Pioneer Memorial -- Sioux Falls SD
N 43° 34.472 W 096° 42.697
14T E 684777 N 4827163
A Sioux Falls Pink Quartzite obelisk serves as a memorial to the pioneers who came to Minnehaha County Pioneers in the 19th century period between the establishment of the City of Sioux Falls and the arrival of South Dakota statehood.
Waymark Code: WMJQ99
Location: South Dakota, United States
Date Posted: 12/17/2013
Views: 7
This grand obelisk of local pink Quartzite was erected in 1949 to memorialize the hardships faced by the pioneers who came to Minnehaha county from 1856-1889. The memorial was erected in 1949, and a second memorial stone tablet was installed here in 1999. The obelisk is capped with a short pointed concrete cap.
The original obelisk has an embedded bronze plaque that reads as follows:
"Memorial
to the
Pioneers
of
Minnehaha County
1856-1889
Erected by
The Minnehaha County
Historical Society
1949"
A carved pink granite boulder was added to the memorial 50 years later:
"THE PIONEER MEMORIAL
Honors the early settlers who faced the harsh and lonely prairie, the ferocity of the elements, and the uncertainty of their fate in this new land. Between 1856 when Sioux Falls City was platted and 1889 when South Dakota achieved statehood, they built homes, farms, and businesses and planted their family roots in Minnehaha County. This Sioux Quartzite obelisk was erected in their memory in 1949.
1999
Minnehaha County Historical Society"
The murder of the Amidon family, which lead to the abandonment of the coty for a period of time occurred here, and is memorialized with a separate State Historic marker. See (
visit link)