Part One The History of the South Dakota Constitution

On March 2, 1861, President James Buchanan signed the bill that created the Dakota Territory.1 Within this territory were included the present states of North and South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming. President Abraham Lincoln then appointed William Jayne of Illinois as the first governor of the territory. The first territorial legislature convened on March 17, 1862 in Yankton, chosen as the first territorial capital over Sioux Falls, an older town, and Vermilion, the largest town in Dakota.2 The territorial bill had been preceded by a convention held in Sioux Falls...