compiled by Mary Wienbar
Railroads
Bring Settlers to
By the mid 1800s, much of the land in the
eastern
The town of
The Chicago & Northwestern Railroad had
completed track as far west as DeSmet by 1879.
In the spring of 1880, the track had been
laid through the town site of Iroquois.
Iroquois was founded by the Western Town
Lot Company in 1880.
The rail continued westward to Cavour,
Huron, and onto
Train
through
In 1880, a boxcar was used as the first
railroad depot in Iroquois. A
woman named Mrs. John Sweet was the first depot
agent in Iroquois.
As the railroads stretched westward into
Early pioneers wishing to settle in this
area would travel to Mitchell or Brookings to file
their claims on land.
Men would arrive early to the land office
and many had to stand in line for hours to file a
claim.
The greatest surge of pioneers came to the
Iroquois area after the fall of 1882.
A new land office was opened in Huron,
making it easier for pioneers to register land
claims.
A north-south track was constructed in 1883
which ran from
Train
through Iroquois
The
Winter of 1880-1881
It’s come to be known as the “Long
Winter,” as Laura Ingalls Wilder described in
her book. Snow
fall and blizzards began in the autumn of 1880.
Heavy snows and harsh winds came
frequently, creating immense drifts that blocked
the trains from the newly formed settlements in
The railroad company hired men to hand
shovel snow from the tracks to keep the trains
moving. Snow
plows attached to the train engines were also used
to clear snow.
Before long, the snow was so deep that the
tracks could no longer be cleared.
The trains came to a halt.
Trains were unable to bring food, fuel, or
other supplies needed in these small villages.
Store keepers tried to ration supplies, but
ran out before spring arrived.
Some Huron area settlers had to walk with
hand sleds, to Mitchell or DeSmet, to bring back a
few supplies.
Rotary
snowplow attached to a train near DeSmet.
The
early settlers twisted hay to burn for fuel.
Long slough grass was taken in their hands,
twisted tight, then folded in the middle and
twisted again, with one end tucked under the
other. Each
day, many hours were spent twisting hay in order
to have enough to cook and meagerly heat their
homes. Twisting
hay was hard, laboring work which caused sore,
cracked, and bleeding hands.
When
supplies were short or nonexistent, pioneers would
make due with what they had.
When there was no coffee for sale in the
stores, the pioneers would use browned wheat and
barley as coffee grounds.
Sometimes they toasted bread crusts and
used them for roasting coffee.
Besides using their coffee mill for
grinding coffee beans, they also used it for
grinding wheat or oats into a coarse flour, when
no flour could be purchased in the stores.
They used this coarse flour to make bread.
When the snow began to melt, the trains traveled slowly along the tracks. The thawing ground under the tracks was sometimes soft, creating weak areas in the tracks. Alternative track needed to be built around newly formed lakes, and sloughs. Spring finally came as the last snowstorm ended May 5. The pioneers had new struggles in dealing with the flood waters of the melting snow.
Think It Over: Pioneers worked hard to store up food supplies in their homes to last them many months. Why would this have been necessary? How is this different from today?
Early
Iroquois Settlers
Brothers, Edwin and Ben Wheeler, took up
their claims in the spring of 1879 or 1880.
They chose land two miles south of
Iroquois. There
were no roads or bridges at this time, so when
they went to file their claims in Mitchell, they
took off across the open prairie.
As they came to streams, Edwin would wade
into the rushing water to check the depth and
determine if the horses and wagon could make it
across. The
water was very cold, but by doing this, they
safely made their way to Mitchell.
Free
land was given by the
A
man traveling west to homestead
William Joseph, and brothers Art and
Lewellyn Page came to homestead in the Iroquois
area in the spring of 1880.
Their homestead and tree claims were
located four miles northeast of the platted town
site of Iroquois.
The three traveled by covered wagon from
Once they arrived at their homestead and
tree claims, they built a sod cabin at the corner
boundary of each of their claims.
This was done so each of the men could
sleep in a different corner of the sod house and
so follow the requirements of the Homestead Act,
by living on their claims.
