# A Brief History of South Dakota/Chapter 33

CHAPTER XXXIII
THE UNITED STATES SENATORS
The provisional legislature which met in Huron, temporary capital, under the constitution of 1885, elected Gideon C. Moody and Alonso J. Edgerton United States senators. They went to Washington and made application for admission to seats in the Senate. They were courteously given the privileges of the floor, but were not permitted to qualify. Upon the admission of the state, in 1890, Edgerton was made judge of the United States district court for the South Dakota district, and Moody and Richard F. Pettigrew were elected to the United States Senate.
In the choice of terms Judge Moody drew the short term, which expired the succeeding year. He therefore had little time to develop a senatorial policy. During his term the revision of the tariff, on the lines of the historic McKinley Bill, was the principal measure under consideration, and he supported the administration policy. Coming from a mining region, he favored the largest use of silver, and was active in support of the well-known Sherman Silver Act. Owing to the wave of populism which struck South Dakota in 1890, he was not reëlected.
​Senator Pettigrew served for twelve years, and, in addition to securing a large amount of federal legislation and institutions for South Dakota, was distinguished in the Senate for his advocacy of the free coinage of silver and for his opposition to the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands.
Senator Gamble The legislature of 1891 elected Rev. James H. Kyle, of Aberdeen, senator to succeed Judge Moody; Mr. Kyle was a man of fine educational attainments, but untrained in politics. He supported the general policies of the Democratic party in Congress, but was most distinguished for his work upon the committee upon education, and as chairman of the Joint Industrial Commission. He was re-elected in 1897 by a fusion of Populist and Republican votes and thereafter supported the general Republican policies. He was intensely interested in industrial-economic questions and was devoting much attention to the work of the Industrial Commission when his death occurred, July 1, 1901.
The legislature of 1901 elected Robert J. Gamble, of ​Yankton, to succeed Senator Pettigrew. Mr. Gamble is a lawyer of distinguished ability and had previously served two terms in Congress. In the Senate, where he has ably supported the national policies of his party, he has devoted his attention chiefly to the promotion of legislation of immediate interest to his constituents.
Senator Kittredge Upon the death of Senator Kyle, Governor Herreid appointed Alfred B. Kittredge, of Sioux Falls, to fill the unexpired term, and the next legislature elected Mr. Kittredge for a succeeding long term. Mr. Kittredge became a member of the committee on interoceanic canals, and at once became deeply interested in the matter of the construction of a canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. He became convinced that the Isthmus route was more feasible than the Nicaragua, then the more popular one. The adoption of the former involved many abstruse legal propositions relating to the rights of the French company owning the Isthmus route, as well as the treaty rights of the parties with the Colombian government. Into the study of these questions he threw himself with great vigor, ​and soon became the leading authority on all questions relating to the Isthmian canal in the Senate. While this was his most distinguished service, he neglected nothing that pertained to the interests of the South Dakota people.
Senator Coe I. Crawford, who succeeded Senator Kittredge in 1909, is numbered among the able and progressive members of the Senate, and has given active support to many important measures.