Armstrong County, South Dakota

Last updated

Armstrong County, South Dakota
1883–1952
Map of South Dakota highlighting Armstrong County.svg
Armstrong County (red) and Stanley County (pink)
Area
  Coordinates 44°45′N101°00′W / 44.75°N 101.0°W / 44.75; -101.0 Coordinates: 44°45′N101°00′W / 44.75°N 101.0°W / 44.75; -101.0
 
 1950
1,359.744 km2 (525.000 sq mi)
Population 
 1950
52
History
StatusUnorganized county in South Dakota
  TypeAttached to Stanley County with appointed officers
History 
 Established
March 8, 1883
 Disestablished
1952
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Blank.png Cheyenne County
Blank.png Rusk County
Blank.png Stanley County
Dewey County Blank.png
Today part of Dewey County

Armstrong County was a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota, and its predecessor Dakota Territory, between 1883 and 1952. Located in the western part of the state, it was a sparsely-inhabited part of the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation that relied primarily on the cattle trade and the Missouri and Cheyenne Rivers. Never having an organized county government in its own right, it was attached to Stanley County, with its county seat at Fort Pierre, for administrative purposes.

Contents

An unrelated "Armstrong County" had existed in the eastern part of the Dakota Territory between 1873 and 1879. Pyatt County was established in 1883 in the western part of the territory near the Missouri River, and was renamed Armstrong County in 1895. Having lost a significant part of its territory to Stanley and Ziebach Counties between 1898 and 1911, its subsequent population was so low that it set several records: it was often the only county in the nation to cast the entirety of its votes to one presidential candidate, by 1940 it was the only county without a post office, and by 1950 it was the only county without a single employee of the federal government.

The construction of the Oahe Dam flooded out most of the valuable land in the county. Dewey County, which had refused to annex the county in the past, finally did so in 1952. Oddly enough, the site of Armstrong County is now home to several more homesites than it had when it was a county.

History

Original Armstrong County (18731879)

An Armstrong County was created by the Dakota Territorial Legislature in 1873 in the southeastern part of the territory, taking its territory from Charles Mix County and Hutchinson County. The county was short lived and never fully organized. In 1879 it was annexed into Hutchinson County. [1]

Pyatt County (18831895)

In 1883 Dakota Territory created a new county west of the Missouri River and named it Pyatt County. The county was formed from unorganized lands and parts of Cheyenne, Dewey (then named Rusk) and Stanley Counties. [1]

Armstrong County, losses (18951911)

In 1895, the county was renamed Armstrong in honor of Moses K. Armstrong, a pioneer in the territory who lobbied for territorial organization and later served in the Territorial Legislature and as a territorial delegate to the United States House of Representatives. [2] The county originally covered much of the southern part of what is now the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation. In 1898, part of the county was annexed to Stanley County to the south. The western portion was lost when Ziebach County was created in 1911. [1] [2]

Subsequent years (19111952)

In World War II parts of the county were used for aerial gunnery practice. During that conflict the county lost one citizen who was killed in action. [3]

In 1952, given its small population and with much of the best land flooded by the Oahe Dam, the county was abolished and annexed into the southern part of Dewey County. [4]

Dewey County continues to maintain an "Armstrong County Road" as of 2022. [5]

Geography

Armstrong County was 525 square miles (1,360 km2) in area. [4] As of 1978, the land that had been Armstrong County was part of the Sansarc-Opal association, except for the extreme northwest corner that was part of the Wayden-Cabba association. [6]

Politics and government

United States presidential election results for Armstrong County, South Dakota [7]
Year Republican Democratic Third party
No.%No.%No.%
1952 654.55%545.45%00.00%
1948 114.29%685.71%00.00%
1944 00.00%4100.00%00.00%
1932 00.00%17100.00%00.00%
1928 00.00%7100.00%00.00%

The county was never formally organized, and was attached to Stanley County for governmental purposes. County residents were unable to vote for Stanley County officers, only state and federal positions. This created a situation of "taxation without representation", which caused a scandal in the early 1950s. The house of resident Ethan Alexander was selected as the polling place, but not enough voters were present in the county to ever have a proper board of elections. Alexander himself served as the county's assessor for years. [4] Unlike many other counties in South Dakota, Armstrong County was not divided into townships.

In the 1928 presidential election, the county cast all seven of its votes for Democratic candidate Al Smith, the only county in the country to cast the entirety of its votes to a single candidate. For 1932 through 1940, no returns were listed for Armstrong County in particular, and its voters were instead recorded in neighboring counties. Armstrong County returned to election statistics in 1944, where it once again had a unanimous return, for Democratic candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt with all four votes. [8] Harry S. Truman, the Democratic nominee for 1948, won the county but fell short of unanimity by one vote, which went to Republican Thomas Dewey instead. The county swung to the Republicans for its final presidential election in 1952, when Dwight Eisenhower narrowly defeated Adlai Stevenson II six votes to five.

