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About The DeSmet leader. (DeSmet, Kingsbury Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891
DeSmet, Kingsbury Co., Dakota [S.D.] (1883-1891)

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Title:
The DeSmet leader. : (DeSmet, Kingsbury Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891
Place of publication:
DeSmet, Kingsbury Co., Dakota [S.D.]
Geographic coverage:
  • DeSmet, Kingsbury, South Dakota  |  View more titles from this: City County, State
Publisher:
M.A. Brown
Dates of publication:
1883-1891
Description:
  • Ceased in 1891.
  • Vol. 1, no. 1 (Jan. 27, 1883)-
Frequency:
Weekly
Language:
  • English
Subjects:
  • De Smet (S.D.)--Newspapers.
  • Kingsbury County (S.D.)--Newspapers.
  • South Dakota--De Smet.--fast--(OCoLC)fst01206790
  • South Dakota--Kingsbury County.--fast--(OCoLC)fst01215892
Notes:
  • Available on microfilm from: State Archives, South Dakota State Historical Society.
  • Merged with: Kingsbury County news, to form: DeSmet news.
LCCN:
sn 00065129
OCLC:
43479276
Succeeding Titles:
Holdings:
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The DeSmet leader. January 27, 1883 , Image 1

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The DeSmet Leader

The De Smet Leader was established January 27, 1883, by Mark A. Brown in De Smet, Dakota Territory, a town located on the route of the Dakota Central Branch of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad. Editor Brown hired printer Carter Sherwood, who became a publisher on June 16, 1883, and an editor on August 1, 1885. Sherwood bought out Brown to become the sole owner of the Leader on October 31, 1885.

The four-page, eight-column newspaper was published on Saturdays by the Leader Publishing Company. Readers from Kingsbury County paid $1.50 per year in advance. A staunch Republican, Editor Sherwood backed Prohibition; he regularly published meeting times of the Kingsbury County chapter of the Women's Christian Temperance Union as well as minutes of the meetings. Another common topic was the settlement of Dakota Territory; land notices, Homestead Law revisions, and letters from the Commissioner of Public Lands were published as well as lists tracking its growth by county. These lists included population counts, number of schools per county, county valuations, and number of businesses established. A weekly column carried territorial news and promoted further settlement of the area. Sherwood favored dividing Dakota Territory into two states. When another newspaper ran an article stating that there was resistance from the eastern states to dividing Dakota Territory as they were ". . . jealous of the growing power of the West . . .", he stated that "... North Dakota and South Dakota as one huge state will quarrel like two cats tied together." The Leader's content was primarily local snippets of news and columns about surrounding small towns, as well as boilerplate including short stories, poetry, agricultural advice, and railroad news. Every edition included legal notices as well as railroad schedules. A stagecoach line's schedules for travel to Watertown and Clark were published until June 27, 1885. The Leader's last issue was printed on November 1, 1890; the following year Sherwood consolidated the Leader with C.B. McDonald's Kingsbury County News to form the De Smet News.

Provided by: South Dakota State Historical Society – State Archives