Home of roving Indians until 1862. The exploring party of Nicollet, scientist, and Fremont,
‘Pathfinder of the West,’ visited Oakwood Lakes July 1838, leaving the first reliable record.
The region East of the Big Sioux was ceded by the Santee . . . — — Map (db m181268) HM
Brookings: The county seat of Brookings County was platted October 3-4, 1879, when the Northwestern Railroad reached here. Some of the early store buildings were moved overland from Fountain and Medary, which soon became ghost towns. In November . . . — — Map (db m179949) HM
A memorable landmark for South Dakota State University and the city of Brookings, the Coughlin Campanile is the state’s tallest chimes tower. It was built in 1929-30.
Described in the campus newspaper as the most striking structure in South . . . — — Map (db m147593) HM
Downtown Brookings located its commercial, public, and civic buildings in proximity to the railroad depot, creating the main street. As in many towns of that era, Brookings' main street and railroad line formed a "T" shape. The Chicago and North . . . — — Map (db m213617) HM
Created 1862; Organized 1871; Convention 1877
The County, created on paper in 1862, was organized July 3, 1871 and by 1877, there were communities at Lake Hendricks, Oakwood, Lake Village and Medary, and all had delegates to the nominating . . . — — Map (db m179959) HM
Brookings County Courthouse
The Renaissance Revival-style courthouse was built in 1911 for $100,000 to replace the original 1885 two-story $7,000 wooden courthouse. Oscar Lee, an amateur artist from Volga, South Dakota, painted . . . — — Map (db m118947) HM
The Dakota Land Company of St. Paul, hoping to make this site the capital of a proposed
Dakota Territory, started a town here, naming it for Samuel Medary, Governor of Minnesota
Territory. Towns were also begun at Flandreau and Sioux Falls, the . . . — — Map (db m179957) HM
Paul Zantow, successful McPherson County farmer, was born in Germany March 23, 1883, and emigrated to America in 1902 and settled near Leola where he purchased land in 1907. He steadily increased his holdings, farming there almost to the time of his . . . — — Map (db m148215) HM
Originally owned by Jacob Olson Dahl, who was issued a land patent for eighty acres in 1884, the land that became Pioneer Park was the home of the Brookings County Fair from 1907 until 1922. The city purchased the land for $10,000 in 1923 and for a . . . — — Map (db m213618) HM
Today, a grassland mound rises above the nature park, providing a natural setting for people to enjoy. But this has not always been a pretty sight.
In 1960, the City bought this property, a former gravel pit, for the city landfill. For the . . . — — Map (db m237169) HM
These structures were part of an installation called Tangle Town at the Children's Museum of South Dakota. Artist Patrick Dougherty worked with more than 70 volunteers over a three week period to harvest willow saplings and construct this work of . . . — — Map (db m237166) HM
Legend of the Separation of the Lakes
See the narrow waterway between two peninsulas? How do you think it was formed?
A poem written by Professor A.B. Crane offers one explanation. He tells of an American Indian chief who pledged his . . . — — Map (db m179792) HM
Oakwood, called Tetonkaha, Lakes, when visited in 1838 by Nicollet & Fremont, was site of a small Fort, N of Little Round Lake in 1857 and again occupied in 1863-64. The township was surveyed by Richard F. Pettigrew in September 1871 and James . . . — — Map (db m179799) HM
The mounds found in Oakwood Lakes are typical of numerous such mounds in eastern South Dakota. Ten mounds have been located at Oakwood lakes and have been dated about A. D. 300 to A.D. 1400. Probably the remanents of late Woodland or Middle Missouri . . . — — Map (db m179695) HM
Breastworks
Probably built by two companies of the 2nd Infantry, under command of Capt. D. Davidson, in June-July, 1859. Parapets were then about 5 ft. high. A log house once stood in the center, but was razed long ago for firewood. Cannon . . . — — Map (db m179795) HM
This log cabin stands on the original site where it was constructed in 1869 by Samuel "Ol Spot" Mortimer.
Mortimer, a shoemaker from New York, came to Dakota Territory after hearing stories of the rich fur trade in the Big Sioux Valley. In . . . — — Map (db m179782) HM
Settlers arriving in the Oakwood area in the late 1870s desired a place to worship and hold prayer meetings. Lake Oakwood proved to be an ideal location for baptisms and to pitch a tent to shelter worshippers from the weather. As time and finances . . . — — Map (db m179777) HM
Millennium ago, migrating bison herds grazed the tall grass. Ducks, geese and other birds nested in the sloughs, and fish were found in abundance in the lakes and streams in this area known as the Coteau des Prairies.
