D
THE OMAITA SUNDAY REE: JULY 5, 190S.
Corner Stone Laid at Pierre Ends Fight for Capital in South Dakota
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Vir
kfERRE, 8. D., Julr . Sp!il
Correspondence. ) The layln of
the oorncritone of the new
capltol In thli city last week
mark" an end to a Btruggle of
a Quarter of a century on the
IHrt i f the people of Pierre to aecure the
local! n of the permanent capital
of South Dakota In the center
of the aate. It U the fruition
of nnpea and struggle, into which the
earlier resident! of the city would never
have plunged had they been able to look
ahead and see all which It would mean
In the way of expense and effort. But with
the task once taken up, there baa been no
Idea of stopping- on the part of any of those
engaged In the work, and while It has been
a costly "whistle" which the city has paid
for, they now feel that they have secured
It, In fact, for all It la worth to any town
at which a state capltol Is located. From
the very founding of Pierre, the capital
aspiration was one of the tenets of its
builders. The earliest papers teemed wtth
the possibilities In that direction based on
location and future development of the
territory of Dakota.
With the capital of the territory located
at Yankton, when the population of a hand-
ful of settlers along- the eastern and south-
rn borders of the territory. It remained
untll the boom days of the early "eighties"
when a new population poured Into the
territory on an Immigration wave built on
the construction of now Unoa of railroad
built ahead of aetUeraaat and on faith In
future development. As tbo population be
gun to spread northward and westward,
there cams a demand for a ohanro to a
This bill begun to make headway, when
ll.w vim
on that measure
ot the Huron
-.-
Urest. got togethw on tho idea of a com-
mission to select a site, and their com-
blned strength sucoeoded In tho enactment
of a law to that effect, th. commission to
bo named by the governor. In this move
the Pierre people thought th.y saw an .le-
meat of strength for themselves from th.
fact that George Ordway, son of th. gov-
ornor was heavily Interested In th. town,
and with him the governor himself held In-
terests.
$ i
Whoa BUmwsk Worn.
When the commission was appointed It
consisted of nine members, six from th.
southern half of th territory, and three
selected being Oeorge A. Matthews, of
Brooklyn; C. 11. Meyers, of Redfleld; H. H.
Del.ong, of Canton; John P. Belden, ot
Deadwood; M. D. Thompson, ot Vermillion;
Alex Hughes, of Elk Point. This was the
list from th. southern half of the territory,
while those from the northern halt were
jth.-viii, u. ' w"-
Inf. of Fargo and Dr. Scott ot Grand Forks.
Under the law th. commlsion was to or-
ganlse at Yankton, but for som. reason
bst know to the commission, they did not
car. to visit th. ancient capital. Th.y met
at Sioux City, and agreed upon th. organ-
--.-ii- Vv
iPj
location more central both as to population " .,",., " .,;,,. . ., ' , ment company by a number of business another In 1886; and again In 1S97. two people had to be entertained, ana sent m feet , the wings. To the top of tho
and territory, and In the session ot the V . .J-Thio.I i , t", , , entered th I1,u- men In the southern part of the state. e"rts were made. In which bills passed home feeling satisfied, and the population tower ,t wlll be 1C4 fpet from the fount.
territorial legislature of 188S a IU was In- f .k! i W ' V attention was paid to this They sold stock all over the state and then both houses at different times, but the of the town was organized Into a reception tlon iub.basement Is walled with
troduced for the removal of tho territorial ?'Z thll ArV t u!t. elef'n tn many PU of the territory and went t0 the dlfferent towng agk, f same bill did not get through both houses, committee, with every house admitting KranIU bouljer(Ji and th9 Da8ement story
capital from Tankton to Huron. m. .n,, li. innCI .. w! VU WM CMt Hur WO ,n tha bonuses to select that place as the one The "esslon of 1S09 was 1Iowe1 t0 wlth" wh0 were "1 from cenlra is constructed of a comblnaUon of rain-
r-Aft'erVo praTuc d-th " ' ? -UUIk bill w- h M ""T down early ui the session. and then of th. nlght or day. each of which wa, met
bill, on suggestion of Tarrl- check required before any town would " 'Z ..".i"... " ,n"r . having the capital location. After canvas,,. Mitchell took up the fight, and was do- by men with megaphone. ,n.tr .ni.
