Oyate Sica/Bad Nation History

This information was taken from the following sources: Lakota Archives and Historical Research Center Rosebud Sioux Tribe Sites Project, Prepared with a FY 93 Historic Preservation Fund Grant from the National Park Service, 1995; Mellette County South Dakota, 1911-1961, by the Mellette County Centennial Committee; Bennett-Mellette-Todd Counties, SD County Wide Directory: 15th Anniversary Issue, Larchwood, IA: County-Wide Directory L.L.C.; Trails and Forts: History of Exploration and Settlement by Milo Koskan, 2005.

Churches: St. Catherines Catholic Church (built in 1911), Episcopal Church (built in 1896), and Congregational Church (built in 1909).

Buildings: Charles Roubideaux had a store called the Runningville Store which also housed a Post Office. A Day School was built in 1894 and operated until 1920 when it was converted to a Dance Hall. Dances were held at Whirlwind Soldier Hall about once a month. Potlucks, rodeos, and baseball games were also enjoyed at the hall. The Bad Nation General Store served the people of the community. Bad Nation Colony was established along the Big White River when seven government houses were constucted in the 1930s. Each house had two rooms with a closet, a dougout basement, a porch, a pump, a toilet, and a chicken coop. The cannery building from Bad Nation was eventually hauled to Wood where it became the Legion Hall.

A postoffice (originally named Runningville) was established in 1916 in Sec. 4, T42N, R25W. The name was changed to Bad Nation in 1938 and it continued to operate until 1942 when it was discontinued. Mail was then sent to Wood.

Families: Whirlwind Soldier, Boyd, Pratt, Jackson, Roubideaux, War Bonnet, Garneaux, Larvie, One Feather, Moran, Yellow Eagle, Brown Bull, Peneaux, Eastman, Hawk, Fast Horse, Kills Alive, Taylor, Andrews, Iron Shooter, Charging Elk, and Thick Bread.

Issue Station: The station was located at the Farm Station south of Wood.

Location: The community is north of Wood in Mellette County in what was originally called Farm District No. IV.

Origins: This community was settled in the early 1890s when Whirlwind Soldier's band moved from near the Rosebud Agency to live about four or five miles from the mouth of Oak Creek. Homer Whirlwind Soldier said that the community got it's name because of a group of quarrelsome people who came there to live and intermarried into Whirlwind Soldiers camp.

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