The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1915-04-01
ANCIENT HISTORY
AFFECTING S. D.
An l640 Wisconsin Colony
Wrecked in Boat Accident
BY G.. F. MOON

persons were sent from Wisconsin
to locate a good place in the Daco-
tab Territory to establish a colony.
They travelled up the Missouri river
to about the point where Yankton
now stands. They spent a wear
prospecting around and then went
back and reported that they had
found a veritable Garden of Eden.
They reported no snow, with
Spring like weather the whole win
ter, countless heards of buffalo all
over the prairies, and timber in
abundance in the Missouri bottoms.
They described the prairies as being
covered with flowers, and the SOIL to
be of the best for all agricultural
purposes.
Then the people who sent them
out prospecting formed a colony of
thirteen families, purchased a side
wheel steamboat. loaded it with all
sorts of tools and farming imple-
ments and set out in high spirits for
the land of promise in the Spring
of 1850. 1t was the intention Of the
colonists to wreck the boat, and use
the machinery for a grist and saw
mill.
They stopped at Peoria, Illinois,
to have a new set of boilers put in
the boat, for fear the old boilers
were not strong enough. 1t was
there | got acquainted with a num-
Der of the colonists. as they had put
their boat into a nice little bay to
shelter it from the wind and waves
that frequently swept across Peoria
Lake. This said bay was one of my
best fishing grounds. where | would
sit on their boat and fish, As there
were a few boys about my own age
on the boat it did not take long to
scrape up ALI acquaintance with
them-then from the boys to the
parents. So | became fultv inform
ed of all the doings of the colonists,
their hopes. ambitions. etc in the
new home they were seeking.
They had named their boat THE
DACOTAH," after the manner of
spelling Dakota in those days. The
morning they fired up the new boil
ers, preparatory to making the trial
trip, | vas up fishing as usual. As ]
could not fish from the boat any
more, | strolled up the bank and
ished from any old tree that leaned
out d little in the water. | should
state here that while the boat was
undergoing repairs, they had taken
all the horses and catCles off, anG
got them stabbed, so there was nc
stock aboard on the i'll fated trial
trip.
A couple Cf BOYS were with me
fishing, and as the boat steamed W
past US. we let u fishing go tC
watch the boat. When a few rods
above US, about four hundred yard;
out IN in the lake, we saw the boat
split open, and then came a sound al
of a dozen cannon all let loose at
once. Then everything was en-
veloped IN a cloud of steam. But
through it all we could hear the
screams of the injured. After the
steam had lifted, all that could bt
seen of the beautiful Dacotah was 1
small portion of the bow sticking
above water. Every vestige of the
boat had been swept clean to The
hull, and that sank Immediately
Only n person was then visible
He was standing on the bow of the
wreck, making some very peculiar
motions with his arms. | always re
membered the peculiar way hi
swung his arms, as 1t looked funny
to me at that time to see such mo
tons. But after ! grew up to man
hood and joined the Odd Fellows
then | could look back and recognize
the distress sign of Oddfellowship.
Help was soon at hand, and thei
came the task of getting the deat
and injured ashore. There wer,
thirteen dead, and as manv NOR,
badly scalded, but thirteen was thu
/ death toll. 1t would have beer
greater, but fortunately some O
the people did not get aboard fol
the trial trip.
However. this catastrophe broke
I'D the colony. Some Of the sur
vivors settled in Peoria, some i,
Pekin and some went back to Wis
consin.
What effect this COLONY wOClc
have had on the early history O
Of Dakota, no n a tell.