South Dakota Emigration and Immigration: Difference between revisions

*Many of the pre-1860 settlers were of '''Norwegian''' descent.  The first major influx of settlers began in 1863, after passage of the first '''[https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/homestead-act Homestead Act]'''. Homesteaders in the late 1860s and early 1870s came from the eastern and mid-western states. Many others came from Europe, including groups of Swedes, Danes, Czechs, and Germans from Russia. The '''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hills_Gold_Rush Black Hills gold rush of 1875-1877]''' also attracted thousands of people. The great Dakota land boom in northeastern and central South Dakota began in 1877 and reached its peak by 1887, two years before statehood. This boom, coinciding with the construction of railways into the region, brought many additional settlers. Immigrants of many ethnic backgrounds, especially English, Scandinavian, and Dutch, continued to come from nearby states of the upper Mississippi valley. Small groups also came directly from overseas, including Welsh immigrants and additional Germans from Russia. New lands became available in the western part of the state in the early 1900s, but a severe drought in 1910 and 1911 brought a temporary halt to homesteading and caused significant emigration from the state.