rMw h ntnin in. . t . .. .., imu uitu major- lnir tho rirnru,i,i. ,..,. . ., , leatea in me nouse siier practically an traveler, wnere m nu m -
,w w,. k.if th. .,nh.m Pierre wanted the canital and "wanted it ,c"u l" "rst ngni ror per- it. . u..t.
people H b.lUv bad" and did not let mattm, rest with the capital should b. submitted, the hoU8e. lltor'a ,,. reg.Tar .esT.n In il 0 th". hU , "n,lt ,n ,m" harmonious part of a whole building, me
people all believed that tney nao in. Dest session of the ter- town 'ecurlng the majority of the votes to . ,hl iw I , "K",ar "'hlon ln Jan- to be passed on Friday, January 13. n a governor, auditor, secretary of slate, and
of It. and wherever th. capital might be a,"n: J ,h! witlon M be the "permanent capital" of the state 7, h"J mada KOod Pr"'lse y-nr which had thirteen for its numerals. ,tate Iand commissioner, were to omprlao
located It would be In th.. southern half ritorial leglsUr. at th. new locaUon n Krw'nt eont .t, reCtPd bU"dinS 'r the h"""', The thirteen followed by Plcrr receiving JnV commlrt 1. to look after the c.n.truc-
of th. territory. And with th. Int.re.U of J V-f- o o th . clt y wen t to djap over capital 'ocaUon continued 0 he lt now bplI1(f inain ( th)rtepn Mitrh(n M - TlieaP oftlcla, atter
the Ordway family at this city. Plerr. felt jh ge",a"v P Vr cWJtton. of the prmirnt fll(, capto (o wh,(.h a w receiving thlr- ;'."?, t tie T capital, of several states.
rrxzi . T.t b,rroua.nh "':c:r A - rjeVttached " sta,e e tw r r? . ;,ufr roun,y-, wh,ch u.rthat,hezrng.which bee
Wltn .UCn lniereSIS ir View. 111. USl TTni4. th. n.nu nn. ll.i. ,i 1 V nrr, la InratMt at t h . .am. l.r.1nn i . - ii .
Ixation. and boarded a train which would ln whatever they might want In that dlree
take them through Yankton, and as soon tlon In th8 a,on of 1S87 v?. 8. Wells of
as the city limits wer. reached organised prre took up the work on a removal bill
as the train was being pulled rapidly and succeeded in getting a bill for. removal
through, selecting Hughes as chairman and to Plerr. through both houses, only to
Ralph Wheelock. a Mitchell newspaper have lt blocked by a veto vj the pirt cf
man now a resident of Minneapolis, as the governor, who had promised to keep
secretary. The train proceeded on north hands off. It was called up for action re
train Yankton, making It. first atop at gardless of the veto and mustered enough
Caulon, which was the nearest aspirant for strength ln th. assembly, or lower house,
t th. honor, under th. provisions ot the law. to carry lt over the veto. It then went t
Ttw list of candidates and the offei. they th. senate, with the removallsta hopeful
presented to th. state wer. as follows; and Jubilant, but when lt came to the test
Aberdeen, 1H.0ia and 160 aorea of land; vote It failed of the required two-thirds by
Bismarck. lluO.000 and CO acres of lands one vote, th. member of the council from
Canton, $iu0,uu and 10 acres of land; Clay county changing his vet. to sustain
Frankfort. IIOO.OUO and 180 acres of land; th. veto, after having Toted for th. orig
Huron, lioo.ou) and 160 acres of land; Inal removal bill. Atter tho vot. had been
Mitchell, tieu.OUO and ISO acres of land; taken and dlsousslon was no longer In
Pierre. tlOO.uOO and 100 acre, of land; Ord- order, Frank Pettlgrew of Sioux Falls, a
way. HUO.iAO and a0 acres Of land; Odessa, member of th. council for the session,
(.Ho.OOO and 160 acres ot land; Redfleld. arose and delivered a scoring to th. South
UJO.OOu and 19) acres of land: Steele. (100.. 0
and 1) acres of land.
