CHAPTER II.

DAKOTA TERRITORY

The territory of Dakota, with the exception of the portion drained by the Red river of the North and Meuse river, was a part of the Louisiana Territory, acquired by the United States from France, by purchase, in 1803. The American envoys who consummated the treaty for this territory with France were: Robert R. Livingston, minister to France, James Monroe, special ambassador to France. The date of this treaty was April 30, 1803. The papers arrived in Washington, D. C. July 14, 1803 and October 17, following, congress was convened and after much discussion and contention as to the constitutional authority of congress to annex foreign territory to the Union, the treaty was ratified.

In a special message transmitted to congress a few months before the Louisiana treaty with France was made, President Jefferson pointed out the advantage to be gained through an exploration of the new territory. He saw the wonderful possibilities for opening large fur trading posts along the Missouri river. He advised that congress should appropriate twenty-five hundred dollars for this purpose. This advise was followed and the president immediately made the choice of Captain Meriwether Lewis to command the expedition, basing his action and confidence on his intimate personal acquaintance with man and officer. Captain Lewis selected as his associate in the enterpise, William Clark, a lieutenant in the army and a younger brother of Gen. George Roger Clark, conspicuous in the continental army during the revolution. Lieutenant Clark received a commission as captain. The plans for the exploration of Louisiana contemplated a voyage up the Missouri river, which was to be explored to its source, thence to cross the mountains and go on by any practical route to the Pacific. Information was to be gathered regarding the character of the country, its inhabitants, rivers, soils, climate, geography, woods and animals.

Captain Lewis left Washington July 5, 1803, and proceeded to Pittsburgh, thence by the Ohio and Mississippi to St. Louis. The soldiers for the expedition were taken from military posts on the Ohio. At Louisville, Kentucky, he was joined by Captain William Clark, his associate, and they proceeded to St. Louis, where they arrived in December. :ere the expedition was organized with as little delay as possible, intending to ascend the Missouri to the highest practicable point they could reach before the channel closed and there establish winter quarters. But the Spanish commander of the province, not having received an official account of the transfer to the United States, was obliged by the general policy of his government to forbid the passage of the expedition through Spanish territory. The expediion then encamped at the mouth of the Wood River on the Eastern bank of the Mississippi and opposite the mouth of the Missouri, where winter passed in instructing the men and preparing for the journey. Including the leaders, the party was made up of nine young Kentuckians enlisted for the expedition, fourteen soldiers of the regular army, who had volunteered, two French boatmen, an interpreter and hunter, and a black servant belonging to Captain Clark, named York.

The expedition entered the mouth of the Missouri on the 14th day of May, 1804.

The expedition made its entrance into the great Dakota Territory August 21, 1804. They neared what is now Yankton on the 27th day of August and here held a grand council with the Yankton Sioux Indians. This was the first council to be held between the representatives of the United States and the inhabitants of this territory, and the first occasion when the Stars and Stripes, our national emblem, was displayed as a token of sovereignty upon the soil of Dakota. Captain Lewis was particularly impressed with the frank demeanor and disingenuous manners of the savages, and he seems to have been greatly gratified at meeting with such courtesies as they, in their primitive etiquette, extended him and his crew. Their conical tepees were a subject of close investigation and greatly admired. These were made of dressed buffalo and elk skin, painted or stained white and crimson, presenting a most pleasing and fanciful appearance. Inside, the principal ones were partially carpeted with robes, and an occasional beaver and fox skin could be seen. Probably the Indians had designed to make their appearance and display a regal order, and were not exhibiting to the white people their ordinary domestic life or every day apparel, which, however, only serves to prove that they possessed a certain barbaric culture that we look for almost in vain amongst our American Indians after a century's intercourse with white people.

The council was the occasion for the distribution of many medals and presents to the chiefs and braves who were in attendance and they were given to understand that these gifts were from the great father at Washington, who though he could not be present in person, was with them in these gifts and wished to assure them that the welfare of his Indian children was a matter in which he felt the warmest interest. Some of these Jeffersonian medals were in possession of the Yankton Indians more than a century later.

The first battle between the United States troops and the Indians to occur on what is now Dakota soil, took place on the 10th of August, 1823, near the mouth of the Grand River, which empties into the Missouri from the West near Wakefield, Carson county, near the state boundary. In this battle the United States troops were commanded by Colonel Henry Leavenworth, of the Fifth United States Infantry.

Prior to the Louisiana purchase the French and English had been engaging in fur trade with the Indians along the Missouri. When the United States gained control of this territory these traders were anxious to prejudice the minds of the Indians against the young republic.

In 1808 John Jacob Astor, who had come from Germany and become interested in fur trading, procured a charter incorporating the American Fur Company with a capital of a million dollars, practically all furnished by himself. Mr. Astor was a citizen of splendid repute and a man very careful in all business undertaking, so secured the favor of the president and congress, who extended to him every privilege that could be consistently given in support of a private enterprise. The Astor, Choteau and other trading companies soon established many trading posts and successfully competed against the foreign companies. Some of these posts later became the seat of federal forts and settlements.