O.W.
Coursey, who lived in a sod house near
In
the 1880’s, materials to build a sod house or
claim “shack” cost approximately $100.
A good house made of sawed wooden boards
could be built for around $350.
Lewis Hammond brought his family to the
Iroquois area in 1882.
They farmed land just east and south of the
town site. In
order to build his first house, Lewis drove with a
double team of horses to Yankton.
There he bought the sawed cottonwood
lumber. He
built a two story house with two rooms on the main
floor and two rooms upstairs.
He didn’t have time to shingle the house
before winter set in, so the snow sifted in
through the boards.
Each wintry morning they would have to
shake the snow off their bedding covers.
The south portion of their property was
platted and became part of the town known as the
Hammond Addition.
Bert Stephens came to Iroquois in 1883 by
covered wagon.
He came from
J.F. Halladay was born in
Ethel Crowell was the first child born in
Iroquois, on
Early
settlers had to endure many hardships.
Swarms of grasshoppers would destroy crops
and hay fields.
Prairie fires would quickly burn the dry
prairie grasses.
Pioneers would plow fireguards which were
at least 2 rods wide.
The fireguards would help protect claim
shanties, stables, and other buildings from
prairie fires.
A.J.
Sipher with his three horse-powered, one bottom
plow.
Advancements in farm machinery help in the
productivity of the farmer.
The steam powered threshing machines
replaced the horses and oxen.
Neighbors
would help one another during harvest time.
It would take around 20 men to harvest a
grain crop with horse-powered threshing machines.
Women would have to feed the threshing crew
during harvest time.
The women would help one another prepare
meals.
A
threshing crew harvesting wheat.
"My
Old Sod Shanty on My Claim"
I am looking rather seedy now
While
holding down my claim
And
my vittles are not always served the best
And
the mice play slyly around me
As
I lay me down to sleep
In
my little old sod shanty on my claim.
Chorus:
Oh the hinges are of leather
And
the windows have no glass
Round
my little old sod shanty on my claim.
Oh, when I left my eastern home,
So
happy and so gay
To
try to win my way to wealth and fame
I
little thought that I would come
To
burning twisted hay
In
my little old sod shanty on my claim.
Chorus
My clothes are plastered o’er with dough
I’m
looking like a fright
And
everything is scattered round the room
I
fear if P.T. Barnum’s man
Should
get his eyes on me
He
would take me from my little cabin home.
Chorus
I wish that some kind hearted Miss
Would
pity on me take
And
extricate me from the mess I’m in.
The
angel how I bless her if thus her home she’d
make
In
my little old sod shanty on my claim
Chorus
And if heaven would smile upon us
With
now and then an heir
To
cheer our hearts to honest pride and fame
It
won’t seem half as lonely
When
around us we say look
And
see other old sod shanties on the claims
In
our little old sod shanty on our claim.
Chorus
When time enough has lapsed
And
all these little brats
To
honest man and womanhood have grown
It
won’t seem half as lonely
When
around us we can look
And
see other old sod shanties on their claims.
(Note:
“From memory of years ago in
Early
Businesses
Iroquois is named for an eastern Native
American tribe.
Most of the streets in Iroquois are also
names of Native American tribes, which include
Creek, Quapaw,
Looking
east on
The Bank of Iroquois, was established in
1880. In
1884, the Farmers and Merchants Bank was
established, and later incorporated in 1886.
In 1887, construction began on a large
brick building.
It was completed in January of 1888.
It was originally the Farmers and Merchants
Bank. Many
businesses have been located in this building,
including a clothing store owned by Hugo Schultz,
and the Hoevet Funeral Home.
This building is still standing on the
corner of
Old
bank building is still standing.
The first hotel, The “La Cresent,” was
built in 1880, south of the railroad tracks.
It later burned down.
The Grannis Hotel was soon built south of
the train depot.
The
Charles Knecht built a dry goods and
grocery store in Iroquois, in 1881.
It was the community’s first retail
store. It
was later known as Pete’s Home Store.
The Schultz family ran the store for 69
years, having purchased it in 1898.
