The Southeast South Dakota Experiment Farm was organized on April 5th 1956, for the purpose of conducting a research demonstration farm in Southeast South Dakota. It was through the efforts of the Norgren family, farmers, and other interested people . . . — — Map (db m182240) HM
The town that became Burbank began its life in Union County under the name Liberty. In 1873, the town was moved to a new plat on its present location and renamed for territorial governor John A. Burbank. Non-Indians had resided in the Burbank area . . . — — Map (db m221306) HM
On November 25, 1935, 17 farmers from Clay and Union counties held an historic meeting at the Manning/O'Connor store in Burbank, three miles south of this spot. Their purpose was to form a consumer-owned corporation which would allow the rural . . . — — Map (db m221237) HM
Dalesburg School
The Dalesburg School was located one-half mile south of the village site on land donated by Andrew and Lina Berg in 1872. Classes were held in the Berg home until the schoolhouse was built in 1874. A second building was . . . — — Map (db m221138) HM
far left:
WWI
McFarland, Carl H. ·
Olsen, Oscar ·
Morman, Henry C.
WWII
Hansen, Duane A. ·
Logan, Leo ·
Oien, Orvin C.
Korean War
Jensen, Roger R. ·
Larsen, Ronald R. ·
Eide, Mervin
Vietnam War
Gerry, . . . — — Map (db m222204) WM
Meckling, like so many small American towns, was built by progress, and it was progress that slowly took the town away. The town was named for railroad grading contractor Jonas S. Meckling, who helped to build the Dakota Southern Railway through the . . . — — Map (db m179346) HM
Named for a grading contractor on the Dakota Southern Railway, built in 1872. George W. Gilbert became the first postmaster on 29 April 1873. Prior to that Lincoln Post Office, Charles M. Taylor, Postmaster, 27 July 1864 was nearby to the south. In . . . — — Map (db m179347) HM
August Bruyer, his wife, Josephine (Simon) and their sons, John and Julius, were born in France, coming to America about the middle of the nineteenth century. By 1858, they had settled in Fairview Township, 4 miles east of what was to be Vermillion. . . . — — Map (db m179897) HM
(USD '40)
World War II
Olson, of the U.S. Army Infantry, exhibited extraordinary and repeated personal heroism in the 1943 Italian campaign. After leading his troops in multiple engagements with German forces, he was fatally wounded and . . . — — Map (db m221359) HM WM
(USD '39)
World War II
Foss was a U.S. Marine pilot in the Pacific who shot down 23 enemy aircraft and returned home to be elected governor of South Dakota. He was the first commissioner of the American Football League, was president of . . . — — Map (db m221360) HM WM
Dedicated in memory of all who have served and to those who gave their lives in the service of our country in World Wars I & II
Clay County
South Dakota
Rededicated July 4, 1976 our nation's 200th birthday in honor of the Clay County . . . — — Map (db m221604) WM
(USD '49) Vietnam War, Korean War, WWII
A U.S. Air Force pilot captured by enemy forces in 1967, Day was recaptured after escaping and was finally repatriated at the end of the war after years of torture and deprivation in prison. Day is one . . . — — Map (db m221357) HM WM
The Missouri River flowed beneath the bluff when Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led the Corps of Discovery on their epic journey. The mouth of the White Stone River was then near this site at Cotton Park. Now known as the Vermillion River, its . . . — — Map (db m179205) HM
Vermillion's downtown district moved from below the bluff after the 1881 flood destroyed the original town, forcing development on higher ground. The new business district was located on the north side of Vine (Main) Street. Some of the pre-flood . . . — — Map (db m221597) HM
On November 25, 1935, 17 farmers from Clay and Union counties held an historic meeting at the Manning/O'Connor store in Burbank, three miles south of this spot. Their purpose was to form a consumer-owned corporation which would allow the rural . . . — — Map (db m179899) HM
Change came slowly to Spirit Mound after 1804. For 55 years the area remained the land of the Yankton Sioux, with fur traders conducting business from posts on the Missouri. The tallgrass prairie continued to thrive as it had for thousands of years . . . — — Map (db m194632) HM
Andrew E. Lee was born near Bergen, Norway, on March 18, 1847. When Lee was four, he and his family moved to Wisconsin. After receiving a general school education, Lee arrived in Vermillion, Dakota Territory, in 1867.
Lee and Charles E. . . . — — Map (db m221599) HM
This stone marks the place where, on the twenty first day of July A.D. 1875, A.L. 5875, the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Dakota, was constituted and the officers installed.
Grand Officers
Thos. H. . . . — — Map (db m179206) HM
Lewis and Clark
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, officially the Corps of Discovery, was in what is now South Dakota from August 21 to October 14, 1804 and from August 21 to September 4, 1806.
