Minnehaha County Historical Society hopes to raise thousands to upgrade Pioneer Memorial

The Minnehaha County Historical Society is hoping to fundraise enough money to clean and upgrade the Pioneer Memorial overlooking northern Sioux Falls.

Erected in 1949, the monument stands to honor the men, women and children who faced hardships as they homesteaded in the Sioux Falls area in the 1800s.

The memorial is also near the site of the Amidon Affair, where a father and son were killed during the 1862 U.S.-Dakota War, "a result of unjust government treatment" that claimed several Native American and pioneer lives, according to the society's marker near the memorial.

The land the Pioneer Memorial was erected on originally was Oceti Sakowin territory, and the site of the flight, and eventual return, of settlers to the Sioux Valley.

The burial sites of the two are still unknown, said Jim Carlson, former president of the society and the marker chairman for the hundreds of historical markers throughout Sioux Falls and Minnehaha County.

"These were true pioneers who put up with a lot to get started," Carlson said. "They lived in sod huts and put up with grasshoppers and drought and all that. We want to honor the people that were here before us."

Over the past few years, the memorial site has fell into disrepair. Although a handful of historical society members visit the site regularly to pick up trash, Carlson said that vandalism has started to take a toll as well.

There were three graffiti reports in 2019, one in 2020, and one in 2021. None of these reports caused any significant damage, according to the Sioux Falls Police Department.

The organization foots the bill to clean up any vandalism. While it might be relatively easy to paint over graffiti on the base of the memorial, it takes a lot more money to power wash the graffiti off the quartzite monument itself.

"I take it personally when they put graffiti on the property," Carlson said, who currently serves as chairman for the hundreds of historical markers placed throughout Sioux Falls and Minnehaha County.

The society hopes to upgrade the site with a security camera to prevent and catch any vandalism in the area. The security upgrades, lighting, tuckpointing of the memorial and continued cleaning efforts will cost several thousand dollars, Carlson estimated.

So, the organization is in the beginning stages of fundraising up to $25,000 for the project. They're hoping to secure a matching donation from a Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission grant this spring to cover half of the costs, he added.

Any donations can be sent to the historical society's office at 200 W. Sixth Street at the Old Courthouse Museum.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Vandalism, trash plague north Sioux Falls historical memorial