Pete
Schultz owner of Pete’s Home Store.
Throughout the years, Iroquois has been
home to a variety of businesses.
Some included hardware, photography, drug
stores, undertaking (funeral homes), general
stores, law & real estate offices, harness
& shoe repair, jewelry, livery stables,
furniture stores, feed mill, meat market, pool
hall, lumber yard, grain elevator, barber,
newspaper, hotels, blacksmith, grocery, depot,
theater, banks, bars, gas stations, implement
dealer, creamery and produce, and opera house.
Early
Drug Store in Iroquois, a Dentist hangs his sign
in an upstairs window.
The Iroquois Chief newspaper, in 1922, stated that “everyone better walk a straight line as the jail was in place and waiting for business.”
Early
Education
The first school in Iroquois, was a one
room wooden structure built in 1884.
In the early years, two sessions of school
were held each year, one in the fall and the other
in the spring.
The building was later used as the Iroquois
Township Hall.
Later, a two story wood structure was
built.
Qualified teachers were hard to find in the
early years of
A new brick school building was erected in
1911. This
was also the first year that Iroquois had a 4 year
high school.
In 1967, a metal addition including a
gymnasium, shop, music, and home economics
classrooms, and food service and lunch room was
added to the 1911 brick structure.
At this time, the
In 1972, a metal structure was built to
hold class rooms, offices, and library.
During the construction, classes were held
in the gym, on the stage, and in the nearby
churches.
This
1972 metal building replaced the old brick school.
On
A new elementary wing was added to the
school in 2002, after the
Think
About It:
How has education changed over the last one
hundred years?
The
School Children’s Blizzard of 1888
In
1888, pioneer children were mainly educated in
one-room school houses. School
houses were not only located in the small Dakota
towns, but were also scattered throughout the
countryside.
There
were very few teachers in this new territory, so
teachers of that time were mostly teenaged girls.
These young girls could write their exam
and earn their teacher’s certificate by age 16.
Most schools had one coal burning stove
placed in the center of the room.
There were no buses or cars.
Children walked to school, or if they were
lucky, rode a horse.
Their walk to school may have been a mile
or more. When
blizzards came up, the young teacher had to decide
if she should take the chance of keeping her
students in the school and possibly run out of
fuel and freeze or flee into the storm, hoping to
find the shelter of the closest home.
Ray H. Miller’s father was an early
pioneer in
On
While watering his team of oxen, Miller’s
father saw a dark cloud quickly approaching from
the west. The
oxen, acting very uneasy, sensed something was
wrong and ran to the barn.
The four oldest Miller children were in
school when the storm hit.
Their father started out to look for them.
After walking a short distance, his face
was a mask of snow and ice, and he was unable to
continue. The
temperature had dropped to 34 below zero and the
wind was fiercely blowing at 70 miles per hour.
Mr. Miller turned around and crawled back
to his house.
The school house was located near the
Sprague homestead and Mr. Sprague was able to lead
the students through the storm to shelter.
Many people and livestock in
In
the late 1800’s, the weather bureau used weather
flags displayed on buildings such as the post
offices or on baggage cars in an attempt to alert
people of the upcoming weather.
A white flag meant fair weather; a blue
square meant rain or snow; a black triangle above
white or blue meant warmer weather; if the black
triangle hung below it meant colder.
A white square with a black center meant
cold; and a red square with a black center meant
blizzard.
Think
It Over:
In our
modern world, can blizzards still be dangerous?
Explain.
Local
Churches
Methodist minister, James Hughes was the
first minister in Iroquois.
He was instrumental in the establishment of
the first church in Iroquois.
It was built in 1884.
In the early 1880s, the Reverend Andrew J.
Drake arrived in Iroquois and helped establish the
first Congregational Church. The
Drakes traveled from place to place holding Sunday
School and services in school buildings or homes.
They sometimes traveled as many as 30 miles
in an afternoon.
A
church deacon would hold a service in Iroquois one
Sunday, while Mrs. Drake held two services and
Reverend Drake held two services in other places.
