On June 19, 1883, supporters of making the southern half of Dakota Territory a separate state met in Huron. Wilmot Whitfield was chair of the executive committee, and he opened the meeting by reading the “Call for gathering to create a constitution”.
Discussion about statehood are said to have originated among dinner guests on Thanksgiving Day, 1879, at the home of
Congregational minister Stewart Sheldon in Yankton. The idea was formally announced at the conference in Huron in 1883 and delegates gathered three months later at an unauthorized first constitutional convention. They drafted a state constitution and declared statehood for the southern half of Dakota Territory. Voters supported the plan, but the Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives rejected it. They feared that the new state would send Republican congressmen to Washington, D.C.
Two years later, delegates gathered in Sioux Falls for a second time to draft a constitution. A state motto was adopted ‘Under God the people rule.’ Controversial matters like Woman Suffrage, Prohibition, Minority Representation and Referendum were left to the voters and the new legislature to decide, although women were given a vote on school matters. Aliens who had declared their intention to become citizens were also given the right to vote.
Voters in the south half of Dakota Territory approved the new state constitution. The Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives again rejected it.
The political tide changed after the presidential election of 1888. Republican Benjamin Harrison, who was pro-statehood, was elected president. A state election occurred on Oct. 1, 1889, officials were elected and the constitution was approved. But subdividing Dakota Territory and achieving statehood was formally proposed on June 19, 1883.
Production help is provided by Doctor Brad Tennant, Professor of History at Presentation College.