These bids were opened and the oommls-
slon started out to view th. different io-
cations offered to them. Its trip was one
"grand round ot pleasure." each town vie-
Ing ith th. others la Its attempt to lm-
press th. membar. moat favorably. After
putting In several weeks of travel and
stopping to pay a visit at each town. th.
commission finally rounded np at Orand
Forks and begun U hal lot. Canton, Pierre,
RedfUld and Bismarck wer. th. town.
which received vote, on tho first ballots,
with th. three Dakota member, standing
by Bismarck on eve ballot. Finally B-
den. wh. bad bs votg fr Plerra,
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... - ' ' -k - ..." . . .; . V
trt-
PRESENT buti'U DAKOTA
John Sutherland.
THREE OF THE MENT
changed to Bismarck and Hughes swung
over with him, giving the North Dakota
wn the location.
Towns that Have Faded.
Of the list of towns which entered the
field atthat time two are but a memory,
being Ordway in Brown county, which I.
J nlv?,-! k I't.wn. whH
LJ tR. 'rZ?
. w...
lumA wntilil hrftisr him Influence in hmn.r
th, flmTlm,M,ftn ,n w.v , i.,.
do consiaereo. n wu twelve mnes irora a
raJlroad and th ra(Mnber, of th. comm,t-
sion wero taken to tho location In oarrlageo
provided for tho ocoasjon. Tho only other
North Dakota town, which attempted to
secure th. plum were Bismarck, th. win-
ner, and Steele, on th. Northern Paclflo
between Jamestown and Bismarck. Among
tho southern aspirants were several which
wero factors In capital fights In future
years when th. territory had been divided
and th. northern towns wore no longer a
factor.
'
Plorro Gets In Game,
But with the selectlpn of Bismarck by
the commission their troubles did not end.
gam
removal proposition did not make any
great amount of headway.
Before th. next session. In 1SRT, a new
gov.rnoc was appointed for th. territory In
Oilbert A. Pierce, a Chicago newspaper
man. when he cam. Into the territory to
take up his duties some of th. Interested
.,t t k ,h, hi. .ui
b on n, qUP,tlon of eaptal loca-
on and , a ipeech he mad , Huron
beforB toing t0 tho ca,rltal he ,uted that
the capltai removal question was on. for
tha p,, of the tPrrtory to settle for
themselve and that he would not Interfer.
Dakota member who would take such an
action, which left th. member red with
singer and plaoed him In different company
for the rest of the session than that of the
' whom he had associated with up to
that date. Wells was arrested oa a
trumped up charge of bribery and lotk.l
up In Bismarck until h. eould secur. bonds,
na 9000 ot out oi custody ne
Wt fr th. south half of th. territory
n n.vec oould h. lnduoed to again re-
tr th Prt of th. Dakota country.
That mov. ended the efforts to get th.
capital away from Bismarck, as the dlvl-
slon and statehood bills war. well along In
oongresa, and It was considered a wast, of
.ffort to attempt anything; tm th . see si on
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HOL'SB AT PIEJtRBl
J. J. Iavenport.
WHO ARE BU1LDINO THE NEW SOUTH
of 189, the last territorial session; the rest
of the record has to do with South Dakota
alone, and goes back to 1885.
Division and
Statehood.
In that year the move for division and
I.I 1 j , .
provisional statehood was placed before the
people of the south half of the territory
aer.a?,e,! , Question
Polled vision came also a question of
imu
as tho south half of the
tv nt h ni in iscn ik.i .v,,,u k
' 1?? 'fc!h' .??"u"
nrovislon. of th. v,iti . m
,, ' , , , -u""r,-"m"n
tZn Z th. Si. f , 7 t"
Vjh' ? P. ! v ..". .teLbUt
wu)a.c.
" J , !r. " , e"le
.fa,hJ,j a v
th. flea, .Inf. . . . ..... I. . . . 1 .
.... ..... - .uu.u ue p,erre afcCurod tne lenlporI,rv Beat o(
taken on temporary location to be free to mmn .a v . . ,
...-, ernment and on November 1 the first sea
all. That the following year a vot. would ,inn .,, . . . . 1
aVaakned" Tf" PTa"ent " 7 T
a . and If no town secured a majority of
rltL? '.Z
following election the two town, which
towns of Pierre, Huron, Bloux Falls, Mitch.
ell, Watertown, Redfleld and Chamberlain
went into th. rac. for temporary capital.
