In 1804, Lewis and Clark navigated the Missouri River by keelboat, exploring the river border between the two future counties of Gregory and Charles Mix. Their discovery and exploration of the territory acquired in the Louisiana Purchase unleashed the movement west and its subsequent settlement. The area, first described in exploration journals as rich in vegetation and wildlife, remains a scenic wonder.

Since Lewis and Clark's exploration, the area has had its share of interesting history. Using over 200 historic photographs, Gregory and Charles Mix Counties awakens the area's past and...

The South Dakota Badlands seldom fails to stir a sense of wonder to those who encounter its surreal landscape for the first time. From a distance, the eroded formations look like the ruins of an alabaster city, but upon closer inspection, the sculptured terrain appears rough and rugged. Within these pages of historic photographs, the remarkable story of the Badlands unfolds. After the process of geological changes, Indians came to the Badlands on seasonal hunting trips. In the mid 1800s, fur traders, fossil hunters, and freight haulers passed through to places more hospitable. Cattlemen and...

President U.S. Grant's national Peace Policy of 1869 set in motion the South Dakota Missionary movement. The peace plan assigned one religious denomination to each Indian Reservation to 'Christianize and civilize' the Indian. When religious groups protested the government's policy of exclusion, the limitations of the policy were lifted in 1881. Soon thereafter, many denominations were allowed to establish missions where they wanted. Soon missions, churches, and schools of many different Christian affiliations dotted the reservations, often within a few miles of one another. In Lakota Sioux...