In March of this year, Dan Brosz, Curator of collections for the South Dakota State Historical Society said there was a vote for temporary capital in 1889, when the main contenders were the cities of Huron and Pierre. In 1890 there was a vote for permanent capital, when Huron and Pierre were again the chief contenders.
“In 1904 the issue got brought up again. This time it was Mitchell that was charging hard to try to get the capital,” Brosz said. “That was the slogan in 1904: ‘Stand pat for Pierre.’”
The medallions – featuring Teddy Roosevelt on one side because it could also serve as a Roosevelt campaign tool -- were an example of the kind of items that communities spent money on during the capital fights.
“There were huge amounts of money spent on the campaigns for the capital and they got pretty dirty – buying votes, essentially,” Brosz said. “Some of the Pierre boosters bought train tickets for people to come in and look at what Pierre had to offer.”
The politicking might have paid off. Pierre gathered 58,617 votes to Mitchell’s 41,155 in the 1904 election. Brosz said it’s no no accident that lawmakers followed up quickly afterward to approve the state Capitol building.
“That legislation for the Capitol went through in 1905.
Source: Capital Journal (Pierre) Thursday, March 29, 2012
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