It was a fight of cash. While every town
In th. race plunged in the way of expen&e,
Plerr. and Huron led them all, and both
town were "In" about to their limit at the
end or the cam Da en of that vur n,Mh
Pr1 their limits to take ln as much
territory as possible and assessed it at a
high rat. to give them a greater bonding
capacity, and bonds wer. Issued on any
1 '
Gossip and
A Beaten F11U boater.
PROPOS of the recent attempted
A
filibuster In th. senate It Is re
called how similar tactics were
attempted and defeated ln the
Virginia democratic convention
of 1877. Mr. Horace Lacy at-
tempted then to talk against time so as
to prevent the nomination of candidates
until the platform had been reported. It
was a hot July day, and the hall was
crowded. Hour after hour the speaker
kept up his flow of words, exhausting his
hearers If not himself He talked so lung
that his voice grew husky and clapping his
nancis lor a page ne ordered a pitcher of
water, and when it came he paused long
enough to pour th. entire contents down
bis throat. Then In th. pause, before th.
speaker could resume, there cam. a voice
from th. section wher. th. Wis. county
delegation was seated, that cried: "That's
th. flrsf time that ever I see a windmill
run by water." The storm of laughter
that ensued was too much for th. fllibus-
t.rer. Mr. Lacy sank to his seat and th.
convention went on wtth Its business.
Claimed Tw Imshln with Teddy,
While President Roosevelt was holding
an open-air reception at Byracus. soma
year, ago tall negro pushed bla way for-
ward rough th. crowd and sag ly
anil the " -.'"... vim. iaw mo . - - - rectiil ii Montana, was in u imc uii.
W. TT. H. Beadle.
DAKOTA CAPITOI
kind of an excuse to secure the funds for
the fight.
A kinds of schemes were worked out, lots
Wore Dlatted In nullvlnflr fArrhnru urtA t V. n
Fn.n,lm ,1 . .v.. t
n.AA ,h ,,,,, Aa.Am . . . . ....
"
nante of th(J party whQ wou,d a t
a, M ,nducement t0 worlt fop tho town,
One of the unique feature, of this campaign
was the organization of the Capital invest-
where they would Invest their money each
stockholder being lnterestd to the extent
..-,..,-. ...... m mem iy me
i"rent towns, they selected Pierre as
the'r place of Investment and purchased a
Iarg.e tract of ,nnd near
large
rec,ed
and nt
the stockholders Interests this way.
the contest was ended in October, the vote
being: Pierre, 27,09ti; Huron, 14.914; Water-
oTZTo Uiilted fit ites
ionators und was , Bf.9son ' 1 '
- Purpose, th, senate .nVn.
ln tne congregational church
Plerr. Against Hnron.
The next year while under the provisions
of the law, it was a free for all fur p"rnia
ntnt capital locatinn. all the eontettapts
dropped out except Pierre and Hur;ii. and
nouier tierce campaign was fnnlit
Pierre Increased its assessment and issued
more bonds, and laid out otlur additions
for donation lots, and Huron sold the
munielpal water plant to raise funds. Th
fight was on the same line, of ccntralliy
and future development on the part of
hu iu una nr ii Dtn.u in ui..in,. v. . ... . . a Din to rnanta to watertown. nut fell nours. snenai trains arrivniK i "j
Stories About Noted People
grasped his hand. "Yo' 'n'
me war bo'n
on the same day, Mistah Roosevelt!
tl'.e
darky enthusiastically said. his shining
face almost cleft from ear to tar by a
grin.
"Delighted. Indeed, to hear it!" warmly
responded the prefiJent. taking a fresh
Crip on the black hand and laughing
heartily. "So you end I were boin on the
same day? Well, well
xo am fo ty-seven yeahs oi l. bah?"
"I am," was the quick tnswer.
"An' yo' war bo'n on OctoLiali 17, liS!"
"Tea."
"Ya'as, suh," then exclaimed the darks'.
malting all over with rapture; "yu'as, suh
Mr. Roosevelt, yo' an' me is bole twins:"
i
The Wroni Man.