The Drakes organized many fund raising
events known as “bees,” to help build the
church. The
Congregational Church in Iroquois was dedicated in
1887, and was free of debt.
The
old Congregational Church of Iroquois.
The Drakes traveled to Esmond to hold
worship services.
At this time Esmond was nothing more than a
schoolhouse and a train platform where the train
workmen would throw off mail bags.
The
Reverend Drake died later that same year of
a heart attack, while trying to contain a rubbish
fire near the church building.
Reverend Asidoorian later served this
parish. His
wife was ill and died of tuberculosis.
He later remarried a woman named Jessie
Harris of Iroquois.
The Congregational Church building later
became the Catholic Church from 1916 to 1965.
Early
Organizations or Groups
The Iroquois community at one time had a
band. It
was the official R.E.A. band for
The first lodge in
The Rebekahs group was established in 1892.
Later the Masonic Lodge and O.E.S. (Order
of Eastern Star) were formed.
John “Whitey” Woodall donated his home
and former business building to the city to be
used as a museum.
The
Photo
of John Woodall inside the
Celebrations
and Happenings
Buffalo Bill and his Wild West show came to
Iroquois. His
show included his white ponies.
The great Indian chief, Sitting Bull, and
sharp shooter, Annie Oakley frequently appear with
Buffalo Bill.
(Wheeler)
Ringling Brothers’ Circus, known as the
“greatest show on earth,” has performed in
Huron during summers past.
Sports Day is an annual event held each
summer in Iroquois.
The first Sports Day was held in the early
1900s.
Sports
Day in Iroquois, 1916.
The
back of this post card is dated
The
sender wrote that “this is one of our Sports Day
cards.”
The
Great Depression
The 1930’s brought hardships for farmers
and merchants throughout the
On a day of a black blizzard, one school
teacher near Bancroft, called off classes when the
windows and curtains became so covered with dirt
that the school room became very dark.
The lights needed to be turned on at
These hard times were compounded by low
farm prices. Businesses
began to close.
On
Many people lost their jobs during the
depression. Federal
programs, such as WPA, Hoover Highways, and
others, provided work for many people.
These federal projects built roads, dams,
and parks.
Think
About It:
What do farmers do today, to help prevent
erosion of the top soil?
The
History of Yale
Yale was platted in 1889 by Peter J.
Sweeney, who owned the land.
Mrs. Pat Sweeney named this new town for
Early residents included Albert Maass Sr.,
a boss for the Great Northern Railroad, and John
Dunlevy who operated the first post office.
The town of
Yale
main street, early 1900’s.
Yale has been home to many businesses
through out the years, including groceries and dry
goods, hardware, livery barns, lumber yard, hotel,
restaurants, novelty stores, drug store,
furniture, harness repair shops, blacksmiths,
garage and machine shops, bowling alley,
recreation parlor, saloons, bank, telephone
company, Farmer’s Co-op, and elevator.
Sol Pruner was the first printer in Yale.
Later, J.C. Johnson ran the printing
business. They
published a weekly paper called the Yale
Echo for several years.
The first doctor in Yale was Dr. Horswell.
Two other doctors also practiced medicine
at one time in Yale, Dr. Egan and Dr. Campbell.
Land was granted for a school in Yale, by
the
The first school house was a one room
building. In
1909, a larger school building was built and was
called the
The last graduating class from
Early happening and celebrations included
Fourth of July celebrations held many years at
Daley’s Grove, 1 ½ miles northwest of Yale.
Around 1912, Yale had a community band.
Silent movies were shown over Musolf’s
Store around the year 1915.
For many years, Yale did not have a church,
but Sunday School was held in the school house.
Building began on the
History
of
C.H. Manchester and sons filed a claim in
early 1880. It
was on this claim that a new town site was
established. Originally,
it was to be called
In 1880, the railroad had reached
William and Charles Anderson brought their
families to homestead north of
Other early pioneers, Nathan and Benjamin
Dow (Nathan Dow, also known as Nate, later married
Grace Ingalls), William Dunn, and Ain Bump, filed
their claims south of
A
claim shanty usually consisted of one or two rooms
with an attic where the children slept.