In 1940, Armstrong County was the only county in the nation without a post office. [9]

Demographics and economy

Historical population
CensusPop.Note
1900 8
1910 6477,987.5%
1930 80
1940 42−47.5%
1950 5223.8%

After the 1911 incorporation of Ziebach and Dewey Counties, Armstrong County had 52 people living in 8 families. The majority of county residents lived on the banks of the Missouri and Cheyenne Rivers, which were plentiful in grass and timber for the local cattle economy and whose river bottoms provided shelter. [4]

Most of the county's land was leased to cattle companies such as Diamond A. The resident Norvold family owned land both in the county and in Ziebach county. [4]

The county had no schools. The Norvold children in particular were educated in various places such as Cheyenne Agency, Eagle Butte, and other adjacent counties. [4] There were no roads in the county, nor telephones nor electric lights. [10]

In 1950, Armstrong had the distinction of being the only county in the United States without a single civilian federal employee. Spiritual Mobilization, a group opposed to government spending, wrote a song about it: [11]

All Hail to Armstrong, South Dakota,
Land of the Free
You have yet to fill your quota
With a Federal Employee!

No one from Agriculture?
How do you farm?
No one from Justice?
Who keeps you from harm?

No one from Veterans?
By whom are you paid?
No one from Commerce?
How do you trade?

No one from Housing?
Who buildeth your shacks?
No one from Treasury?
Who takes your tax?

No one from Post Office?
Who sells your stamp supply?
No one from Military?
Who keeps your powder dry?

And no one from Security?
How, then, can you be social?

If you have no single bureaucrat
To decide things equivocal?

Even the Department of the Interior
Is from Armstrong’s roster missed.
Tell me, Armstrong County,
How do you exist?

All Hail to Armstrong County,
Where there’s no 'share the pelf,'
And despite the Welfare Staters,
Each does things for himself!

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ziebach County, South Dakota</span> County in South Dakota, United States

Ziebach County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,413. Its county seat is Dupree. It is the last county in the United States alphabetically.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stanley County, South Dakota</span> County in South Dakota, United States

Stanley County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,980. Its county seat is Fort Pierre. The county was created in 1873, and was organized in 1890. It is named for David S. Stanley, a commander at Fort Sully from 1866 to 1874, which was located nearby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota</span> County in South Dakota, United States

Oglala Lakota County is a county in southwestern South Dakota, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,672. Oglala Lakota County does not have a functioning county seat; Hot Springs in neighboring Fall River County serves as its administrative center. The county was created as a part of the Dakota Territory in 1875, although it remains unorganized. Its largest community is Pine Ridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pennington County, South Dakota</span> County in South Dakota, United States

Pennington County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 109,222, making it the second-most populous county in South Dakota. Its county seat is Rapid City. The county was created in 1875, and was organized in 1877. It is named for John L. Pennington, fifth Governor of Dakota Territory, who held office in 1875 when the county was formed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hughes County, South Dakota</span> County in South Dakota, United States

Hughes County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,765, making it the least populous capital county in the nation, and the twelfth-most populous county in South Dakota. Its county seat is Pierre, which is also the state capital. The county was created in 1873, and was organized in 1880. It was named for Alexander Hughes, a legislator. On June 4, 1891, the county's area was increased by the addition of Farm Island, in the Missouri River downstream of Pierre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haakon County, South Dakota</span> County in South Dakota, United States

Haakon County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,872. Its county seat is Philip.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dewey County, South Dakota</span> County in South Dakota, United States

Dewey County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,239. Its county seat is Timber Lake. The county was created in 1883 and organized in 1910. It was named for William P. Dewey, Territorial surveyor-general from 1873 to 1877.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corson County, South Dakota</span> County in South Dakota, United States

Corson County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,902. Its county seat is McIntosh. The county was named for Dighton Corson, a native of Maine, who came to the Black Hills in 1876, and in 1877 began practicing law at Deadwood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sioux County, North Dakota</span> County in North Dakota, United States

Sioux County is a county located along the southern border of the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,898. Its eastern border is the Missouri River and its county seat is Fort Yates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheyenne River</span> River in western South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming

The Cheyenne River, also written Chyone, referring to the Cheyenne people who once lived there, is a tributary of the Missouri River in the U.S. states of Wyoming and South Dakota. It is approximately 295 miles (475 km) long and drains an area of 24,240 square miles (62,800 km2). About 60% of the drainage basin is in South Dakota and almost all of the remainder is in Wyoming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oahe Dam</span> Dam in Hughes/Stanley counties, South Dakota

