South Dakotans learned a bit more about their state Monday.
Jon Lauck was the featured speaker of the Madison Area Arts Council Chautauqua Series event at the Madison Public Library. The Madison native discussed his book Prairie Republic: The Political Culture of Dakota Territory, 1879-1889. The book, Lauck’s third, looks at the factors that shaped Dakota Territory and the beginning of the state.
The Civil War and its veterans had a large impact on Dakota Territory, Lauck said. Many vets were politically active with the constitutional conventions. Several locations in the state, such as Franklin, Gettysburg and Lincoln, were named after places or people related to the Civil War.
Religion was another major aspect in the forming of Dakota Territory, Lauck said.
“One of the first things you’re struck by … is how deeply religious people were,” Lauck said.
When settlers were deciding on a name for the state in the 1880s, they debated naming the area Dakota, South Dakota, Lincoln or God’s Country, Lauck said.
Like the Civil War, towns were given names that reflected the people’s faith, including Sinai, Epiphany and Eden, Lauck noted in his book.
Lauck concluded by sharing a story of attending an annual soup and pie supper at the Union Presbyterian Church in rural Miner County in 2003. The church was built in 1883 and was “one of the vestiges of the territorial period,” Lauck said.
In January 2009, after a Sunday service, the handful of members left in the congregation discussed the future of their church. They decided to have services until the propane tank ran dry. The church closed a month later.
The closing of this church is a good reason to remember why it’s important to talk about Dakota Territory, Lauck told the audience of 32.
Lauck’s book can be purchased locally at Books and More in Madison.
