Significant Site

Millennium ago, migrating bison herds grazed the tall grass. Ducks, geese and other birds nested in the sloughs, and fish were found in abundance in the lakes and streams in this area known as the Coteau des Prairies. With all this wildlife, food was plentiful for the Woodland Cultures who lived and constructed mounds in the area as early as 1500 B.C. The Arikaras (Rees) hunted and fished here in the 1700s.

Anthropologists believe the Sioux tribes reached the Missouri River between 1700 and 1750. Tribal creation stories tell of Sioux inhabiting South Dakota since time immemorial. Later, explorer Philander Prescott camped here in 1832, followed by Nicollet and Fremont in 1839. Various band of Dakota Sioux signed a treaty on July 23, 1851 at Traverse des Sioux (St. Peter, MN) ceding about 24 million acres of the United States for $1,655,000.

A second treaty with the U.S. Government, dated April 19, 1858, was signed by sixteen Yankton delegates led by Chief Struck-by-the-Ree. It ceded all land between the Big Sioux and Missouri Rivers for the promise of $1.6 million in annuities. Some disagreed with the treaty. Chief Smutty Bear (Mato Sabi Ceya) led opposition to the treaty though he signed it.

Erected in 2008, in memory of Vernon Pierce (started the Memorial Day horse show), in honor of Jean Pierce who was a state park employee for 17 years, and in tribute to the best neighbors on the lake, Glenn and Bonita Pierce, by the Lee and Karen Larsen Family Foundation.