Fur traders soon discovered that the red men were fond of liquor and were willing to pay in barter any price the trader would ask for it. Unscrupulous traders used it to great extent in order to drive a good bargain. This criminal and general use of intoxicants became so serious that congress in 1832 enacted a law prohibiting the carrying of liquors into the Indian countries.

In June, 1855, the United States government purchased Fort Pierre, together with the buildings within and around and the lumber and material, as well as an island in the vicinity for $45,000. The first soldiers to man a military post in Dakota Territory, reached the fort July 7, 1855.

In 1858 Minnesota was admitted to the Union. This left Dakota with practically no protection and government, so the few settlers who had come in were anxious for the creation and organization of Dakota Territory. In this same year, however, on the 19th day of April, the Yankton treaty was consummated. It was ratified by congress February 17, 1859.

On the 14th day of February, 1861, Senator Green from the committee on territories, reported a bill, "To provide a temporary government for the Territory of Dakota and to create the office of surveyor therein," which passed the senate the 26th of the same month, passed the house, March 1st and received the approval of President Buchanan, March 2nd, less than forty-eight hours before his term as President expired. In the following month President Lincoln appointed Dr. William Jayne, Governor, Springfield, Ill. On the 6th day of June the Weekly Dakotian was issued at Yankton by the Dakota Printing Company. This was the first newspaper published in the Territory of Dakota after the passage of the organic act.

Regarding the name Dakota much has been said and written and most of this is conjecture. It was the name of the nation composed of the six, originally seven tribes, which inhabited the larger portion of the territory when it was first discovered by the whites. The contention lies in the origin of the name, be it French or aboriginal. It seems wise to quote one who served among the Indians for many years as a missionary and is considered one if the best living authorities.

Open Letter.

Dakota and Lakota.—A few months ago you noticed the sapient suggestion of Charles S. Mann of Pennsylvania, that the name Dakota is a corruption of the French le Coteau and was in some curious way introduced among the Dakota Indians by the first traders and missionaries. Not to say anything of the absurdity of supposing that an Indian people could ever adopt a to them meaningless word from a strange language and accept it as their national name, there is scarcely a word that could be named that is more definitely Indian. Everyone who has met a Sioux or Dakota Indian knows the word Koda, which means ones special friend, a sort of David and Jonathan relationship.

Of course, as a polite salutation the word carries a lighter meaning, but this is its real significance. Such term as this goes back to the earliest history of the language of the Dakotas;, it stands along side of the term for family relationship. For this very reason we cannot trace definitely every phase of the formation of Dakota from Koda but there are certain combinations that show this derivation to be the fact. Thus the word ta-koda-kee means "his friend" the affixes "ta and "kee" being both possessive forms. Remembering that "t and "d" are interchangeable, wherever euphony demands it, we see that "takoda" is very near to Dakota.

Then there is the word o-dakota, which though not in present use in this simple form, is used every day in combination. This means to league together, to make a friendship league. Here we strike the root meaning of our word Dakota, which from time immemorial has been the national name of the people whom foreigners named the Sioux.

As to Lakota, that is simply the dialectic change of the Titon Dakotas, with whom "d" changes to "1". Mr. Chamberlain, in the November South Dakotian, makes the funny mistake of getting this his point crisscross. If ever the Sisitonwans and Titonwans were at enmity it would have been the Titonwans who said Lakota and not the Sisitonwans.

A. L. Riggs, Santee Agency, Neb. According to the census of 1860, the Territory of Dakota contained a population of 2376 and of this number the Pembina country contained considerable more than half but the Pembina population had a much greater proportion of mixed bloods. The white population in 1861 was 1054 males, 362 females. On July 30th of this year Governor Jayne issued the first proclamation, which called only for a delegate to congress and members of the legislative assembly.

In 1862 the first legislative assembly met at Yankton and after a good deal of contention the seat of Territorial government was temporarily located at Yankton; the bill approved by Governor Jayne, April 8. This assembly enacted a body of good laws and had defined the boundaries of counties: Yankton, Clay, Cole (now Union), Bon Homme, Charles Mix, Brughier (now Buffalo), Jayne, Hutchinson, Lincoln, Minnehaha, Brookings, Deuel, Todd, Gregory, Cheyenne, Stevens, Chippewa and Kittson.

Territorial Governors.—William Jayne, 1861-63; Newton Edmunds, 1863-66; Andrew J. Faulk, 1866-69; John A. Burbank, 1869-74; John J. Pennington, 1874-78; William A. Howard, 1878-80; N. G. Ordway, 1880-84; Gilbert A. Pierce, 1884-87; Louis K. Church, 1887-89 and Arthur C. Mellette, 1889.