Mellette County

administration
US state :	South Dakota
Administrative headquarters :	White River
Foundation :	1909
Demographics
Residents :	2048 (2010)
Population density :	0.6 inhabitants / km ²
geography
Total area :	3392 km²
Water surface :	8 km²
map

Historical map of the Dakota Territory after which Mellette County was part of the Rosebud Reservation. (Referred to as the Upper Brule Indian Reservation on the map)

Map of the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, clearly showing how Mellette County is a patchwork of Indian land and county areas

Mellette County is a county in the southern state of South Dakota in the United States . The district was named after Arthur C. Mellette , South Dakota's first governor. The county seat is in White River . Approximately 33.35% of the county's area is owned by the Rosebud Indian Reservation . According to a 2010 census, about 52.2% of the residents were members of the Rosebud Sioux tribe and the Sicangu Oyate tribe (see Lower Brule Reservation )

geography

The county covers an area of 3,392 square kilometers; of which 8 square kilometers (0.25 percent) are water surfaces. It is divided into 16 townships : Bad Nation, Blackpipe, Butte, Cody, Fairview, Mosher, New Surprise Valley, Norris, Prospect, Red Fish, Ring Thunder, Riverside, Rocky Ford, Rosebud, Running Bird and Surprise Valley; and two disorganized territories: Cedarbutte and Central Mellette.

history

The county was founded on March 9, 1909 and named after Arthur C. Mellette , South Dakota's first governor. Originally part of the Great Sioux Reservation , the county became part of the Rosebud Indian Reservation on March 2, 1889. In 1910 the area was divided into parcels by surveyors Sam Chilton and Blaine Scrivenin. They rammed steel rods into the ground half a mile apart. They also reserved areas for future settlements and schools. This did not correspond to the legal opinion and the culture of the indigenous people, who knew no real property. The Sioux moved through the area as nomads and knew no permanent settlements. The legal basis for this was provided by the Dawes Act of 1887 and a resolution of the US Congress of 1910 to open the area of the county together with areas of what is now Jackson County and Bennett Counties for settlement by white settlers. Individual Indians received 320 acres , children 160 acres, who were forced to give up their nomadic life and to settle down. (One acre is 4046.9 m² of land). However, the land of the Indians did not actually become the property of individual persons. It could neither be sold nor inherited. After the death of the owner it fell back on the reservation. The rest of the area was cleared for settlement under the Homestead Act of 1862. Interested US citizens (indigenous people were not considered US citizens at the time) could apply for a plot of land in Chamberlain , Dallas , Gregory and Rapid City . Since there were more people interested in the approximately 8,000-10,000 available parcels, despite a drought that had lasted two years, the lot had to decide. In October 1911, the winners were determined in Gregory. In Mellette County, 466,562 acres were given to white settlers. These had to move to their assigned parcels within a year, as required by the law. Many first lived in tents or caves in the ground. Solid buildings only emerged over time.

On May 25, 1911, the first county government elections were held. Only US citizens were eligible to vote. White River was elected as the county seat by a 1911 election. After clearing the prairie grass, the white settlers primarily grew wheat. This had fatal consequences and the reclamation resulted in massive droughts. The deep roots of the prairie grass, the stalks of which caught the dust, had protected the upper layers of soil from erosion, which was now setting in on a massive scale. The harvests were destroyed by drought and dust storms and people were literally blown into their homes. As a result, many farmers had to leave their soil when their financial resources were exhausted. They often looked for work in other regions of the United States, particularly in agricultural production in California. Here they competed with other migrant workers. At that time, the USA was hit hard by the global economic crisis and recorded extremely high unemployment (see Dust Bowl).

Today, Mellette County is a vast patchwork of areas included in the Rosebud Reservation and areas owned by individual farmers or the county. This often creates tension between different populations and litigation between individual landowners, reservations, the county and the state of South Dakota. This also makes law enforcement more difficult, as it is often not clear which police unit is actually responsible, that of the reservation administration or that of the county.

Two bridges in the county are listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) as of August 6, 2018.

Population development

Population development
Census	Residents	± in%
1910	1700	-
1920	3850	126.5%
1930	5293	37.5%
1940	4107	-22.4%
1950	3046	-25.8%
1960	2664	-12.5%
1970	2420	-9.2%
1980	2249	-7.1%
1990	2137	-5%
2000	2083	-2.5%
2010	2048	-1.7%
1900-1990 2000