While here they would make numerous . . . — — Map (db m187536) HM
On the hot day of August 25, 1804, captains Lewis and Clark and several of their men walked from the river to explore Spirit Mound. They had heard that little people with deadly arrows inhabited the mound. Although they did not find little people, . . . — — Map (db m194633) HM
The Missouri National Recreational River preserves two splendid segments of the free-flowing, once unpredictable "Big Muddy." These natural-appearing reaches are reminiscent of the river as reported in the journal pages of captains Lewis and Clark . . . — — Map (db m194634) HM
The confluence of the Missouri and Vermillion rivers provided an ideal location for camping, farming, and settling for generations. Yankton Sioux camped below the bluffs in the winter for protection from the harsh winds and moved to the bluffs in . . . — — Map (db m179288) HM
Early Vermillion settlers built their homes and businesses below the bluff. The town was susceptible to flooding from the Missouri River, which at that time ran next to the bluff.
The winter of 1880 started early and did not subside until an . . . — — Map (db m179289) HM
Vermillion's third city park was created in 1923 when Charles E. Prentis donated ten acres of land for that purpose in memory of his late wife. The land was originally part of the A. A. Carpenter homestead, including an apple orchard and nursery, . . . — — Map (db m179293) HM
This trail leads to the summit of Spirit Mound, a sacred site for several Plains Indian tribes. Some tribal members make pilgrimages to Spirit Mound, say prayers on top, and leave offerings. As you approach and walk to the top, please do so . . . — — Map (db m39700) HM
The First Baptist Church
Was built in 1889 and 1925.
The Congregation, organized in
1868, is one of the oldest in
South Dakota. The Church
houses a historic Tracker
Pipe Organ.
Has been placed on the
NATIONAL REGISTER . . . — — Map (db m135986) HM
The University of South Dakota (USD) was Dakota Territory's first university. Proposed during the 1862 legislative assembly, it was originally called the University of Dakota.
Governor Jayne signed the bill in April 1862, but details were not . . . — — Map (db m221453) HM
After heavy precipitation in the spring of 1984 averaged between 250 to 300 percent of normal, river levels were higher than normal and the ground was heavily saturated. Record (at the time) rainfall in June caused widespread flooding on the James, . . . — — Map (db m177315) HM
Vermillion
August 24, 1804, Lewis & Clark camped near the White Stone (Vermillion) River and next day visited Spirit Mound 8 miles north. The military road, Sioux City - Ft. Randall after 1855 provided access, as did steamboats. A. C. Van Meter . . . — — Map (db m179392) HM
Doc Farber devoted his life to teaching, challenging his students, and improving government at the local, state, national and international levels. Born and raised in Illinois, he came to USD in 1935, served as Chairman of the Department of . . . — — Map (db m221361) HM
Lat 42° 46' 23.0" N
Long 96° 55' 51.0" W
From here the Water Trail follows five miles of the Vermillion River to its confluence with the Missouri River near River Mile 772, then continues down the Missouri nine miles to . . . — — Map (db m221312) HM
The once thriving community of Dalesburg, a mile and a half north, is now deserted. Created in 1869 and named Dahlsborg for immigrants from Sweden's Dalarna Province, Dalesburg was formally founded in 1892. In its heyday, Dalesburg boasted a . . . — — Map (db m221214) HM
On Midsummer Day, June 24, 1925, William Inberg and Arvid Johnson opened the newly built gas station and repair-business Hub City Garage. The name Hub City was suggested on opening day because the site is equidistant from the surrounding towns. In . . . — — Map (db m221219) HM
Spirit Mound was a sacred place to area tribes long before the first settlers arrived here from the east. To the Yankton Sioux, Omaha, Otoes, and other tribes, this was the "mountain of little people."
Indians believed it was "bad medicine" . . . — — Map (db m222055) HM
In 1921 the local DAR chapter had this boulder set atop Spirit Mound with a bronze plaque marking the Lewis & Clark site for posterity. Virgil McDonald, a resident of the farmhouse that stood on the northeastern slope, hauled the two ton monument . . . — — Map (db m222054) HM
When William Clark climbed this "conical hill" in 1804, he concluded, correctly, that it was a natural form, not a human-created mound. Its central core is a bedrock of Niobrara chalk that the continental ice sheet did not erode away. The . . . — — Map (db m222056) HM
On August 25, 1804, several members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition left the river "to visit a High Hill...Supposed to be a place of Deavels...with remarkable large heads...[that] kill all persons who...attemp to approach the . . . — — Map (db m222050) HM
This spot was visited in 1804
by members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
Placed by Paha Wakan Chapter
Daughters of the American Revolution
1921
Restored by the National Park Service, 2003 — — Map (db m222053) HM
The NE 1/4 Sect. 33-95-53 was homesteaded by James R. Madara in 1873. Townsite of Wakonda was acquired by Western Town Lot Company in 1885. In 1902 school district #28, Clay County purchased lots 13 and 14, block 4 to erect a school.
The school . . . — — Map (db m222170) HM
In 1883, the Congregational Church of Star Corner was organized in the James Montgomery home located near the intersection of 456 Avenue and 301 Street, northeast of Wakonda. With the coming of the railroad in 1884, they moved to Wakonda serving . . . — — Map (db m222171) HM
This memorial is dedicated to the men and women of the armed forces who performed their patriotic duty so we can enjoy the freedoms of democracy
Dedicated Memorial Day, 1995 by Wakonda Community
left:
Aaen Edward WW II ·
Abild . . . — — Map (db m222164) WM
