Historic Area

The plaque sets the Dakota name Unkceota, the lake of the prickly pear, beside the English one without saying whom the English name honors. Lake Poinsett, one of the largest lakes in South Dakota, spread across Hamlin and Brookings counties, carries the name of Joel Roberts Poinsett, Secretary of War from 1837 to 1841 under Martin Van Buren. In that office he oversaw the forced removal of Native nations remembered as the Trail of Tears. His other legacy is gentler: as an envoy in Mexico he sent home the red-leaved plant that by 1836 was known as the poinsettia.

What the plaque says

Historic Area The region between Lake Poinsett and Oakwood Lakes was a summer hunting area for the Sioux for over one hundred years. The Sioux who frequented the area used various names for the different features in this area. * Oakwood Lakes was "Tetonkaha," the place of the great summer lodge or tipi. * The Big Sioux River was called "Tchankasandra," the thickly wooded river. * Lake Poinsett was called "Unkceota," the lake of the prickly pear, for the type of cactus found along the shore that made walking barefoot or in moccasins difficult. The April 19, 1858 treaty with the U.S. Government was signed by sixteen Yankton delegates led by Chief Struck-by-the-Ree. It ceded all land between the Big Sioux and Missouri Rivers for the promise of $1.6 million in annuities. Some disagreed with the treaty. Chief Smutty Bear (Mato Sabi Ceya) led opposition to the treaty though he signed it. Erected in 2008, by the Lee and Karen Larsen Family Foundation in memory of Ann O'Byrne who lived for 43 years at Lake Poinsett and operated Arlington Beach and Ann's Cabins.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Ingalls Homestead and the De Smet Historic Homes — 25 mi
  The quarter section a mile from De Smet that Charles Ingalls filed on in 1880 and proved up in 1886, the house in town he built, and the cottonwoods he planted.

More markers nearby

• Laketon Post Office / Oakwood Post Office — 2.1 mi
• South Dakota Central Railroad — 6.8 mi
• 'Ol Spot Mortimer's Cabin — 7.2 mi
• Significant Site — 7.5 mi