The Stockgrowers Bank of Fort Pierre

Charles Millett staked a squatter's claim in Fort Pierre in April 1890, the spring the reservation land west of the river opened, and by 1903 he, the lumberman Gaylord Sumner and the rancher Scotty Philip had put up this brick bank on Deadwood Street. Its first officers ran the cattle town's other institutions: Anton and Frank Fischer of the general store, and the Reverend Thomas L. Riggs. The Fischer Brothers name recurs on the 1956 Fur Posts bronze down the street, and Millett ran branch banks as far west as Milesville.

What the plaque says

The Stockgrowers Bank of Fort Pierre The National Register listed the Stockgrowers Bank and it is the single example of Romanesque Revival architecture in Fort Pierre. The building represents an interesting and well-executed adaptation of the style to the needs of the small frontier community and is the most important commercial building erected in Fort Pierre during the 20th century. The bank symbolizes the commercial development of Fort Pierre during the early 20th century as the business center for much of western South Dakota's cattle raising activity. The two-story, brick building dominates the center of town. The cut sandstone foundation, polygonal corner tower with ornamental festoons, decorative brickwork and arched windows with brick keystones set it apart. The Stockgrowers Bank quickly became the most prestigious office and commercial building in Fort Pierre. In addition to the bank itself, one other tenant included the first telephone exchange in Fort Pierre. The 1860 census listed 15 people living in town. The Discovery of Gold in the Black Hills changed all of that. By 1877, Fort Pierre was a boom town of 300 plus people with stores, hotels, saloons and huge freight warehouses. So much was coming up river by steamboat that (Continued on other side) The Stockgrowers Bank of Fort Pierre (Continued from other side) freight was stacked up along the riverbank awaiting overland transport. On an average day five wagon trains with a total of 75 wagons filled with freight and feed would leave for the Black Hills. Charles L. Millett and his wife settled in Fort Pierre in 1890 when the Great Sioux Reservation opened to white settlement. They established squatter rights for their residence in April of that year and officially incorporated a banking enterprise at the corner of Deadwood and Main Streets, the future site of the Stockgrowers Bank. In 1903, Millett, along with Gaylord E. Sumner and James (Scotty) Philip, constructed the building and began the Stockgrowers Bank which became the business center. He also had a chain of associated banks in Midland, Philip, Kadoka, Cottonwood, and Milesville. Among the first officers of the bank were Anton and Frank Fischer, originators of what was the oldest general store under continuous management in central South Dakota. Other officers included the owner of the first lumber yard in Fort Pierre Gaylord Sumner, Reverend Thomas L. Riggs, and rancher James (Scotty) Philip.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Verendrye Monument — 0.6 mi
  The hilltop above Fort Pierre where three children found a lead plate in 1913 that two French brothers had buried in 1743 to claim the West for their king.
• South Dakota State Capitol — 1.5 mi
  A copper-domed capitol built to end three elections' worth of fighting over where the capital belonged, beside a lake fed by an artesian well with a gas flame burning in it.
• Oahe Dam — 6.7 mi
  One of the largest rolled-earth dams in the world, dedicated by President Kennedy in 1962, holding back a reservoir that reaches more than 230 miles to Bismarck.

More markers nearby

• Father Hoecken Monument — steps away
• Fort Pierre — 0.2 mi
• Fur Posts — 0.2 mi
• Verendrye Hill and Monument — 0.4 mi