Wilmot Brookings - Early Dakota Territory

Early Dakota Territory

When Minnesota was admitted to the union in 1858, Sioux Falls became part of the newly forming Dakota Territory. Though Dakota Territory did not officially form until 1861, an interim provisional government formed in 1859 and elected Brookings to the upper house of the interim territorial legislature. That legislative body later appointed Brookings Governor of Dakota Territory. However, the federal government refused to acknowledge either the provisional government or its territorial governor as official. When the region finally did became an organized territory in 1861, Brookings was elected to the Territory Council for two years and later served three straight terms as a representative from Yankton County. In 1864 he served as territory speaker of the house and was appointed superintendent of the U.S. Military Wagon Road from Minnesota to Montana in 1865.