The bed had a sack of straw or corn husks
for a mattress.
If the settlers came from the “old
country,” they usually had a feather bed or two;
one to put over them and one under them to keep
them warm during the cold winter nights.
The rooms were very crowded and children
often had to sleep on the floor.
Sometimes there were five children in one
bed. Many
pioneers put a sack of straw under the bed and
pulled it out at night.
The table was usually homemade and benches
took the place of chairs at the table.
There were trunks or chests for clothing
and shelves for dishes.
Reverend W.S. Peterson visited
At one time
The first school was a one room structure
built in December of 1880.
The first classes were held in January of
1881. Later,
as the population of
West of Manchester on Highway 14, a state
historical marker records the events of the 1961
KELO-LAND Centennial Gold Rush.
The marker states, “
1,439 capsules were planted in a 200’ X
300’ gold field.
1,439 ‘prospectors’ armed with gold
shovels, won in a summer-long contest conducted by
the KELO-LAND Stations, entered the gold field to
dig for $35,000 in cash and merchandise prizes.
In a separate field, governors of the 50
states or their substitutes dug on behalf of
charity for $3,500.
On a signal from bandleader Lawrence Welk,
the diggers unearthed their capsules and rushed
for the ‘assay office’ to claim their prizes.
First prize of $10,000 was won by Mrs.
Floyd Carlon of
More that 150,000 people, largest crowd in
the state’s history, witnessed the ‘Gold Rush
of 1961.’
Governor Archie Gubbrud, Senator Francis
Case, Senator Karl Mundt, Representative Ben
Reifel, former governor Joe Foss, and other
dignitaries attended.
Climax of the Dakota Territory Centennial
year, the event also included a Square Dance
Festival, Amateur Talent Show, Boy Scout Camporee,
Carnival, Fireworks Display, and appearances by TV
stars Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Paul Brinegar
and Clint Eastwood.”
History
of Bancroft
In
1887, James Costello homesteaded the land in which
the town of
Leroy L. Bancroft and his wife, Mary Jane,
came to
At one time Bancroft was home to many
businesses; including dry goods and grocery store,
blacksmith, hotels, elevator, post office, depot,
bowling alley, golf course, bank, barber shop,
city jail, and opera house.
This
postcard gives “Greetings From
Early
pioneers planted sod corn with an ax.
They would carry their seed corn in the
pockets of an apron they wore around their waist.
Using the ax, they would split the sod and
drop a kernel of corn into the hole.
Grain crops were also sown by hand.
When breaking the prairie sod, pioneers
were advised to purchase a breaking plow because
the eastern machinery was not suitable for the
Dakota prairie.
A breaking plow cost around $22.00.
The
Bancroft Opera House burned to the ground in 1911.
At one time, Bancroft celebrated “Sports
Day.” It
is thought to have first started in 1894, and was
held each year until the 1930’s, when dust
storms and the depression affected the lives of
those living in this small,
Reverend G.W. McKinney organized The First
Presbyterian Society of Bancroft in 1889.
Services were held in the band hall until a
church was built in 1892.
A devastating fire swept through the main
street of Bancroft in October of 1918.
It destroyed almost an entire block of
businesses. The
blaze burned for four hours, as a strong wind from
the south worsened the fire.
The fire was finally extinguished after
pushing in the walls of the Delmonico Hotel and a
low area of ground was submerged in water.
The following story is taken from journal
entries written by Beatrice Wade Sipher.
Her family homesteaded several miles east
of Bancroft.
Father,
Mother, my brother Marvilla, and I came by train
to the frontier settlement of DeSmet, in May of
1883. We
put up at a hotel and Father hired a man and team
to show him the vacant land.
Father filed on 160 acres of land and we
came to live on it seven years.
He later proved his land and got the title.
Father built a small frame house and
covered it with tar paper.
Next, he built a sod barn, and chicken
house.
The
prairie grass was very luxuriant and all over the
prairie it was up to my knees.
Lots of prairie chickens and ducks lived
near the sloughs.
