Tag: yankton

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Eagle Season

By Katie Hunhoff

A bald eagle built a nest near the old Meridian Bridge in Yankton two years ago, and then perched on a nearby cottonwood branch and posed for pedestrians, who were at eye level to the big bird when they were on the bridge’s upper deck.

The eagle eventually abandoned that nest. Maybe it was a tad too close to civilization for her comfort. But more eagles than ever are wintering on the open water of the Missouri River in Yankton, and they often glide slowly over the walking bridge that extends into the city’s old downtown.

Eagles were following the Dodo bird to extinction a scant 50 years ago. Illegal hunting, habitat destruction and a poison known as DDT were killing the species. In 1963, only 487 nesting pairs could be found in the United States.

But the Endangered Species Act banned DDT in 1972, and the eagles gradually adapted to a changing prairie landscape. Today, the state Game, Fish & Parks Department estimates that there may be as many as 300 nesting pairs just in South Dakota.

Most South Dakota eagles can be found wintering below the Missouri River dams, where massive old cottonwood trees provide a barky foundation for their large, heavy nests. Open water below the river’s dams provides easy fishing. Eagles also nest in the Black Hills near the Deerfield Reservoir, and it’s not surprising to find them in any part of the state.

Eagles build their nests by mid-February and begin laying eggs in late February. The birds mate for life, and use the same nests from year to year, adding twigs each year. Their nests are among the largest of any North American bird. One big nest measured 13 feet deep by 8 feet wide.

The majestic bald eagle was chosen as our national emblem in 1787, partly because it was native to North America. The fierce appearance of its curved beak, regal white head and piercing eyes were also factors. In the emblem, drawn in 1782, a bald eagle is displayed with an olive branch in one claw and 12 arrows clutched in the other, representing both peace and war.

Benjamin Franklin famously opposed putting the bald eagle on the nation’s emblem. He favored the wild turkey, which he claimed was, “A much more respectable bird and a true native of America.” He said the turkey was a bird of courage that “would not hesitate to attack a grenadier of the British guards who should presume to invade his farm yard with a red coat on.”

It seems Franklin was also put off with the bald eagle’s habit of eating carrion. They often steal food from smaller birds by intimidating them into dropping their prey. They also feed on dead fish and crippled birds. “He is a bird of bad moral character,” wrote Franklin. “He does not get his living honestly. You may have seen him perched in some dead tree where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the labor of the fishing hawk and, when that diligent bird has at length taken a fish and is bearing it to his nest for his young ones, the bald eagle pursues him and takes the fish.”

It seems unpatriotic to dredge up Franklin’s comments. After all, the eagle is just doing what comes naturally. Go eagle watching this spring and you will instantly be reminded of why our founding fathers chose this regal bird to represent our nation. Your best chance to see some soaring is to visit the Missouri below the dams at Yankton, Pickstown, Fort Thompson and Pierre. In Yankton, a few eagles can often be found in the big trees that lie south of Riverside ballpark.

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Lalla Rookh Reverie

By John Andrews

About 6 percent of people living in Yankton County trace their primary heritage to Ireland. Perhaps some of them can credit John Pope Hodnett with bringing their families here, even if his planned Irish community north of Yankton never materialized.

Hodnett was a native of Ireland who settled with his family in Chicago. By the late 1860s he had become a national spokesman for the Irish Republicans, an organization he helped create in July 1868.”Prior to the Civil War it was rarely one met an Irishman who was not a Democrat,” wrote George Kingsbury in his History of Dakota Territory.”They seemed to find a congenial political brotherhood in that party, and it was a general belief that this was largely due to the influence thrown around them in the city of New York upon their reaching this country from their native land.”

But here was Hodnett, actively stumping for presidential Ulysses S. Grant and other Republicans during the summer of 1868. At speeches in Illinois and Missouri he implored his fellow Irishmen that the Republican Party held the greatest hope for their future prosperity in America. His argument was often met with violence from Democratic Irishmen. A mob nearly destroyed the house where he was staying during a speech in Decatur, Ill., and he survived an assassination attempt in Chicago.

