Fort Pierre is a city in
Stanley County, South Dakota, United States. It is part of the
Pierre, South Dakota micropolitan area and the
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
of
Stanley County. The population was 2,115 at the
2020 census.
The settlement of Fort Pierre developed around an 1832 fort situated on the west bank of the
Missouri River
The Missouri River is a river in the Central United States, Central and Mountain states, Mountain West regions of the United States. The nation's longest, it rises in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Moun ...
, near the confluence with its tributary
Bad River. Earlier European exploration was by the French beginning in the early 1700s. An American-owned trading post had been operating near what became the fort since 1817, and in 2017 the city celebrated its bicentennial of continuous permanent settlement.
History
On March 30, 1743, Francois and
Louis-Joseph Gaultier de La Vérendrye reached the area of present-day Fort Pierre during an expedition west from Quebec, a French colony in present-day Canada.
They left a lead plate buried in a hill in what is now the city to claim the land for the King of France. In the 1803
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase () was the acquisition of the Louisiana (New France), territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. This consisted of most of the land in the Mississippi River#Watershed, Mississipp ...
, the United States acquired this area and the remainder of France's vast territory west of the Mississippi River.
President
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...
commissioned the
Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery Expedition in 1804 to explore the territory, especially by traveling west to the Upper Missouri and Platte rivers, in the hope of finding a water route to the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
. They met with the
Teton Sioux on the south side of the mouth of the
Bad River on September 24–28, 1804.
In 1817 fur trader Joseph La Framboise, Jr., an agent for the
American Fur Company, established Fort Tecumseh a mile to the north, on what is now La Framboise Island in the Missouri River. The fur trade was highly lucrative and attracted competitors. In 1832,
Pierre Chouteau, Jr., a major
fur trader from
St Louis, replaced that early facility with
Fort Pierre Chouteau, a trading post and fort on the west side of the Missouri and north side of the Bad River's mouth in what is now the city.
The city of Fort Pierre gradually developed around the trading post. Fort Pierre celebrated its Bicentennial in 2017, marking 200 years of continuous permanent settlement at the confluence of the Missouri and Bad rivers.
In 1880, the settlement of
Pierre was founded on the east side of the Missouri River in
Hughes County. Because it was centrally located and reached first by the railroad, it was designated by the state legislature as the state capital when South Dakota was admitted as a state.
Geography
Across the Missouri River from Fort Pierre is the state capital of South Dakota,
Pierre.
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.
Although Fort Pierre is located in the
Mountain Time Zone
The Mountain Time Zone of North America keeps time by subtracting seven hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) when standard time ( UTC−07:00) is in effect, and by subtracting six hours during daylight saving time ( UTC−06:00). The ...
, most residents of the city use
Central Time because of close social and economic ties with
Pierre, which is located in the Central Time Zone.
Demographics
2010 census
As of the
census
A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2010, there were 2,078 people, 893 households, and 586 families living in the city. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
was . There were 959 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 89.4%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 0.3%
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 6.6%
Native American, 0.2%
Asian, 0.2% from
other races, and 3.3% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or
Latino of any race were 0.7% of the population.
There were 893 households, of which 30.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.6% were
married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.3% had a male householder with no wife present, and 34.4% were non-families. 30.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.86.
The median age in the city was 41.8 years. 24.1% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.6% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 23.2% were from 25 to 44; 30% were from 45 to 64; and 16% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.4% male and 50.6% female.
2000 census
As of the
census
A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2000, there were 1,991 people, 810 households, and 538 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 875 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 92.16%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 0.20%
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 5.22%
Native American, 0.30%
Asian, 0.15% from
other races, and 1.96% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or
Latino of any race were 0.40% of the population.
There were 810 households, out of which 34.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.4% were
married couples living together, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.5% were non-families. 28.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 3.01.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 28.0% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 28.3% from 25 to 44, 25.4% from 45 to 64, and 11.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.8 males.
As of 2000 the median income for a household in the city was $41,181, and the median income for a family was $47,885. Males had a median income of $29,948 versus $21,208 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year.
In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the city was $20,478. About 7.4% of families and 8.9% of the population were below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, including 12.2% of those under age 18 and 14.8% of those age 65 or over.
Climate
The data here are for a weather station 17 miles west-southwest of Fort Pierre, near
Wendte. Fort Pierre's reading of 120 °F is tied for the highest temperature recorded in the state of South Dakota (the other occurrence of 120 °F was at
Gann Valley in 1934).
Media
''AM Radio''
*
KGFX (AM) 1060, (
Country music
Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
)
*
KCCR AM 1240, (
Adult Contemporary)
''FM Radio''
*
KGFX-FM 92.7, (
Adult Contemporary)
*
KPLO-FM 94.5, (
Country music
Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
)
*
KLXS FM 95.3, (
Classic Hits)
*
KJBI FM 100.1, (
Classic Hits)
''Television''
*
KTSD-TV Ch. 10
PBS
*
KPLO-TV Ch. 13
CBS
*
KDLV-TV Ch. 26
NBC
The ''
Capital Journal'' is the local newspaper.
Notable people
*
Pierre Chouteau Jr. (1789-1865) - French merchant, trader and entrepreneur after whom Pierre and Fort Pierre, South Dakota, are named.
*
Walter Dale Miller - Former
governor
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
.
*
George Philip Jr. - World War II naval officer, commanding officer of , Navy Cross recipient, and namesake of
*
Clint Roberts -
U.S. Representative
*
Mike Rounds -
U.S. Senator; 31st
Governor of South Dakota; former
state senator
*
Casey Tibbs - American cowboy and actor.
*
John C. Waldron -
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
aviator from Fort Pierre.
External links
City of Fort Pierre Official Website National Park Service website
References
{{Authority control
Cities in South Dakota
Cities in Stanley County, South Dakota
County seats in South Dakota
Pierre, South Dakota micropolitan area
South Dakota populated places on the Missouri River
Forts in South Dakota
Forts along the Missouri River