South Dakota State College - Jack Rabbit Yearbook (Brookings, SD)

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MEMORIAL CANNON

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X -n--H2-:sit-ly , ' f , STOCK JUDGING PAVILION N

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SZSBSBSYQQESBSBSPSPSIZEIZSIZSPSE Ihr Stair nf Svnuth Eaknia fliihiliflifiiiliflifliiiiiikilkiii? GA11. H .ARoLnsoN The History of South Dakota begins with the story told by the rocks near the head waters of the VVhite River in the Bad Lands. An immense sea swept over South Dakota, beating upon the hills and carrying away the soil to lower places. The sea receded from the hills. Snails and other lowly animals of that age were superseded by a race of monstrous reptiles that lived in the tropical swamps. Then for many ages immense animals roamed through the landg the titan- otheres, the brontotheres and other species much larger than any present living animal. The ice sheet pushed its way into this part of the country, and began to melt away at the line now held by the Mis- souri River. The ice changed the sur- face of the land, destroyed the great animals, and left new conditions of drainage, soil and climate. The first arrival of human beings in South Dakota is unknown. The Indians, however, certainly were very early inhabitants, if they were not the first. The Indian mounds found in nearly every portion of South Dakota are proofs of an ancient civilization. The Arickara, or Ree, Indians lived in unusual comfort in thickly settled communities along the lVIissouri River. The Omahas held the lower Sioux Val- ley and a band of Kiowas lived in the Black Hills region. Before 1750 the Sioux Indians, or Dakota Indians, living in lVIinnesota, learned of the large herds of buffalo that lived on the South Dakota prairies. They began the invasion of the Dakota territory, drove out the former occu- pants, and gained control of almost all of South Dakota. Before the end of the eighteenth century the Sioux had become the rulers of the lands of South Dakota. Charles Pierre Le Seuer, an enter- prising fur trader, made many explora- tions in the country about South Da- kota. Some white men of his party vis- ited the Sioux river at Sioux Falls in the winter of 1699-1700. They came from Fort L 'I-Iuillier, .now lVIankato, lVIinnesota, to trade for furs on the River both at Sioux Falls and at Flandreau. A Canadian Explorer, Verendrye, on returning from the discovery of the Rocky Mountains in 1743, reached the lVIissouri River at some point near the center of the state He planted a lead plate inscribed with the arms of France. The people of Pierre have always