Banning's Mill and Crossing

Banning's Mill and Crossing. . Banning's Crossing takes its name from brothers Abraham, Richard and David Banning who settled near here on the east side of the Big Sioux River in 1876. The next year Abraham and David built a grist mill to grind locally grown wheat into flour. The mill was swept away and deposited in ruins four miles downstream in the historic flood of 1881. It was rebuilt and used as late as 1892. In its time, the mill was a landmark and a gathering place for settlers, including many who came for the excellent fishing at the dam and mill pond., In the summer of 1887, a group of men fishing near there reported a strange log-like creature on the surface of the river. Named by the Sioux Falls Press the "Sioux Sea Serpent," the creature was described as a "monster snake" about 20 feet long and a foot thick. Swimming upstream, it disappeared into the depths and was never seen again., The stage trail and wagon road from LeMars and Sibley, Iowa, to Sioux Falls crossed the Big Sioux River near the mill site. Because of the crossing's location near the flour mill, it became known as "Banning's Crossing." A primitive ferry operated a few rods to the north. Occasionally horses hitched to a wagon became alarmed when the ferry reached the opposite river bank. The frightened animals refused to walk off the ferry and instead backed up and rolled the wagon into the water with its goods and passengers. An elderly local farm woman, Emarine Wright, was spilled from the ferry in this manner. Luckily, her "Mother Hubbard" dress ballooned up around her and she floated to safety!, In 1884, the first of a least three ill-fated bridges was built at Banning's Crossing. Controversy dogged this simple, wooden bridge from the moment of its construction. The township board declared that it was so weak that a "strong wind could wreck it." A March 1887 ice gorge smashed the bridge into the river. Another bridge was built in 1895. It was so unstable that a county commissioner posted a warning sign to protect the county from possible liability should the bridge fail. It was washed away in the great thaw in the spring of 1897. The last bridge was constructed in 1899 by using materials salvaged from the 1895 bridge. A few years later, the bridge collapsed from the weight of a herd of cattle being driven across it., The approaches on both banks and the old bridge piers in the river are still visible east of this marker, standing in silence. They may be waiting for the building of another bridge at Banning's Crossing.