B F. Krltli before hit. riau to fame In
th. vaudeville field was the tnirr ario i
dime museum In Huston. This was a
Cod many years ago, but he still tells of
an experienoe that befell him in his search
w novelties In the way of freaks.
"I read In the paper one day of a man
up In Main, who had Just celebrated his
hundredth birthday and was still hale and
hearty." said Mr. Keith. "I remember bis
name well. It was Amos Whlffletre. I
Journeyed to his farm and found him In
th. early evening sitting on his stoop
smoking a pip, I lalroduoed myself and
K )
-iii.te?ifef-v.u
Pierre, and better present location on the
pnrt 0f Huron, and after both towns had
practically bankrupted themselves, th
vntA m-aa n Duln t f.ir. r Elaa .w
. . . ... i t
,r 4V, K... . v..
ws .ftl.-.aLI.O ..bill.
resubmission, and attempted to secure the
,ubmil0 of a con.Ututional amendment
changing the location. They made their
first trial in 1S03. and followed it with
out an ffort t0 make a change, but In
1901' Watertown boomers came down with
all nirht session. Then In the Session of
1903 came the combined assault of Mitchell,
Huron and Redfleld, which went into a
combine to secure relocation votes with an
aKreement in. ion. wn.cn was xo tence was agum pui - " be fitted in a fourth story above the legls
be named In the new bill was to be and the final vote was 67.800 for Pierre, and .... , ...
selected by caucus. The scheme was
worked up by Mitchell after they had
,.i n.v..i ii,.. ui.
0C1UI Cl It..U.. t . V. 1 . 1 . , I. V .... VUll'.lU, llll
.v,. 11,1. ,
mould favor capital change, and then
used Huron and Redfleld as cats-paws to
help them gather chestnuts, with a cer-
talntv that in the caucus they would be
left out. and Mitchell be the winner. The
bill was pushed early In the session, and
one of the peculiarities of it was that It
Railroads In the War.
The fight which followed was one of the
most spectacular campaigns ever held In
the state. The Northwestern ro:id bii'-keil
Pierre, and the "Milwaukee" hacked Mlt-
fhi.M llnil miennH were Imoieil wltl.mir
limit, to any point In the state, and If
the would-ho trav -h r 1M not want to
take the time and trouble to ask for a
pass, he simply boar lei th - train and
roiln es fur n he eared to wUhcut ivltig
disturbed. Pu --. were b-i: .1 f..r "John
-- - :
asked If it were tiue that he was 100 years
old. He replied that he was. 1 then niade
him an offer to exhibit himself as the old- after the election, and ijtw officers formed
est man alive. the commission.
" 'I guess you've nicdo a mistake, ain't This wa't also brought a n-w leplKlitlve
ye?' he raid. 'You must be thinkin' of iny- session, an.l this session decided upon pro
father.' ceeding with the construction of the Com-
" 'Your ruber" 1 gasped. 'Is your plte, structure Instead of only a portion
father alive?' of it, fisting the cost of the whole struc-
" 'curest thing you know," said Amos. ture at KWO.tinO, and providing means for
" 'Where Is he?' I asked. the furwdi, which might be lucking after
Ke'K u; rtairs puttin' grandpa to bed.'
icplieil Amen, r-fllllng his pipe." Philadel
phia Ledger.
i'uiiiii'.et ln th. H,eerh.
When Aml.as.'ador Whl;ela K.ld w.s
running for tho vice presidency, says ins
New York Press, hu made the are ch of I It
career st a bami .let In New Vi rl'. The
pro fs ha.l been on the h ks 1 1 tie T." hu .e
office for day". c ornct d and lec .rrcel.
with a big "must" on It for the mo:nlnj
arer. At midnight thtr- was j I re.it
ri-. Bt the 'phone. Mr. Rehl. hvi:u da-
livrrcd his speech, summoned the night
editor and said h. wanted lo make a few
interpolations. He then rd th. sp eo i
In full over th. wire, and his Imerpolat ona
were-at almost every period: "Applause."
