The History of Agriculture in South Dakota: Components for a Fully Developed Historic Context

SWCA Environmental Consultants

From introduction: "The history of agricultural development in South Dakota is intrinsically connected to the broader history of agriculture across the Great Plains. However, specific distinctions are unique to South Dakota, or have expressed themselves in distinctive ways, as compared to neighboring states. A History of Agriculture in South Dakota: Components for a Fully Developed Historic Context provides background for the development of agricultural practices as well as social, economic, and political life in the state since 1850. The South Dakota State Historical Society first issued Homesteading and Agricultural Development Context (Brooks and Jacon 1994) to address these issues. These newly updated Historic Context (2013) components focus on the landscape and built environment related to agricultural activities and are meant to provide a guide for archaeologists, historians, and other professionals seeking to understand and interpret sites and cultural landscapes. The 1994 context excluded in-depth discussions of German-Russian settlements and Native American agriculture, based on the scale of these themes. Similarly, this Historic Context update only briefly addresses properties associated with those two themes. Further, irrigation systems, which were vital to the operation of farms, warrant their own contexts and therefore are only discussed within the context of irrigated farming. Themes and property types associated with statewide irrigation, German-Russian settlements, and historic Native American resources should be discussed under separate contexts. Ranching properties were given some attention in the 1994 context, but at the time it was noted that many of these resources share distinct similarities with farming properties. In many parts of South Dakota, smaller farms existed in a place between farming and ranching driven by meeting subsistence needs with production of some surplus for sale. As a result, the anchor buildings associated with farming and ranching will have many similarities. Differences in Ranching can be seen in the more specialized ranch buildings and structures that are addressed in detail in the 1994 context with some revision to existing site types provided in this document. Other broad property types, such as government and institutional resources, and fairgrounds, were given a basic description in the 1994 context. These resources are not yet well documented in South Dakota, and research for the current project did not find any substantial documentary evidence that would provide more refined property types than those already identified." Funding for this project was provided in part through a 2011 Historic Preservation Fund grant to the South Dakota State Historic Preservation Office (project number SD-12-028, grant number 46-12-41948) administered by the State, Tribal, and Local Plans and Grants Division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.

The History of Agriculture in South Dakota: Components for a Fully Developed Historic Context

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