The Oahe Dam is a large earthen dam on the Missouri River, just north of Pierre, South Dakota, United States. The dam creates Lake Oahe, the fourth-largest man-made reservoir in the United States. The reservoir stretches 231 miles (372 km) up the course of the Missouri to Bismarck, North Dakota. The dam's power plant provides electricity for much of the north-central United States. It is named for the Oahe Indian Mission established among the Lakota Sioux in 1874.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Oahe</span> Reservoir in North Dakota, United States

Lake Oahe is a large reservoir behind Oahe Dam on the Missouri River; it begins in central South Dakota and continues north into North Dakota in the United States. The lake has an area of 370,000 acres (1,500 km2) and a maximum depth of 205 ft (62 m). By volume, it is the fourth-largest reservoir in the US. Lake Oahe has a length of approximately 231 mi (372 km) and has a shoreline of 2,250 mi (3,620 km). 51 recreation areas are located along Lake Oahe, and 1.5 million people visit the reservoir every year. The lake is named for the 1874 Oahe Indian Mission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Sioux Reservation</span> Former Indian reservation in the United States

The Great Sioux Reservation initially set aside land west of the Missouri River in South Dakota and Nebraska for the use of the Lakota Sioux, who had dominated this territory. The reservation was established in the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. It included all of present-day western South Dakota and modern Boyd County, Nebraska. This area was established by the United States as a reservation for the Teton Sioux, also known as the Lakota: the seven western bands of the "Seven Council Fires".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheyenne River Indian Reservation</span> Indian reservation in South Dakota, United States

The Cheyenne River Indian Reservation was created by the United States in 1889 by breaking up the Great Sioux Reservation, following the attrition of the Lakota in a series of wars in the 1870s. The reservation covers almost all of Dewey and Ziebach counties in South Dakota. In addition, many small parcels of off-reservation trust land are located in Stanley, Haakon, and Meade counties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Molstad Village</span> United States historic place

Molstad Village, designated by the Smithsonian trinomial 39DW234, is an archaeological site in Dewey County, South Dakota, United States, near the city of Mobridge. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1964. The site contains the remains of a small fortified Native America village, consisting of earth lodges surrounded by a bastioned palisade, with further lodges scattered in the area outside the fortification. Evidence gathered at the site indicates it was occupied for a relatively brief period in the mid-1500s CE, and was assigned to the Chouteau aspect of Middle Missouri taxonomy, later known as the Extended Coalescent phase. Four lodge sites were excavated in the early 1960s, uncovering post holes and cache pits, one of which contained skull-less human remains. Finds at the site included pottery fragments and stone tools. Bone tools were also found, including plows made from bison shoulder blades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thunder Butte</span> Geographic feature in South Dakota, United States

Thunder Butte is a prominent butte landmark located in the northwest corner of Ziebach County, South Dakota, in the United States. Thunder Butte is a large, isolated hill that can be seen for many miles in every direction, and has served throughout history as an important orientation point for area residents or a navigational aide for travelers crossing the surrounding plains. The butte gives its name to a small community at its base, and to a small creek that runs into the Moreau River.

Eagle Butte School District 20-1, is a school district with its headquarters in Eagle Butte, South Dakota. The district covers sections of Ziebach County and Dewey County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 United States presidential election in South Dakota</span> Election in South Dakota

The 2016 United States presidential election in South Dakota was held on November 8, 2016, as part of the 2016 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. South Dakota voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote pitting the Republican Party's nominee, celebrity Donald Trump, and running mate Indiana Governor Mike Pence against Democratic Party nominee, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her running mate, Virginia Senator Tim Kaine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1952 United States presidential election in South Dakota</span> Election in South Dakota

The 1952 United States presidential election in South Dakota took place on November 4, 1952, as part of the 1952 United States presidential election. Voters chose four representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Long, John H. (2006). "Dakota Territory, South Dakota, and North Dakota: Individual County Chronologies". Dakota Territory Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. The Newberry Library. Archived from the original on November 11, 2007.
  2. 1 2 Federal Writers' Project (1940). South Dakota Place-Names, Part I: State, County, and Town Names. American guide series. Vermillion, South Dakota: University of South Dakota. OCLC   34885177.
  3. "Armstrong County, South Dakota World War II Casualties Army and Air Force".
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Text of Ziebach Co., SD History: Armstrong County".
  5. "U.S. Local Roads for Dewey County, South Dakota". Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing Database. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
  6. USDA 1978, Cover
  7. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections".
  8. "1944 Presidential Election Statistics".
  9. "No Post Office" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 20, 2011.
  10. Smith, Ralph (June 1, 1952). "'Smallest' County in the U.S.A." Omaha World-Herald. Vol. 67, no. 41. p. G2. Retrieved March 10, 2023 via Newspapers.com.
  11. "Hail to Armstrong County". Archived from the original on July 11, 2011.

Works cited