Forestburg Roadside Park

Forestburg Roadside Park. Along the Old Dacotah Trail. Long before the white man, an Indian Trail from the sanctuary at Pipestone Quarry to the "Three Rivers of the Sioux" near Ft. Thompson passed closely by. The whiteman's first road in Dakota, the Ft. Ridgely and South Pass Wagon Road, forded the James 7 miles north in 1857. The rock ford and a monument mark the site. December 1862 the "March to Moscow" relief expedition from Minnesota to Ft Thompson passed by "Mazeppa Hill" 2 ½ miles NE, now called Big Mound. In 1865 the "Big Cheyenne Wagon Road," Minnesota to Montana crossed the James at Big Mound. In 1873, first settlers George Walker, W.M. Tait, G.W. Hunter filed a few miles downstream and in 1874 W.G. Santee, Cyrus Ingram, and W.R. Belcher arrived; with Ingram and Belcher families staging 4th of July celebration to delight of Indians, on Big Mound. Santee became postmaster at Forestburg 5 November 1875, the "furtherest North" in James Valley for 4 years. This area, first in a gigantic Buffalo County in 1864, was in a larger Hanson in 1870; then in a long narrow Bramble in 1873 and a Big Miner in 1879. Forestburg was county seat December 2, 1880 until after the election of 1882 when Howard won and stole the records from a reluctant Forestburg. In 1883 a bill creating Brisbine was introduced but wind of possible gubernatorial displeasure caused a change to Sanborn, a railway official and it was so enacted and there were two sets of County Commissioners, at Forrestburg and at Letcher, until in the 1884 election Woonsocket won and settled the dispute. First train reached Forestburg on November 12, 1883 but the railroad had pushed north to Letcher in fall of 1882. . This historical marker was erected in 1958 by Tom M. Brisbine, Woonsocket and State Highway Commission. It is Near Forestburg in Sanborn County South Dakota