In many areas of the country, the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, 1861-1865, is being commemorated with new books, updated museum exhibits, and added historical tours. When people study this war, they seldom consider how it impacted states like South Dakota, then part of Dakota Territory. Even though the war ended 24 years before statehood, there is a significant historical connection between the Civil War and the early development of the state and its counties.
When the War of the Rebellion started, the War Department authorized the governor of Dakota Territory to raise two companies of cavalry to protect the territory. The soldiers, mostly from the Yankton, Vermillion and the town of Bon Homme, formed the First Dakota Calvary and joined other federal troops in fighting Indians in the territory, rather then the rebel troops of the Confederacy.
Some of the earliest settlers in Aurora County were former soldiers who had fought to protect Dakota Territory or preserve the Union. Long gone and mostly forgotten, these men shaped the early development of the county and started traditions that continue today. Taking advantage of a special feature in the Homestead Act, Union soldiers were able to deduct time served from the residency requirements, thus obtaining title to 160 free acres faster than the usual five years. Twenty years after the war ended and just six years after the first permanent settler arrived in the county, a special South Dakota census of Civil War veterans reported 183 Union veterans and one Confederate veteran living in Aurora County.
Soon after arriving in the county, these men organized themselves into a veteran’s organization called the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). The John A. Rawlings Post No. 27, Plankinton, was first mustered with 27 men on July 12, 1883. T.C. De Jean was selected as Commander. Other posts in the area were Mitchell, No. 6; Chamberlain, No. 34; and Armour No. 51. Civil War veterans actively promoted the community and served in the first elected positions. The first county sheriff, county clerk, county commissioner, justice and two constables had soldiered for the Union during the Civil War.
In addition to attending statewide encampments with other GAR members and purchasing flags for local classrooms, the local GAR members were central participants in the highly anticipated patriotic holidays: Washington’s Birthday in February, Memorial Day in May, and Independence Day in July. The custom of remembering fallen soldiers nationally and annually in May started three years after the war ended when the National GAR called for an annual ‘Decoration Day.’ The name eventually changed to Memorial Day, becoming an official Federal holiday in 1967. Ella Todd Wilson, in her 1959 memoirs, describes the GAR’s involvement in holidays celebrated in the early days of Plankinton:
“ Washington’s birthday was GAR’s big day, always celebrated by a big dance at the Opera House, unless the weather was too bad. That was always a crowd. Memorial Day was also GAR. It began with a speech at the Opera House. They then formed ranks and marched to the cemetery to the music of a band, accompanied by many children and others. The firing of muskets, the decorating the graves of the soldiers was a solemn ceremony. Families had been busy all morning making bouquets, which the children carried in buckets. Of course, other graves were remembered, but it was the GAR day.
“Then came the Fourth. Firecrackers began to explode and there was always a celebration, if not in town, at some grove out of town. And always there was an orator, and a singing group, who led all the patriotic songs. Oratory was flowery and the Civil War was refought, and the Revolution. “
At a time when entertainment involved more than watching someone else on the big screen or on small ones, when a break from the physical labor of survival was cause for celebration, holidays were enthusiastically embraced as an excuse to gather. The GAR promoted these patriotic events and encouraged community spirit among the residents of Aurora County.
Even though Union soldiers did not fight Confederate soldiers in Dakota Territory, the Civil War did leave a legacy on this state and county. The men who spent their youth on the battlefields in states to the east and south, spent their maturity on the prairies to the west. No doubt, their ability to survive the hardships of battle helped them survive the hardships of pioneer living. They opened businesses, held political office, established farms, and raised families, some of whom still live in the county.
Continuing a tradition started by its first veterans, the community still remembers its fallen soldiers, including those who fought in the battles that held the union together so many years ago.
It Happened Right Here: Soldier Pioneers, by Ruth Page Jones. Published in the South Dakota Mail, Plankinton, South Dakota, October 3, 2013.
Note: To learn more about the First Dakota Calvary and battles in Dakota Territory during the Civil War, read about the Dakota War of 1862.
RPJ Histories - Ruth Page Jones 