3 minute read
Dakota Life Digital Edition: September 2020
The Kingsbury County Courthouse in De Smet. Built in 1898 and is listed on the Federal Historical Register.
I’m very pleased that the Dakota Life team will be on location each month. We see it as a chance to tell more of the South Dakota story within each episode. Our stop in De Smet is familiar to me. My nephew is still in Bull Dogs basketball record books, my wife grew up on a farm a few miles south in Miner County, our family is no stranger to the waters of nearby Lake Thompson… and THERE’S A DAIRY QUEEN!
The ingredients for De Smet to do well are in place. The community is at the intersection of highways 14 and 25, so you’re likely to drive through while on a trip almost anywhere in east central South Dakota. There is a strong connection with our two major industries, Agriculture and Tourism. The surrounding countryside is filled with row crops and livestock, and visitors can walk in the footsteps of Alonzo and Laura Wilder or get away on the waters of Lakes Henry and Thompson. That’s a pretty good start
But there is something special going on in the background. Laird Beck, former manager for Lyle Signs says “De Smet is an example of a Dakota Thing, people caring about each other and willing to give a neighbor the shirt of their back and not as for anything in return.” I think it’s more than people willing to help each other or volunteer for a project to support the community. More than just having a good idea, it’s NOT being afraid to pursue it and believe ANYTHING is possible.
Laura Wilder could not have imagined that writing scenes from her childhood memories would grow into a worldwide following, but it did. Or the community imagining an industrial park would result in De Smet’s population growing by nearly a third each day as people drive into town to go to work. Or that a regional cattle industry promotion would grow into the nationwide program. And there are other examples of home-grown tech companies with an international cliental. Continued on next page.
LAKE THOMPSON NORTH SHORE
De Smet: A Familiar Town on the Prairie continued.
Once you get a taste for not being limited by your imagination, you can build a state-ofthe-art community events and fitness center or resurrect the local newspaper during a pandemic as a volunteer weekly publication. It’s not easy, it’s understanding that problems only become roadblocks if you let them stop you. Bob and Nancy Montross raise cattle near De Smet and are the force behind the “Beef Bucks” promotion campaign. Nancy says “the people around here look to the future. Although we’re proud of our heritage, we want to keep life moving forward.” And Bob adds “there are people in the area that think outside the box and that makes De Smet an exciting community to live in.” I wonder what will happen next in Kingsbury County and I look forward to sharing a visit to Hot Springs in our next Dakota Life.
LAKE THOMPSON LAKE IS 7 MILES SOUTHEAST OF DE SMET. IT HAS GROWN TO COVER MORE THAN 16,000 ACRES AND IS A POPULAR DESTINATION AND RECREATION SITE.
The Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Homes site in De Smet. You can tour two original homes of the Ingalls family and an original school that Laura and Carrie attended.
