TALKING TRAIL

Sully County opened for settlement in April, 1883. The area around Okobojo had been surveyed several months before and several “squatters” had taken up residence prior to the official opening. However, just prior to the area opening for settlement, an extensive fire stretching from Pierre to Bismarck left the prairie black. A few weeks later, the scorched prairie turned a beautiful green and new shacks were erected daily. At a preliminary organizational meeting in Llewellyn Park township, the settlers chose the name Pymosa. When the first school bonds were issued the township was known as Pymosa school township. Several months later the area came under civil organization and Okobojo became the official name.

Proximity to Fort Sully and the Missouri River was one of Okobojo’s advantages. Forty to fifty teams passed through daily in the early months of settlement, hauling supplies primarily to Fairbank. The stage coach carrying mail and passengers from Pierre to Bismarck also passed through and, on an exciting day in May 1884, the Okobojo Times reported that the telephone line between Pierre and Fairbank would run through the town as well. Before long, Okobojo was a center of activity. A hardware store and steam flour mill had opened, as well as a shoe store, blacksmith shop, hotel, and a cane mill.

Soldiers from Fort Sully came to Okobojo for a chance to socialize. Short of cash, officers and soldiers would trade different pieces of their uniforms for goods and many of the settlers could be seen with army issued shirts, pants, etc.

Okobojo was a gathering place for the people of southwestern Sully. On the third Sunday in June 1883 Chaplain G. D. Crocker of Fort Sully conducted the first religious services at Okobojo. A Sunday school, with William Hamilton as superintendent, was established in July and services were held regularly for many years.

In 1890 a town hall was erected for recreational purposes. After being destroyed by a tornado on June 14, 1924, it was rebuilt and hosted dances, Christmas parties, weddings, funerals, showers, speaking contests, and meetings of the Okobojo Women’s Club through the early 1970’s.

Okobojo and Blaine were the first schools in Sully County to receive state aid in 1920. In the 1950’s and early 1960’s two schools remained in Okobojo: West Okobojo and East Okobojo. By 1970, both schools had closed. The west schoolhouse was moved north of Pierre where it became a garage. The east building was moved into Onida where it briefly served as the chorus room.

Like many pioneer towns, Okobojo residents worked together to meet challenges. One example of this was when a devastating scabies outbreak threatened cattle herds in 1904. The men came together to form the Stone Tank Dipping Company. At their planning meeting “the steel vat at the stone cellar and the wooden tubs were thoroughly cussed and discussed” until a plan was formed to rectify the situation.