When Grant was elected president in November, he rewarded loyalty to his campaign and party through political appointments. John Pope Hodnett became the assessor of internal revenue for Dakota Territory. He came to Yankton in April 1869, and that summer he filed a claim on a piece of land about 7 miles north of town.

Hodnett’s arrival coincided with a push among Dakota Territorial leaders to recruit settlers, so Gov. Burbank appointed him to be an immigration official. He was aware that Irishmen were migrating west out of big eastern cities, so he devised a plan to bring them to Dakota and build a sprawling Irish colony.

He marketed his new homeland masterfully. Hodnett bragged about its beautiful groves, waving grain fields and brilliant gardens. He even had a little body of water he called Lake Lalla Rookh, taken from the title of a romantic poem written by Thomas Moore in 1817. He helped file claims around his homestead for at least eight wealthy businessmen from New York and Virginia.

But those would-be settlers soon lost interest in a new life in Dakota. Hodnett even lost his little lake to a summer drought. A handful of Irish families did settle in Yankton County and some traces of Irish life exist today, but it’s certainly not the hub John Pope Hodnett hoped it would someday become.

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A Booster and a Rogue

By John Andrews

February is Black History Month. Every Tuesday this month, we’ll introduce you to black pioneers and leaders who helped shape South Dakota. In our final installment, we feature Tom Douglas, a Yankton businessman and Dakota promoter.

Every August, Yankton’s Riverboat Days parade slowly progresses down Douglas Avenue, a main thoroughfare named for a man who so loved living here that he traveled throughout the Midwest encouraging others to come.

For years, many African-American families in South Dakota credited Tom Douglas with bringing them to a place where he claimed they would find”freedom like you’ve never seen anywhere.” Douglas was by all accounts intelligent, athletic and enthusiastic about South Dakota. He had been born into slavery and had two owners who had given him two names — Tom Douglas and Christopher Columbus Yancy — which he seems to have used interchangeably throughout his life. One of Douglas’s owners had been a lawyer who believed his slaves should know how to read and write. Those skills put Douglas on the path to become a successful businessman when he arrived in Yankton.

Douglas operated a restaurant downtown at the corner of Second and Douglas, though he dabbled in several enterprises that ran afoul of the law, including illegal drinking and gambling. In an attempt to skirt the law, he leased a portion of an island in the Missouri River in 1891, where he believed no taxing government held jurisdiction, and built a small restaurant, gymnasium and saloon. The federal government soon shuttered Douglas’s venture.

Sketchy though his business dealings may have been, they were profitable. Douglas used that money to help other African-Americans escape from the segregation of the South. He invested in several pieces of land around Yankton and built small cabins that he offered rent-free to blacks that he encountered during his recruiting tours, which started around 1904.”He traveled to speaking engagements in a spring wagon pulled by single long-suffering horse,” wrote Betti Van Epps Taylor in Forgotten Lives, her chronicle of South Dakota’s black history.”A charismatic speaker, he could wax eloquent about the endless wonders and opportunities of eastern South Dakota.”

Because of Douglas’s efforts, Yankton was soon home to the territory’s largest black population. It included the Blakey family, featured in this series two weeks ago. Brothers Isaac and Henry Blakey accepted Douglas’s offer of a cabin while they sought work around Yankton. They soon landed jobs on a farm owned by Emil and John Frick. The Blakeys later said they were unsure about South Dakota until they received their first paychecks and were astounded to see they were paid the same amount as the white laborers.

Douglas was also a skilled boxer and wrestler, providing lessons and training to young men in town. He also had an inventive streak. A patent filed in the U.S. Patent Office on Feb. 5, 1901 lists Christopher C. Yancy, of Yankton, as the inventor of a coin-controlled muscle-tester, similar to those found at carnivals.

His death notice, which appeared in South Dakota newspapers in May 1916, called him”probably the best known colored man in South Dakota,” though today very little information about him can be found, even in his beloved hometown along the Missouri River. But Yanktonians should remember the pioneer rogue every time they travel the busy street that bears his name.

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Statehood Began With a Turkey Dinner

By John Andrews

Thousands of local, state and federal problems will be”solved” by families gathered around Thanksgiving tables this month, though in reality, when the turkey’s gone, gas will still cost $3 a gallon and you may or may not be able to surf healthcare.gov.

