In the beginning…
The story of human habitation in the Little Sioux River Valley began thousands
of years ago. Archaeologist have established the existence of the Mill Creek
Indian culture north of Cherokee in 1200 A.D. In the time of the early French
traders, the river was important in the fur trade, and was a route of the Plains
Indians to the pipestone quarries on Minnesota.
The area’s geological history is just as fascinating. The three glacial advances
of the western limit of the Wisconsin glacial period are marked at different
points in the valley. A watchful eye may discover clues of the area’s glacial
past as several fossils, agates and other interesting rocks can be found along
the sandbars within the river. The Little Sioux River winds through Cherokee
County, making it one of the most scenic in western Iowa. The river and its
tributaries have carved deep into the glacial till. Many high points afford a
beautiful view, best of all is seen from the top of Pilot Rock, a huge boulder
of red Sioux quartzite left by the last glaciations. On a hill south of
Cherokee, the rock served as a guidepost and meeting place for Indians and white
explorers and has given the Little Sioux the name of “Woven Rock River.”
Before & After the Pioneers…
Cherokee County was one of the 49 divided from Indian Treaty lands by the Third
Iowa Assembly in 1851. The lawmen picked names that had no connection with the
area or with its history.
Pioneers made their homes in the fertile, wooded valley before venturing to
develop the open plains. After scouting the area in 1856, Robert Perry picked a
spot by the river in Pilot township for the county’s first home. While getting
supplies at Sergeant Bluff, he met two scouts of the Milford, Massachusetts
Emigration Company. They were seeing land for their members whose wagons were
close behind. After Perry’s vivid description of “his valley,” the scouts walked
up the Little Sioux River. They chose a site on the west side of the river,
northeast of the present city of Cherokee. Enough land was preempted so that
each of the thirteen Milford colonists who came in 1856, two of them with
families of children, had a town lot, a wood lot and acreage for farming.
Another group of ten men led by George Banister settled several miles south the
same summer.
The first town called Cherokee, later known as "Old Cherokee", was founded in
December 1857 just north of the present county seat on the west side of the
Little Sioux River. The first winter was cold and food was scarce. Roving
Indians visited the cabins and were amazed at the number of whites who had
invaded their hunting grounds. They demanded food and killed some of the
settlers’ livestock. As they went further north and found more people, the red
men became angry. Perhaps the most colorful story of this conflict is that the
Sioux Indian Chief Inkpaduta and the chain of events that led to the Spirit Lake
Massacre. Inkpaduta and his band began their journey northward near Smithland,
Iowa in the winter of 1857. This renegade band of Indians destroyed settlements
all along the Little Sioux River, including the Abbie Gardner Sharp cabin on
Lake Okoboji were today a log cabin stands as a memorial near the site of the
raid. When reports of the Spirit Lake Massacre were later received in Cherokee,
many settlers deserted the village. Later a stockade enclosing a log blockhouse
was erected as a protection against the hostile Sioux Indians and settlers
became less fearful.
An election was held in the log house on George W. Lebourvea in August 1857 to
elect officers for Cherokee County. In 1861, three men were appointed by the
court to locate the county seat. Cherokee was selected and taxes were voted (a
six-mill levy) to build a courthouse. This original courthouse was a frame
building, 30 feet square, with outside stairways to the second floor. The
framework of the building, located at 7th and Main Streets, was hewn from native
black walnut logs. Completed in 1864 at a cost of $1900.00 (Other sources say
$2050.00), the building also served as a public hall, schoolroom, and general
headquarters for all public gatherings. Before its completion, county business
was transacted in the private buildings of the county officials, which was
"Anything but Pleasant to both officers and constituents".
During the Civil War, many county men enlisted and their families withdrew to
more populated areas. After the war they came back to their land and homes.
The promise of a railroad from Fort Dodge to Sioux City running through Cherokee
brought many businesses and professional people during the late 1860’s. The
railroad was finally completed in 1870. It did not cross the Little Sioux where
expected, although speculators had built up quite a town near the bridge built
by the early colonists. In the spring of 1870, these folks moved about a mile
and a half to the new depot the railroad had set up, dragging houses, shops, and
their county courthouse with them. There were not over ten houses in “New
Cherokee” prior to that time. New Cherokee grew very fast and soon had many
stores and a newspaper, The Times, which celebrated its Centennial in 1970.
Cherokee had a Centennial Celebration in 1956 honoring all of the pioneers.
In 1873 Cherokee became an incorporated town. Another railroad was secured in
1887 connecting Cherokee with Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to the north. A later
line connected several towns to the south. In 1894, the Legislature selected
Cherokee as the site for the new Mental health Hospital (Now the Mental Health
Institute). Although a new courthouse was thought necessary as early as 1889,
proposals to build a new courthouse at Cherokee were rejected at elections held
in 1881. It was not until 10 years later that the vote was favorable and the
building was erected. This large and impressive courthouse was constructed of
pressed brick, limestone, granite and slate. An imposing position on a hill
overlooking the business section of the city was selected as the site for the 63
x 93' Building. Of the Romanesque style of architecture, with clock tower, it
cost the county at $40.000.00. The original courthouse building was eventually
torn down the winter of 1936-37.
In time, the courthouse completed in 1892, also reached a state of deterioration
and after turning down bond issues for a new courthouse at two previous
elections (June 6, 1960 and October 1963) 61.5% of the voters (4,574 yes and
2,892 no) finally gave approval for a $575,000.00 bond issue to replace the
nearly three-quarters-of-a-century old building on November 3, 1964.
The 1892 Courthouse was torn down early in 1965 (at a cost of $7,690.00) and
construction began on the new building, located on the same site. The general
contract was awarded to Paul Park Company, Storm Lake, for $356,442.00. The
total construction cost was $560,670.00. The new courthouse dedicated October
16, 1966, is a modern, split-level design.
Story and pictures were provided by The Chronicle Times |
