A Note From Cottonwood Corners
News Staff
Wednesday, January 29, 2025
While Ya n k t o n was the first point occupied by a permanent settlement of whites on the Missouri slope in Dakota, the country opposite Fort Randall contained a number of white men, not soldiers, who had probably come as civilian employes with the Harney expedition in 1855. They located in that vicinity by 1857, for the purpose of sharing in the wood and hay contracts that were annually given out by the army at Fort Randall. They were also engaged in the hauling of supplies for the government.