One of our most fruitful Thanksgivings happened in Yankton in 1879, when a group of influential men gathered at the home of a Congregational minister. By the end of the evening, they had resolved to divide Dakota Territory and make its southern half the newest state in America.

Many historians agree that the 1879 Thanksgiving Day dinner at the Rev. Stewart Sheldon’s house served as a catalyst in the quest for South Dakota statehood. The other men gathered around his table included his brother-in-law Joseph Ward, also a Congregational minister and founder of Yankton College, territorial governor William Howard, U.S. Attorney Hugh Campbell, superintendent of public instruction General William H.H. Beadle and Edward P. Wilcox.

The meeting had its origins because of a proposition quietly floating around the territory regarding school lands. Some residents believed they should be sold to a large syndicate for $2.25 per acre. School lands were near and dear to Gen. Beadle’s heart, and he firmly believed no school section should ever be sold for less than $10 an acre. All in attendance stood with Beadle, and all agreed that division of the territory and the creation of a new state government for the southern half would help prevent similar nefarious acts in the future. Beadle traveled the territory spreading the word about the importance of school lands, while Sheldon, Ward and the others carried the banner of statehood.

Their hard work resulted in a delegate convention held in Canton in 1882. Ward was appointed to an executive committee that helped push a bill through the territorial legislature calling for a constitutional convention. Unfortunately Gov. Howard, their Thanksgiving Day ally, died in 1880 and was replaced by Nehemiah Ordway, whose vast interests in the northern half of the territory led him to veto the bill.

Southern Dakotans were outraged and responded by sending 188 delegates to another convention at Huron in June 1883. Again, they demanded a constitutional convention to be held in Sioux Falls in September. Delegates gathered at Germania Hall drafted a constitution and presented it to the people, who approved it 12,336-6,814 in the November 1883 election. A newly appointed executive committee traveled to Washington and presented the document to Congress, but statehood was denied, despite support from Sen. Benjamin Harrison of Indiana (a close friend of Arthur Mellette, a statehood champion who worked in the territorial land office).

The defeat seemed only to galvanize division proponents. Once again they pushed a constitutional convention bill through the 1885 territorial legislature, and this time they found support from newly appointed governor Gilbert Pierce. The second convention met at Germania Hall in Sioux Falls and drafted another document that was overwhelmingly approved (25,138-6,527).

Sen. Harrison again introduced a bill in Congress calling for South Dakota statehood, but the Democratically-controlled House defeated it. Prospects remained slim as long as Democrats held the House, and Harrison even predicted that nothing would advance the cause until the presidential election of 1888. That’s when Harrison himself became president, and both houses of Congress fell under Republican control. Seeing the writing on the wall, Congress passed an Omnibus Bill creating South Dakota and four other states on Feb. 20, 1889, just before the new administration took office. President Grover Cleveland signed it with a quill pen made with the feather of an eagle killed in Dakota Territory.

When President Harrison signed the official proclamation admitting South Dakota on Nov. 2, it came none too soon for one of statehood’s greatest champions. Joseph Ward died on Dec. 11. He was 52, and the state he worked so hard to create was just six weeks old.

South Dakota began its 125th year on Nov. 2. Over 800,000 people live here today and love its prairies, lakes, mountains and rivers. For that, we owe a debt of gratitude to the men who shared ideas around the Thanksgiving table and committed themselves to creating a new and better home.

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125th Birthday Kickoff

Yanktonians kicked off South Dakota’s 125th birthday year with a grand party Saturday night. Re-enactors portrayed historic characters in the downtown streets, and as the sun set the party moved indoors to the Riverfront Event Center where state officials joined 500 fellow South Dakotans in a memorable and festive evening. Photos by Bernie Hunhoff.

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South Dakota Returns To Its Roots

Saturday (Nov. 2) is a big day for the Mother City of the Dakotas. Governor Dennis Daugaard and a number of other elected officials, past and present, will gather with the public at large to kick off South Dakota’s 125th birthday party in Yankton.

Geographically, Yankton’s role was established long before anyone was writing and reporting on such matters. Native Americans had a permanent camp, possibly going back several centuries. The city’s very name comes from the Dakota word”Ihanktonwan” which was known as the end village along the Missouri.