"Much applause," ' Loud applause," "Lo.id
and continued applause." "Freqni ap-
plause," "VvUrous applause, " .10,
V
r ; !.. rr , -
v in;
.Hi ,
POSPECTIVE DRAWING OP TUB NEW SOUTH DAKOTA CAPITOI
T
i
HTK4 ' f
rrs 'sL'a; ,r . y-
LATINO THE CORNERSTONE OP THE NEW SOUTH DAKOTA
Jones and seventy-five" and Jones with the
pass in Ills pocket presented It, and it was
up to the conductor to Pick the seventy-
five in the crowd on a train of from ten
to twelve coachtta, all crowded to the steps,
nd with a half dozen "Jones ' passes
presented. For the last thirty days of the
campaign the smallest number, which
vlsted Pierre in any one day was V.OOO and
one day the record went up to 10, onn. These
office at which a large room was arranged
for a checking room, and was open at all
lodsinits and stopping places.
The same argument of centrality and
future development which had been used
by Pierre from the beglnlng of its exls-
40,600 for Mitchell.
Nulllnc Doirn the State House.
-
tw. fiinoinir session of the lCKislaturrt
took up the question of the construction
of a suitable permanent capltol on the
grounds at Pierre, and after quarreling
over it in the legislature for some time,
provided for a wing of a building to be
constructed at a cost of not more than
if,o (00, to be so constructed as to form a
would better fill the rjeeds of this state
than any other which they had found, and
secured plan for a completed building upon
the plans of the Montana constructive.
aoniewhut modified, and advertised for bids
for the construction of the founda'lon of
the east wing. This contract was n.-i. ana
tho work completed In the fall of 10 '5. In
19o, they advertised f r bids for the erec-
tlon of the wing, but when the lime cams
fur opening the bids, representatives of
Bioux Falls went Into the supreme court
arming for an Injunction to prevent th.
) i V,i from acting on the ground that
they did not Inter.d to use any South ua
kota material in the work. After the ap
plication had bocn made the commission
stopped procedure until the court had
nahsed cuon the application, and then
rejected all bids. It was then so late In
the year that nothln more was dune until
sale of lands donated by the general gnv-
eminent ior tno conbiruciion oi a capnai.
They also provided that in the letting of
bids the commission might give South Da
kota stone a 6 per cent preference in th.
letting of contracts.
Sioux falls "lone Cot Oat.
Bids were advertised for. and the contract
was let to O. II. Olsen of Stilwuter, Minn.,
an a basis of construction of a com'.)li4tlon
of Sioux Falls granite, Oitonvl!!- granite
and P.edford lir.iestone. Later the cunt rac
tor cairn: to the commission with a le.rt
that he could not get ar.y Sioux Falls
quarrymen to bid on furnishing tho stone
without a Urn. limit which would Uelay
work on th. structur. for a least a year,
nl 'VtI would not furnish a bond that
they would have the stone at the time they
asked for getting It out. On this showing,
and after currcspuadsno. with th. tUeus
: i 't.
VP
CAPITOL AT PIERRE.
Falls quarrymer. the Sioux Falls granite)
was cut out of the contract, and Mal-
quette raindrop sandstone substituted In
its stead, and all the South Dakota mater-
lal which goes into the structure. Is tho
granite boulders used for the foundation.
,d the Yankton cement used In the con-
.trucUon.
Tno new bulldln I. feet In length.
with a width of 160 feet in the center, and
drop gan
abov6 wnl(
d.tone and OrtoMvlllo granite.
which th. building will bo of Bedford
limestone, making it a combination of
brown and light gray stone. The dome la
to be covered with polished copper.
The halls of the two houses of the legis
lature wlll be In the wings on the second
floor above the basement, and wlll extend
to the roofs, making that portion of th.
building three stories, but office rooms will
latlve halls. Th. principal offices will b.
on th. first floor abov. the basement. Th.
contract calls for a completed buJIUing by
. I
the first of July,
11110, and the first leg is-
Utlv. session which will meet in th. new
structure will be the sc.s on of ML
V hlle the new building 1. immense when
compared with the old wooden structur.
which has served the state for twenty
yoars, the Indication- at present are that
i win db ioi smun ror me use ot in.
it ueiurv muiiy rs go uy, BJld mat
another building for the supreme court will
be required to allow tho necessary room
for the other state business In the main
building, within ten ytars from the present.
Establishes Old Religion in
Omiha.
J 1 i v
t
v
... - J . 3-
CONBTANTINAB HARVALIN,
ureek Latiiullo Pi lest tiu
I v
