County
Tour
This
church, the first Lutheran church and congregation in the Dakota Territory, was established
on August 12, 1863 in the Brule community, five miles north of Elk Point
This area, now Brule Township, was settled mostly by Norwegians.
"Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Congregation by Brule Creek" was the
original name chosen for the church, but it was changed in 1866 to "The St.
Paul Evangelical Lutheran Congregation in Dakota." In August, 1868,
Pastor J. N. Nessa was offered the job of permanent pastor, which he accepted. The parishioners built a log church in 1868, graduated
to a wooden church in 1877 and finally moved into the present brick edifice in
1922.
(Junction of Highways 50 & 11 , 1 1/4 miles west)
This granite block, erected by the Old Settlers' Association of
Union County, SD, in 1937, simply states, "built in 1862 by
soldiers and settlers as a protection against renegade and hostile
Indians. Abandoned in 1868. Dismantled in 1872." On
September 8, 1862, A. J. Bell spread the news of a Sioux Indian war to
exterminate all white settlers. The land from the Vermillion
River to the Big Sioux River was immediately vacated as settlers
retreated to Yankton, Fort Randall, Iowa and Nebraska. It is
generally accepted, however, that Fort Brule was built as a
result of the Minnesota Massacre of 1862. Indians there
felt cheated on treaty negotiations, retaliated, and were forced into
Dakota Territory. Stockades were then erected at Yankton,
Vermillion, Brule and Elk Point.
(Junction of Highways 50
& 11 , 3/4 mile east)
When Ole Edvart Rolvaag (1876-1931),
the Norwegian novelist, came to America, he worked on the Severt Eidem farm
two
miles north of this historical marker. Rolvaag arrived in Elk
Point in 1896. His book "The Third Life of Per Smevik"
is based on his three years in Union County. This territory was used as the
settings for other Rolvaag novels, Pure Gold, Giants in the Earth, Peder
Victorious and Their Father's God.
(Junction of Highway 50 & 11 , 1/2 mile north)