The first eggs we had to eat were some
Marvilla found in a duck’s nest. She
was not setting yet so the temptation was great.
There were nests all around the sloughs.
There was not much variety in food, with
the country being new.
Father
bought a cow “Polly” and calf by her side and
one hen from James Clewett.
I called the hen Pinky, and we kept her for
many years. He
managed to buy five hens from five different
places, as nobody wanted to sell any.
Father was traveling around on foot trying
to find what he wanted.
From Mr. Boast, he got a cow we called
Dinah. We had two cows, two oxen, five chickens,
and one heifer calf that first year.
My
older brother, Bartholomew came out to
In
the spring of 1884 Father bought another yoke of
oxen to make a breaking team of four.
The first year Father hired 10 acres of sod
broke. We
grew our own potatoes, and some garden vegetables
and sweet corn in the sod.
We
used to burn twisted slough hay, and cooked and
kept warm in winter with that kind of fuel.
Later we burned “chips” or “oxoline.”
It was better than nothing and made a good
fire. Some
folks had straw burners, but we never used one.
They used to puff and fill the house with
smoke.
We
raised a nice yoke of oxen from Polly.
They were the last yoke left in the
neighborhood.
Father kept them because he liked them for
a plow team. They
were strong and steady.
But the drought dried up the water supply
so he sold them.
Duke used to work all day on the binder, as
he made the third “horse.”
They used to use three oxen before they had
horses.
Joseph
Wade with his yoke of oxen.
Oxen
were most frequently used for the hard work on the
claims. They
were stronger than horses, ate less, and could be
butchered for their meat.
Instead of lines, oxen were guided by the
driver’s commands, “gee” and “haw.”
Some oxen weighed as much as 3,500 pounds
and could be traded for a quarter section of land.
Did
You Know?
The town of
History
of Esmond
The Chicago & Northwestern Railroad
wanted a direct route to
The railroad depot wasn’t built in Esmond
until 1884. A
man by the name of Mr. Parkhurst became the first
depot agent. Ninety-five
years later, the Chicago & Northwestern
Railroad Co. abandoned the tracks.
Since the train no longer ran through
Esmond, the tracks were torn up in 1978.
The first store building was built be L.L.
Pierce in 1884.
Later, it would be the last store to close
in Esmond, in 1969.
Esmond,
1911, 2 hotels, pool hall, loan company, and
lumber yard.
Two schools were built within the township
in 1883 with four more underway.
By 1884,
School houses also served for places of
worship. The
Reverend Wheeler preached at both the Esmond and
An Old Settler’s Picnic was planned for
June 8th in 1887.
Activities included baseball games, a fox
chase, speeches, pony races, and foot races.
A thousand people participated in the Old
Settler’s Day activities, the largest group in
On
Esmond had a local baseball team consisting
of young men from the community.
They were known as the Esmond “Stars,”
and they played teams of the surrounding
communities.
At one time Esmond was home to many
businesses including a hardware store, lumber
yard, grocery store, general store, meat market,
shoe and harness repair shop, and bank.
The Equal Suffrage Club was organized in
the fall of 1895.
At that time, women were unable to vote in
elections, but wanted the right to vote.
It was another 20 years before women were
given the right to vote.
The Western Electric Telephone Company
extended their phone line from
In
1921, the Esmond girls’ basketball team and most
of the Esmond community rode the train to
Iroquois, to play against the Lady Chiefs.
A man from Iroquois refereed the first half
of the game. At
half time, Esmond declared they would not finish
the rest of the game unless they could have a
referee from Esmond finish the game.
Iroquois agreed to these terms and allowed
Ira Jeffers of Esmond to referee the second half.
Esmond won the game, 14 to 12.
It was stated that Jeffers made up the
rules as he went.
On
The Annual Esmond Community Christmas
social continues as a tradition since its
beginnings in the 1880’s.
Evening activities include a visit from
Santa, games and prizes, youth talent show on
stage, and potluck supper.
History
of Cavour
The town of
One early homesteader was Joseph Delvaux.
