Keya Paha

Keya Paha County, organized at a special election January 20, 1885, was created from that part of Brown County lying north of the Niobrara River. Its name comes from “Ke’-ya Pa-ha’ Wakpi” or “Turtle Hill River,” the Lakota Indian designation for the stream that crosses the northeastern part of the county. Bounded on the north by South Dakota and by the Niobrara River on the south, the county encompasses some 492,000 acres. , Norden, Meadville, Springview, Riverview, Burton, Pinecamp, Carns, Mills, Brocksburg, Jamison, and Simpson were early settlements. In May 1885, Springview was chosen the county seat. During the 1880s and 1890s outlaws like “Kid” Wade and “Doc” Middleton knew the region well. Lawlessness confronted by vigilante justice wove a thread of romance and tragedy through the county’s early history. Some called Keya Paha “Mob County” during those turbulent years. , County population peaked at 3,920 in1890, and it was estimated at 1100 in 1985. More than forty schools and thirty post offices once existed in the county. By the centennial year, nine schools remained along with post offices at Mills and Springview.