With all this . . . — — Map (db m179698) HM
C. Z. Sutton came to the Oakwood Village in 1872 and in 1878 built a home on this site. It was dug into the hill so that the back and much of the sides were dirt. The front was field rock with mortar made himself by burning local limestone. The roof . . . — — Map (db m179935) HM
Each leaf on a green ash has 5 to 9 leaflets growing on 8 to 12 inch stems. During fall and winter months, clusters of seeds remain on female ash trees. Note the seed's shape. Indians were inspired to use ash wood for canoe paddles because of the . . . — — Map (db m237244) HM
The tall shrub near this post is a buckthorn. Dark green leaves, marked by prominent veins, cling to the branches long after a frost. Clusters of black, pea-sized berries appear in fall. The berries are a favorite of many birds because they cling to . . . — — Map (db m237238) HM
The cluster of oak trees at this rest spot are representative of the trees that gave Oakwood Lakes its name. In 1870, Samuel "Spot" Mortimer, sold oak trees from his land to other settlers for building their homes. Oak logs were prized for their . . . — — Map (db m237242) HM
The Oakwood Lakes chain was formed more than 10,000 years ago when melting glaciers filled depressions scooped from the earth's surface. The eight lakes, fertile lands and native woods attracted prehistoric Indians. Burial mounds in the park are . . . — — Map (db m237234) HM
There are a number of large cottonwood trees along the west shore of the island. These shallow-rooted giants are exceptionally fast growing and require lots of water. It is one of the most common trees growing along the watercourses and lakeshores . . . — — Map (db m237247) HM
At the edge of the slough behind this post you can see the reddish stems of the dogwood. Notice the white, pea-sized berries. The inner bark of dogwood was used in a mixture with tobacco and called kinnikinnick. Indians favored this in their . . . — — Map (db m237241) HM
This cluster of shrubs is comprised of gooseberries. The plant is easily recognized by the sharp, half-inch spines on its stems. Songbirds seek out the ripe berries for food. Indians used the fruit, which ripens to a deep red in the fall, to flavor . . . — — Map (db m237239) HM
Scout Island was named for the annual Boy Scout encampment once held here. The island is now a peninsula bordered on the east and south by Tetonkaha Lake and on the west by Johnson Lake.
At the flagpole is a plaque dedicated to D.C. Mackintosh, a . . . — — Map (db m237236) HM
Originally from Holland Michigan, Hessel and Charlotte Houtman married in Brookings in 1925 and farmed in various communities in Brookings County. Prior to the formation of Oakwood Lakes State Park, the Houtman family rented this land from the 1930s . . . — — Map (db m241385) HM
Here at the southeastern tip of Scout Island, exposure to wind and waves has washed soil away from the roots of trees and shrubs. The eroded soil settles to the bottom of the lake, eventually filling it in. The same thing that happens when dirt from . . . — — Map (db m237243) HM
From this vantage point, you can see the land formations described by explorer Joseph N. Nicollet and John Fremont when they camped at Oakwood Lakes in 1838. In Nicollet's words, "Wood is less scarce here. It is on all the tongues of land which . . . — — Map (db m237248) HM
Captain DeLozier Davidson and his soldiers from Fort Randall constructed this military fort in 1859. It served as a supply post for Fort Wadsworth, now called Fort Sisseton. Soldiers manned the fort, also called a breastwork, until December 1864 . . . — — Map (db m237191) HM
You are about to enter
Brookings County
home of roving Indians until 1862. The exploring party of Nicollet, scientist, and Fremont, "Pathfinder of the West," visited Oakwood Lakes, July 1838, leaving the first reliable record.
The . . . — — Map (db m181265) HM
All early maps (1838-1879) showed the Hole-in-The-Mountain or Mountain Pass where Coteau Perce creek drained SW from Lake Benton to the Big Sioux. It is 8 miles SE. Nicollet & Fremont, first explorers, visited the "Hole" on July 6, 1838 and . . . — — Map (db m177443) HM
Created with its Twin North Dakota, 2 November 1889. Its 77,047 square miles ranks 15th in size. Those square miles include: exceptional corn land in the SE, grass land in the W, wheat land in the N and productive land all over. Its lowest . . . — — Map (db m179809) HM
The region between Lake Poinsett and Oakwood Lakes was a summer hunting area for the Sioux for over one hundred years. The Sioux who frequented the area used various names for the different features in this area.
* Oakwood Lakes was . . . — — Map (db m238363) HM
The Lake Campbell Lutheran Church was originally the Medary Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Congregation, Brookings County, Dakota Territory. The congregation was organized June 13, 1870 at the John Thompson home in Sverdrup Township Minnehaha . . . — — Map (db m179962) HM
Oakwood Lakes, called by the Sioux, Te-tonka-ha, meaning the place of the Great Summer Lodge, lie in a scenic state park 7 miles N and 3 W. First visitors of record were Nicollet & Fremont. July 8, 1838.
During the Indian Disturbances of . . . — — Map (db m179802) HM
Lake Hendricks Norwegian Colony of 1873
The first settlers at Lake Hendricks were 31 Norwegians, arriving July 14, 1873, with 11 covered wagons and 30 cattle. On May 14, 1873 they left Houston County, Minn., and Allamakee and Winneshiek . . . — — Map (db m179811) HM
Lake Hendricks State Park
This lake was named for Thomas A. Hendricks (1819-1885), Commissioner of the General Land Office, 1855-59, at which time the state boundary was surveyed and the lake named. Hendricks was a Member of Congress, 1851-55; . . . — — Map (db m184234) HM
