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Fort Hale as It Appeared in 1882 - Like a spirit from the great beyond, the picture here illustrated will bring forth a flood of speculative pen pictures from the young generation and to the old pioneers of this section the picture will bring to mind recollection of those early stirring and eventful times which will be both interesting and pleasant for both to muse and meditate upon. Now extinct, save for a few mounds of depressions in the earth, perhaps here and there broken pieces of pottery and a few pieces of wood, nothing remains to mark the location of this historic, once pulsating center of this section of the country. In fact the greater share of the land on which Fort Hale was then located has been washed away by the constant erosion of the Missouri river. It was in the year 1872 that Fort Hale was established on the river some twenty miles north of Chamberlain. This was when the settlers began to invade the then great Indian domain and the government established this fort to protect them against the treacherous attacks by Indians. A brief retrospective review of the reader will recall the terrible Indian massacre in Minnesota ten years previous to this date. Fort Hale was the name given this fort in honor of the noted General Hale, of Civil War fame. As will be noted that fort covers quite an area of ground and in those days, it was considered a considerable sized city. And it was the largest place within several hundred miles about, and of course was the center of activity between Yankton and Rapid City. Fort Randall, to the south east was then established and was larger than Fort Hale however. The 1st. U.S. Infantry, under the command of Colone Johnson, occupied this part until 1880 when it was removed to Texas, being replaced by the 25th Infantry under the command of Lieutenant Commander Pinkney Lugenbeel, a Civil War veteran, and the troop was comprised of colored soldiers sent here from Texas to which place the 1st. Infantry had been sent. The picture was taken in the year 1882, about a year after Chamberlain came into existence. The steamboat on the river to the right is the "Milwaukee" which then plied the river and was Captained by Capt. H.J. King, one of the earliest steamboat men in this section and who was the father of our local citizens, Mark and Monty King. His mission on this trip was to transport a portion of the 25th Infantry to Chamberlain, where they boarded the train for Fort Snelling. The two-story building to the lower left in the picture was the commanding officer’s headquarters and those to the right were those of his orderlies. In the background were the quarters of the soldiers. We are indebted to Major R.H. Somers for this picture and the information relative thereto. He came to this section in the early 70’s and was a young blacksmith. In 1879 he established a blacksmith shop at Fort Hale at which place he engaged in the business until 1883. It was then that the government began to feel there was little use of longer maintaining a fort here, hostilities of the Indians having ceased and a little later the Sioux Treaty was signed and the fort evacuated. The buildings were sold to various parties, torn down and moved away for construction of homes and business places at different places. The Treaty was signed in 1889. At that time Lower Brule agency was located just below Oacoma, but the treaty provided for the Indians being moved further north and the Agency headquarters were removed to the present site of Lower Brule. Major Somers was appointed Indian agent in 1901 and served several years in this capacity. Above Newspaper article taken from The Chamberlain Register - July 2, 1931 (Picture from Cahpa collection) Interesting History of Fort Hale MURDER... A Soldier at Ft. Hale Shoots and Kills One of His Comrads The quiet routine of government post life was badly ruined at Fort Hale, Saturday, about 12:15 p.m. Charles Boykin, private, Co. E. 25th Infantry, shot and killed Sergeant Robert Willis, of the same company, in the barracks of Co. E. Boykin is about 38 years of age, and has a wife in Charelston, S.C., Willis was 45, and single. About an hour previous to the shooting, Willis and Boykin got into a quarrell at the post trader's store. Willis, with but little or no provocation, knocked Boykin down twice, and called him a d_____ s______ etc., and said he would kill him. The guards came and arrested both of them. Sergeant Willis was discharged by the commanding officer. Afterwards, Boykin went to the commanding officer, and cried and begged to be released, and he was released by said officer. He immediately went to the barracks or quarters, and shot the sergeant with an army Springfield rifle, caliber No. 40. Sergt. Robert Willis was sitting down in his room cutting up meat for his eat, when Boykin came to the door and shot him through the left artery, touching the shoulder blade and passing out below it, the ball ranging downward. Corporal Allen and Corporal Payne were present in the room with the sergeant when he was shot. When he was shot, he sprang to his feet, and, with a loud cry, said "O Lord!" He went to his bed and got on top of it, took his gun out of the rack and sprung the chamber, and searched for cartridges, but found none. Corporal Payne went to him and grasped the gun, and tried to take it from him. He raised off of the bed upon his feet, and then he fell upon his knees, when Corporal Payne succeeded in getting the gun away from him, he raised and grasped the gun again, and gave the corporal a hard tustle to get it away, but did not succeed. The corporal called him by name two or three times, and he gave away and dropped on his knees again, and was laid on his back on the floor. He did not speak at all after his first outcry, until he reached the hospital. He was unconcious and only spoke a few times. He died at 1:15, in just an hour from the shooting. Charles Boykin was arrested and brought to Chamberlain for a hearing before J.A. Stroube, United States Commissioner. At the hearing Judge Stroube held the defendent to answer to the grand jury, and committed him to the Yankton jail. They all accord to Senator Goodykoontz the fact that he made a strong speech and a very able defense and succeeded in establishing facts enought to prevent a conviction for murder. Above Newspaper article taken from The Chamberlain Register dated April 12, 1883.
Fort Hale was established about ten years ago and was formally evacuated as a military post Tuesday, May 19, 1884. The officers and men embarked on the steamer Gen. Terry, together with their commissary stores. There were eighty-five enlisted men of the companies E and G, 25th U.S.A. Infantry. Lieut's. McMartin and Green acting as captains, with Capt. Scherly senior in command. They have five car loads of commisary stores, including a large amount of vegetables belonging to Capt. Schurley, which he was prudent enough to take along. Extra passenger coaches had been here for some days awaiting their coming. The abandonment of Fort Hale is bad military management. There is no place in the entire United States where a permanent military post is any more needed in the years to come than in the vacinity of these permanent Indian reservations. Crow Creek and Lower Brule north, Rosebud and Pine Ridge south, makes it contiguous to all, and it don't even take a military man to see its accessibility. The river and the railroad makes it accessable and gives it cheap freights. We trust that the department will re-establish it, not that there is the lease danger, neither is there at Snelling or at any of the posts, but if there is any at all then one ought to be here. Above Newspaper article taken from The Chamberlain Register dated May 22, 1884.. |
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