He brought his family by train as far as
On their journey west to their homestead
near Cavour, one of their oxen injured its leg.
This made their traveling very slow.
When they arrived at their homestead, they
butchered the oxen and sold some of the meat to
their neighbors.
Until their first home was built, they
slept on the ground under their wagon.
A sod dug-out near the bank of a creek was
built. Later
they built a wooden house.
During those first winters, Joseph and his
older sons would return to
The first post office was established in
June of 1880.
Charles Sweetser was the postmaster.
Businesses in Cavour included a hotel, drug
store, grocery store, saloon, land office,
restaurant, hardware store, lumber yard, shoe
shop, implement dealers, grain warehouse, bank,
and a doctor.
Throughout the years Cavour has had many
newspapers; The
Cavour Press, The
Cavour Independent, The
Cavour Democrat, The
Clarion
Courier, and The
Clarion Echo, the first being published for a
short time in 1882 by Thomas A. Shepherd.
A newspaper article published
The
stakes were painted black and yellow, so the road
became known as the “Black and Yellow Trail,”
extending from
The first classes of the
The wooden structure was used until 1921,
when a two-story brick building was constructed.
The last graduating class from the high
school was in 1959.
After the school district reorganized with
Yale and Iroquois, the Cavour school housed grades
K–5. The
last year classes were held in the building was
2002.
Father
Haire, a missionary priest from
A hotel, the “Cavour House.”
Local
Celebrities
Ivan Dmitre was a famous photographer (the
first to use color film) whose work has been
published in magazines such as Saturday Evening
Post and the Minneapolis Journal.
He authored the pictorial book, Flight
to Everywhere, published in 1944, which
featured many of his photographs of World War II.
He was also an accomplished etcher, whose
works were highly regarded.
As a small child, he once lived in Iroquois
while his father served as minister of the
Congregational Church.
He was born
Ivan’s mother became very ill with
tuberculosis and died in 1907 when he was still
quite young. His
father later remarried.
Mary Asadoorian is buried in the
Besides being a famous photographer, he was
also an etcher.
He received an outstanding achievement
award from the
Mrs. (Mary) Andrew J. Drake, wife of one of
the first ministers in Iroquois, wrote and
published a book in 1894, entitled Fanny’s
Autobiography.
This book tells about early life in the
Iroquois, Osceola, and Esmond communities, as told
by her horse.
Chapters include “Blizzard
Experiences,” and “Beginning of Osceola.”
Karl Kae Knecht was born in Iroquois on
Painter, Harvey Dunn, was born in 1884 and
raised on a homestead south of
He painted many battle scenes from World
War I, while he served as a captain commissioned
to use his artistic talent to portray combat in
Painter,
Harvey Dunn
Mrs. Carrie Stratton, an early musician in
Iroquois, composed the “Memorial March”
dedicated to President McKinley, and “Frolic of
the Prairie Chickens” dedicated to President
Theodore Roosevelt.
She also wrote the “Iroquois Grand
March.” These
pieces were published by L.S. Stratton, of
Iroquois.
Sigurd Anderson and his family came to
Bancroft on an immigrant train car in 1925.
At that time, Sigurd had just graduated
from school and attended South Dakota State
College (SDSU) in the fall.
After two years of college, he took a
teacher’s examination and received his teaching
certificate. He
taught at the
Sigurd Anderson became Attorney General of
South Dakota, served as
References
Bowes,
Janis Gail Hanson,
Clendening,
Marlin, Remembering
Hoevet,
Mrs. H., “History of Iroquois,” Huron
Daily Plainsman, 75th Anniversary
edition.
Jerke,
Gary Lee, A History of Bancroft.
1971.
Jones,
Mildred McEwen, Early
Jones,
Mildred McEwen, “Historical Pictures of Beadle
Co.,” 1967.
Jones,
Mildred McEwen, “Records of
Metter,
LaVonne, and Debra Kates, Cavour
Muilenburg,
Grace Waeckerle, Wallace Perry, Carol
Thompsen,
LaJoy, History of
Wheeler,
Harvey A., Letter sent to Joseph Wutsch,