Travare

The town that took the safe had its own short reign. Wilmot was organized in 1881 after years of Norwegian homesteading and named for Wilmot Brookings, provisional governor of Dakota Territory, the same man Brookings is named for. It incorporated in 1891, lost the seat to Sisseton within the decade, and counted 432 people in 2020. The arrow the bronze sends drivers to stands in Browns Valley, Minnesota, first settled in 1867 by Joseph R. Brown, whose post office opened that year as Lake Traverse and took the name Browns Valley in 1872.

What the plaque says

Travare Straight ahead 2 1/4 miles Until 1883, Grant County extended N to the S end of Lake Traverse and out to the Sisseton Reservation line. With the creation of Roberts County, Governor Ordway appointed Major Crissey, Sisseton Agent, Frederick Dittes and Reuben E. Hall to organize it. Dittes lived S of the Little Minnesota and at his house, the County was organized on August 6, 1883. There, Travare was platted and on the 27th, named as County seat; the Courthouse near Dittes home. The Wilmot Journal was the official county newspaper. Wilmot had a railroad, a more central location and a yen to be county seat. In 1884, new commissioners were elected and a red hot county seat contest ensued. Travare then had its own newspaper, the Dakota Sun, and the editors blasted away. The legality of the Courthouse contest was disputable and Judge Smith denied Wilmot's suit for possession twice. The Travare guards, celebrating the second court victory too well — neglected their duty and a sleigh load of Wilmotians, led by one German, took the county safe and records over to Wilmot. The 1885 Territorial legislature, in an after- thought to an act bounding Richland county, took the matter away from the court by declaring Wilmot the county seat, and Travare wasted away. Today, a few rocks and a hole in the ground where the Courthouse stood are its sole vestige. The place is marked and a trip E 2 miles to a "Travare 1.3" arrow on Browns Valley's main street will lead you there. Erected 1960 by Dybdahl, Christofferson, Nelson, Roth and Dickenson, Roberts County Commissioners and State Highway Department

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Joseph N. Nicollet Tower and Interpretive Center — 12 mi
  A tower on the edge of the Coteau des Prairies honoring the French mapmaker who drew this country in 1838 and 1839 and kept the Dakota names on the map.
• Sica Hollow State Park — 20 mi
  Wooded ravines on the edge of the Coteau, on the Lake Traverse Reservation, where the springs run iron-red and the Dakota tell of a good land gone bad.

More markers nearby

• Ancient River Warren Channel — steps away
• Stones from Log Flour Mill — 9.5 mi
• Map of Northeast South Dakota — 12 mi
• John Otherday — 14 mi