The Dakota Boom & the End of an Era

The Dakota Boom and the End of an Era. . "The closure of Fort Randall followed closely the passing of the frontier as officially pronounced by the national census of 1890.... The days of the Missouri River posts were gone." , , historian Jerome A. Greene, Fort Randall on the Missouri, 1856–1892, Fort Randall once was an isolated fort on the edge of the frontier. By the time North and South Dakota became states in 1889, it was an interior post surrounded by settlements. The fort had outlived its usefulness., In the 1870s, the Black Hills Gold Rush and arrival of the railroads led to the Great Dakota Boom, a time when the European-American population increased dramatically. The railroads also made the string of forts surrounding the former Sioux lands unnecessary because troops and supplies could now be moved quickly throughout the West., Fort Randall was officially abandoned in 1892. In 1895, the fort's buildings were sold at auction, and most were dismantled or moved to other locations. The last company to leave the post was composed entirely of Native Americans commanded by two white officers., Caption: , The last military formation at Fort Randall in 1892.