South Dakota Territorial Census, 1885

DESCRIPTION:

This database is an index to the census of South Dakota Territory in 1885 (Rolls 9527 and 9528). The database is particularly important due to the absence of a federal census in 1890. The Dakota Territory Special Federal 1885 census was taken under federal guidelines just four short years before statehood in 1889. Entries include name, race, age, and birthplace for each individual enumerated on the census. The following counties are represented in this database of the South Dakota Territorial Census, 1885:

French explorers are known to have made their way to what is now South Dakota, as early as 1743. The Spanish held dominion over the land for the first part of the 18th century, but South Dakota was sold to the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. By the late 1800s, there were enough people in the territory to create two states. Thus, the U.S. Congress approved the division of the territory creating the states of North Dakota and South Dakota in 1889.