such structures ever undertaken in South Dakota. Skeptics doubted the technique, but toward the end of the month when work on the dam was nearly finished, several inches of rain fell in the area. The next morning, Lake Hiddenwood was full.
Even bigger water forms the western boundary of Walworth County. Lake Oahe is the creation of the Missouri River dams built in the 1950s and 1960s. The fourth-largest man-made reservoir in the United States, Lake Oahe stretches 230 miles from Pierre to Bismarck in North Dakota. It covers 374,000 acres and has 2,250 miles of shoreline. Its deep waters are full of fish, making towns like Akaska and Mobridge prime destinations for anglers from all over the world.
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| The Walworth County pot plane, where it landed in January of 1980. |
In fact, a group of locals was ice fishing on the Missouri in January of 1980 when perhaps the biggest event ever to occur in Walworth County transpired. As the men watched their poles, a DC-7 came low over their heads, made a bank and landed about 3 miles north along Swan Creek. They assumed it was an emergency landing, so they drove in the direction of the dust cloud to see how they could help.
Two men were standing by the door of the plane when they arrived. The steps were up. One of the men said they had engine trouble. The other mumbled something about being low on fuel.
The men grew suspicious, but they became certain something was amiss when they found another pickup with Ohio license plates parked in the rough pasture. At the same time, neighbors who also saw the plane land called law enforcement. Soon, the county sheriff and highway patrolmen were at the scene, but the men from the airplane had already fled on foot.
When the lawmen boarded the plane, they discovered 396 bales of marijuana stacked window-high from the front to the rear. The drug runners had piloted them north from Colombia, and intended to land in that Walworth County field long after dark. But strong southerly breezes brought them to South Dakota far ahead of schedule.
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| Oscar Howe’s murals inside Scherr-Howe Arena in Mobridge. |
The men were eventually apprehended and received hefty fines and jail sentences. The cargo — 25,000 pounds of marijuana worth $18 million — was hauled to Pierre and burned.
Mobridge, Walworth County’s other river city, serves as a jumping off point for travelers heading West River. The Standing Rock Reservation lies just across the Missouri, so Lakota culture is evident around town, especially inside the Scherr-Howe Arena. That’s where Yanktonai artist Oscar Howe painted 10 large murals during World War II.
Howe was a member of the South Dakota Artist Project, a Depression-era work effort that provided jobs in the arts. He was assigned to decorate the new auditorium in Mobridge in 1942. A week into the project Howe received orders to report for military duty. With help from locals, his induction was delayed two weeks. Working 20 hours a day, Howe completed his project before leaving to serve 3 1/2 years with the Army during World War II. In 2014, a team of artists guided a $100,000 restoration project to help save the murals.
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| Chili champ Rick Christman outside his purple cafe in Mobridge. |
There are other interesting spots in Mobridge. Rick’s CafÈ is a purple, stucco building where Rick Christman has developed an award-winning chili recipe and his own line of seasoning called Rick’s Salt. The Mobridge State Bank, built in 1907, is one of only seven metal clad bank buildings known to exist in the United States. Mobridge native Ben Thompson bought the building for $250 and painstakingly restored it to its original condition. And the Klein Museum is home to several interesting collections, including a set of toy farm equipment from Calvin Anderson.
Anderson grew up on a farm near Glenham. He played with scrap metal as a boy, pretending the pieces were tractors. When he grew up, married and began to farm, he started collecting farm toys. The Andersons later retired to Mobridge, and Anderson brought his collection along. He built a special cabin on the museum grounds in which to house his vast collection.
My travels through Walworth County took me to places along the main highways. Smaller towns like Java and Lowry lie off the beaten path. It’s all the more reason to go back and devote more hours to exploring Walworth County.
Editor’s Note: This is the 25th installment in an ongoing series featuring South Dakota’s 66 counties. Click here for previous articles.
Migration is in full swing despite our recent winter-like weather. Mic Schweitzer took these photos of geese earlier this month near the US-12 bridge over the Missouri River near Mobridge. “They were all just resting in the water for quite some time until some other spectators came to view them and brought several dogs along,” Schweitzer says. “As soon as the dogs were released to run the riverbanks the birds took to the skies for several minutes of frenzy.”