Lewis and Clark camped there in 1804, and visited with the Native American residents. A baby boy was born while they were there; the famous explorers wrapped him in an American flag and celebrated his birth. Later, the child grew to be a Dakota leader, Struck-by-the-Ree — an amazing chief who promoted women’s rights, environmentalism in the river valley, religious freedom and education.

White settlers built a trading post there in 1857, and the city became prominent when President James Buchanan declared it capitol of Dakota Territory in 1861. Of course, the”Yankton gang” lost the capitol 22 years later but the city has grown to become a political, educational, medical, manufacturing, recreational and media powerhouse, playing a role that has always exceeded its modest population.

Few communities throughout the West have such a reputation, past and present. Saturday is a golden opportunity for Yankton to show once again why it’s the Mother City of the Dakotas. The local business community has worked with the governor’s office to celebrate with style. Curt and Cena Bernard have opened their beautiful Riverfront Event Center as the quasquicentennial headquarters for the day.

The activities begin at 3:30 downtown with re-enactors who will speak for some of our most colorful and important historical characters. Festivities move to the Riverfront Event Center at 6 p.m. for a social hour, followed by a 7 p.m. program with the governor and then a 7:30 p.m. dance with a 10-piece orchestra.

It’s all free, thanks to the generosity of local businesses. And you can wear anything from a tux and top hat to pioneer garb or your usual blue jeans.

Bring your children and grandchildren. This is an opportunity to instill a sense of the history that their community represents. And encourage the seniors in your life to attend, for without their stewardship through the decades we wouldn’t continue to be vibrant community.

Yanktonians hope you’ll join them Saturday afternoon and evening to celebrate life in South Dakota. Yes, there’ll be a big birthday cake.

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Savoring the Story

By Laura Andrews


I wish I’d carried pencil and paper with me when I was growing up. I spent a fair amount of time with my elders over the years, and there are so many things that I thought would be forever cemented in my memory that have slipped away, perhaps for good. It makes me sad to think about all the stories entrusted to me over the years that are now lost. I should’ve taken better notes. Heck, ANY notes would’ve made a difference.

Then there are the half-remembered tidbits stuck in my head that no one else can verify. My grandparents told me about some foods their parents made back in the 1930s — malt leader beer, a non-alcoholic brew, and buttermilk jam. Perhaps both were products of hard times. Buttermilk was something Great-Grandma Mark had in abundance on her farm near Viborg, and a homemade non-alcoholic beer would have quenched Great-Grandpa Skoven’s thirst in those hot, dusty days of Prohibition. But I don’t have recipes, and I haven’t had any luck finding any. They weren’t deemed important enough to pass down.

And then there’s the flip side. Have you ever paged through an old community cookbook and found a recipe that stopped you in your tracks? I have. The recipe giver may be credited, if you’re lucky, but you don’t know why this particular food was so important that they wanted to share it with their community. Was it traditional in their family, picked up on a trip or clipped out of a newspaper? Was it an everyday meal or fancy food that was only brought out for company? Were they famous or infamous for making this dish? You can recreate it if you want to, but you’ll never know why it mattered to them.

That’s why I’m excited to travel to the South Dakota State Fair this Sunday. I’ll be helping Catherine Lambrecht of the Greater Midwest Foodways Alliance judge the Heirloom Recipes Contest. Participants will bring a favorite homemade family recipe that dates before 1950, along with the story behind it. We’ll get to sample South Dakota tastes of years ago and place them in the context of their times.

Pre-registration is over, but if you have a recipe you’d like to share, take a look at the contest rules and please join us on Sept. 1 at 11:30 am in the Women’s Building. Last year’s entries were dessert-heavy, but savory recipes are very welcome too.



When I first read this recipe in an old Yankton cookbook from 1946, I was a little taken aback.”You call that a dessert?” I thought. My husband suspected the recipe submitter, the pastor’s wife, was having a little laugh at her congregation’s expense. The truth probably relates to the times. Sugar was rationed from May 1942 to June 1947 because of World War II, so many housewives turned to marshmallows as a substitute.

