Fort Randall Reservoir Archeology, Geology, History

With the rise and decline of the fur- and hide-trade and the slow westerly migration of permanent settlers, the northern Plains became a decisive arena of conflict between the immigrant Whites and the native residents, the Indians. The history of the area during much of the last century is dominated by the powerful and warlike Sioux Nation, which outnumbered all other native tribes of the area combined. Their name for themselves — Dakota — is preserved in the names of the two modern States that contain much of the historic range claimed by them. In the Fort Randall area, the history of contacts between the native peoples and the Whites revolves about the Sioux and about their relations with the federal government, which was responsible for Indian affairs in such then-unsettled parts of the Union.

Issuing annuity goods (annual payments) to the Sioux at Fort Randall, April 17, 1882. Photo — S. J. Morrow Collection, courtesy of the W. H. Over Museum, University of South Dakota

Winter quarters of the Sioux, "just under the hill" at Fort Randall: probably during the 1880's. Photo — S. J. Morrow Collection, courtesy of the W. H. Over Museum, University of South Dakota

By the year 1855 the great Sioux Nation, particularly certain of its more westerly members such as the Yankton, Yanktonais, and Teton, had become so great an administrative problem for the federal government that military demonstrations were made in the region by the veteran Indian fighter, General William S. Harney. As part of his aggressive campaigns, he established a base at Fort Pierre, which was acquired from the Chouteau Company for the purpose. In 1856, however, dissatisfied with that location for a military base, the War Department established Fort Lookout a short distance above Chamberlain and within a year, began the construction of Fort Randall farther downriver.

Fort Randall was to survive for many years, and was not abandoned until 1892, after long and useful service. With other posts elsewhere in the valley, it had witnessed the pacification of the native peoples of the region, and their settlement (not always willingly) on reservations. It had also survived into the period of permanent settlement and legal homesteading of lands opened by various treaties with Indian groups. The fort had been connected by roads, as well as by the river itself, with other posts and White settlements, and now settlers were coming overland also.

Spotted Tail, Chief of the Brule Sioux and his wife and daughter. Photo — S. J. Morrow Collection, courtesy of the W. H. Over Museum, University of South Dakota

With the establishment of military forces in the area by the War Department in hopes of keeping the peace, resident Indian agents representing the Office of Indian Affairs of the Department of the Interior, responsible for the administration of the problem also came thither, establishing agencies for the purpose. North of the Fort Randall area, an agency at Crow Creek, later known as Fort Thompson, was established in 1863 for the Santee Sioux, who had been removed from Minnesota following their bloody uprising of the previous summer. Soon other western Sioux were also placed under that agency. Not long afterward, the Whetstone Agency was built for the Brule and Ogalla sub-tribes of the Teton, above modern Fort Randall. This agency was later to be moved several times, finally to its permanent site on the present Rosebud Reservation in western South Dakota. The Lower Brule Agency was also maintained for a time in the Chamberlain area to the north. In 1892, it too was moved and reestablished at its present location across the river from the Crow Creek Reservation.