The first time I experienced Lake Hiddenwood State Park I was a mere 16-year-old volunteering as a camp counselor. This park was only an hour and a half drive from my home and I had never heard of it. I was told the place was full of trees, hiking trails and a small lake. As we drove east of Mobridge and then north of Selby through the wide open, rolling fields and pastures, it didn’t seem possible that there could be a forested state park anywhere in the area. We then crested a hill and eased into Hiddenwood Creek Valley and there it was, a little gem of a lake sparkling in the sun and surrounded by thick stands of trees. We had a lot of fun with the campers that afternoon and I was thoroughly impressed with the place.
Some 20-plus years later I find myself walking the”Hidden Beauty” trail before dawn with camera in hand. The trees are thick and the undergrowth is green with life along the trail. I hear turkey, nearly step on a fawn quietly sleeping on a hillside of grass (which nearly gave me a heart attack) and photograph a rosebush unfurling its pink flowers. I swear I must have groomed the trail of at least a dozen cobwebs with my big head. Again, I find it hard to believe that such a place exists in the middle of the high plains of north central South Dakota.
According to South Dakota’s Game, Fish and Parks website, melting glaciers carved the valley. In 1927, the department used a new technique called an earthen dam to create Lake Hiddenwood. It is one of the first artificial lakes in South Dakota. The lake is not deep, but it does contain a variety of fish species including perch, bass and bullhead. The place is also a haven for birds and wildlife. From hawk to deer and turtles to amphibians, you’ll find them all at Hiddenwood.
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| The first sunlight of the day lights up Lake Hiddenwood State Park. |
My older brother and his family live near Selby so I invited them to join me at the park to go canoeing. I thought it would be a fun thing to photograph and since he owns the canoe, it was pretty essential they agreed to go. You couldn’t have asked for a better evening on the calm waters of the lake as the sun was glowing yellow through the trees. Hiddenwood Creek’s channel is deep enough to canoe quite a way upstream. If you prefer more open waters, you can turn your boat to the west where the water widens until reaching the small spillway on the northwest part of the dam. I’m not sure what it is, but there is something peaceful as well as memorable being out on the water of Hiddenwood. It might be that the water is so calm even on windy days because of the trees and hills acting as windbreak. Whatever it is, the lake is a special place, especially when spending time on it with family.
The fishing is also entertaining. My nephew and a couple of his friends spent a good hour catching and releasing fish after fish from the boat dock as the last light of the day dimmed. They were quite intrigued to be able to see the schooling perch swim in lazy circles and even see the small little shadows of fish hit their spinner lures just a foot or so under the water. I can see why this place is popular with the local Boy Scout chapter. I’m coming up on 40 years on this earth and I’m not ashamed to say that spending time playing at Lake Hiddenwood made me feel like that wide-eyed kid again. I know I’m not 16 any more but places like Hiddenwood can take you back there even if it’s just for an evening. Thanks to my brother, his wife, and my nephews for making the weekend another special one at Lake Hiddenwood State Park.
Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he’s not working at Midcontinent Communications he is often on the road photographing our prettiest spots around the state. Follow Begeman on his blog. To view Christian’s columns on other South Dakota state parks and recreation areas, visit his state parks page.
Editor’s Note: This story is revised from the March/April 2009 issue of South Dakota Magazine. To order a copy or to subscribe, call 800-456-5117.
A few years ago, Kelly Kemnitz and her husband, Brent, moved back to their hometown of Mobridge to run the MoRest Motel. The 27-room, 1950s vintage motel was more than a piece of property to Kelly. Her parents, Denny and Glenda Palmer, owned the motel for over 25 years; Kelly and her brother were raised there.”People who stay at the motel remember me as a little kid,” she says.
The Kemnitz family, which includes four children, Michael, Jeffrey, Kathryn and Elizabeth, live in a three bedroom house attached to the motel. Brent has a degree in landscape design and managed a garden center before the Mobridge move. During the spring and summer months the family didn’t see much of him. Now he and Kelly work together every day.”It’s a mixture of running a motel and caring for family,” says Kelly.