While this recipe was by no means the weirdest thing I’ve ever found in an old community cookbook (the Jello salad section is always good for oddities), it is one of the few I’m actually willing to try. As I sample it, I’ll wonder what Mrs. Wicks’ name actually was, why this recipe was significant enough for her to put her name to, and if it was still popular with her family after the wartime restrictions were lifted. If you’re a Wicks descendant (or if you’ve got recipes for malt leader beer or buttermilk jam), please leave a comment below.

Marshmallow Dessert

Submitted by Mrs. T. G. Wicks
Trinity Lutheran Cook Book, 3rd edition, printed August 1946

24 marshmallows
1 cup strong coffee — cool
1 cup whipping cream
Nuts to flavor

Whip coffee and marshmallows. Fold in whipped cream. Leave in refrigerator until ready to serve. Serve in sherbet glasses.

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Search for the Lost Trail

By Bernie Hunhoff

Crazy Horse died 136 years ago, but he still draws a crowd. Last week, an undertaker from Marysville, Kansas came to Yankton to speak about the legendary Lakota leader and it was standing room only.

Cleve Walstrom, the speaker, inherited his interest in Crazy Horse from his father, a veterinarian who made many Native American friends while working in western Nebraska. The elder Walstrom began to hear many anecdotes about Lakota chiefs. Realizing that many of the stories only existed in oral history — and that even the simple information such as the chiefs’ burial places had not been recorded — he kept a written record that eventually became a book.

The veterinarian died in 1997, but fortunately by then Cleve had taken on the mission of working with the Lakota to put in writing the stories being told in western Nebraska and South Dakota.

Cleve wrote a book about his experiences several years ago called Search for the Lost Trail of Crazy Horse. He’s not only good at listening to stories; he also did an impressive job at writing his own family’s passionate journey. The two generations of Walstroms have met and befriended more Native Americans than most white people in Indian Country. He has been to rural communities we haven’t even heard of, and we’ve prided ourselves in finding every little hamlet in South Dakota.

Cleve has watched the process of brain-tanning a buffalo hide. He has visited the KILI Radio studio, and chuckles that the DJ was listening to hard rock while playing traditional songs (perhaps the two worlds can co-exist). He has been invited to Sun Dances. He has painstakingly traced genealogies that no one else has committed to paper, and he has taken the time to gain respect — listening attentively and learning all the while.

We found Mr. Walstrom to be a fascinating fellow in his own right. We bump into a lot of historians but few have taken to the backroads with the zeal that he’s shown for many years.

We’re working on several stories related to Crazy Horse, and after hearing his presentation we have several more to chase — including brain tanning.

Library of Congress
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Yankton: An Athletic Village

By Bernie Hunhoff

The Cincinnati Reds gained a lot of fans in Brookings and Yankton last week when they smartly drafted Yankton’s hometown hero and SDSU star Layne Somsen in the Major League baseball draft. We might still watch a Twins game or two, but surely Joe Mauer will understand that many of us had hot dogs and popcorn while we watched young Layne strike out batters at Riverside Ball Park.”

And now we’re watching the NBA draft, set for next week, to see what sort of cap we’ll be wearing in the winter because we’re rooting for another local kid — 7-footer Colton Iverson.

One can only imagine the amount of work put forth by Layne and Colton as they reached this stage in their respective athletic careers. And most of the credit goes to them as individuals. But it takes a village to raise an athlete. Their parents and grandparents and siblings, their coaches from T-ball to Division One, teachers and neighbors and anyone else who gave them a cheer or threw them a ball can share in these summer triumphs.

The accomplishments for Layne and Colton are especially sweet because both suffered adversity along the path. Layne had a near-career-ending arm injury, but recovered from Tommy John surgery to lead the South Dakota State Jackrabbits to the NCAA tournament.

Colton started his college career at the University of Minnesota, but it was a frustrating few years with the Gophers. He bravely packed his bags and re-located at Colorado State University, only to become First Team All Conference.

There are no guarantees in life and even fewer in professional sports. Nobody knows what will happen next for these two fine young men. But they are already winners, and all of Yankton can be proud of how they’ve represented Yankton, the little village by the river.

So back to the Reds. Where is Cincinnati? Isn’t that where Johnny Bench played? What is a Red?