They open the office each day at 8 a.m. Most of the motel cleaning is done by employees, but the Kemnitzes wash all the linens themselves except for the sheets, which are sent out.”Every day is different,” Kelly says.”If there’s been a group who’s been here for a while with all the bedspreads, blankets and towels I’ll be washing all day.” Brent also operates MoPro Walleye Guide Service. That’s no chore for him since he loves to fish. He’s out fishing as soon as the ice starts breaking up,” Kelly says. Brent doesn’t have to go far. They can see Lake Oahe from the kitchen window.
Their customers come from South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Nebraska to fish. Many have been coming for years.”We usually know most of the people who stay at the motel,” Kelly says. Some evenings the Kemnitzes and their guests gather to talk about the ones that got away and cook the ones that didn’t. Here is Kelly’s recipe.
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Walleye filets
Flour
Eggs, beaten
Boxed potato buds
Seasoned salt
Vegetable oil
Rinse walleye filets in water. Dip fish into flour, then eggs, then potato buds. Fry in oil until golden brown. Season generously with seasoned salt. Serve with tartar sauce, cocktail sauce or both.
Akaska is home to two dozen people until the walleye start biting, and then the population swells with anglers. The quiet village on the east shore of the Missouri is an hour’s drive from Pierre — but your DC-7 can make it in ten minutes, and you can land in the grasslands near the river. It’s been done.
On Super Bowl Sunday afternoon in 1980, some local men left their ice-fishing shacks on the Missouri and headed home to watch the game. About sundown a huge plane flew low over their heads. They saw it land about 3 miles away.
The fishermen followed with their pickups, thinking they’d seen a plane crash. When they neared the landing site, they saw a suspiciously undamaged plane. Two men in the plane said they had engine trouble; one of them muttered something about being low on fuel.
One of the Akaskans parked his pickup in front of the plane so it couldn’t take off, and another ducked around the back of the plane and let the air out of the tires. Soon the two strangers fled into the night.
Local authorities eventually arrested six men and seized $18 million worth of marijuana in the plane — the biggest drug bust in state history. Apparently the plane had flown to Colombia to rendezvous with local dealers. They intended to land during the Super Bowl when everyone would be watching television, but due to a strong south wind, they arrived early and were spotted.
This is one fish story they don’t have to embellish at the Sportsmen’s Bar in Akaska.
Editor’s note: This story originally appeared in South Dakota Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities and Other Offbeat Stuff by Bernie Hunhoff. To order a copy, visit our online store or call us at 1-800-456-5117.
Big news for South Dakota from Mobridge: Their plans to restore the ten priceless Oscar Howe murals in the city auditorium (formerly the high school basketball stadium) are on the mark, set and ready to go.
Mobridge built a new high school gymnasium a few years ago, ending the odd juxtaposition of depictions of American Plains Indian history with everyday rubber-meets-the-hoop (or wall).
Although high school basketball is very important for South Dakota, so is the legacy of Oscar Howe. No longer serving its intended purpose, the building was set up for decay — not a good thing for any town. and in this case certainly not for our collective cultural heritage.
The City of Mobridge, led by its visionary development corporation’s director Christine Goldsmith, looked for help, and got it. A Save America’s Treasures grant paid for necessary repairs of the building to protect the treasures within, and prescribed treatment for the aging (and rubber-abused) murals.
That treatment could not begin until the building was secured from the serious environmental elements of Mobridge, SD. Done! Christine has now formed a nonprofit group with an influential local board, enlisted the aid of the South Dakota Arts Council, South Dakotans for the Arts, and the South Dakota Humanities Council, and applied for a major grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Dr. Howe painted the murals in 1941, as a part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) program. That program also allowed him to create the magnificent four-directions dome painting in Mitchell’s Carnegie Library, which later housed the major collection of his paintings for more than 20 years.
There is no program equivalent to, or even approaching, the WPA. South Dakota’s great artists live and work here because it is home, and because they have our story to tell. Perhaps we should revisit the idea and make some more progress toward our future.
Pat Boyd is Executive Director of South Dakotans for the Arts, a statewide nonprofit membership organization dedicated to advancing the arts through service, education and advocacy. Pat and her husband, artist George Prisbe, live at Hanna Creek in the northern Black Hills.
