I pointed out that the the Wade Hampton Census Area in Alaska became the Kusilvak Census Area in a recent Reader Mailbag article. Alaska’s census areas exists as a unique construct. They serve as a convenient parceling of the Unorganized Borough while being considered “county equivalents” by the Federal government for a number of statistical purposes. Still, consider this renaming a big deal. Counties (or county equivalents) change names very infrequently.
Longtime reader Scott Surgent replied, “You may have already mentioned this, but another county changed its name as of May 1, 2015: Shannon County, South Dakota, is now Oglala Lakota County.” Well no, actually, I hadn’t mentioned it. In fact I didn’t even know about it until Scott said something. I must have been asleep at the wheel. Thank you Scott for calling me out!
A Closer Look
Let’s go ahead and take a look Oglala Lakota County and explore the reasoning behind the name.
Shannon County, now Oglala Lakota County, formed near the southwest corner of South Dakota in 1875. The land immediately west, the actual southwestern corner became Fall River County. However, unlike most counties, Oglala Lakota does not have a county seat. Neighboring Fall River County handles those functions from Its administrative center in Hot Springs. According to the South Dakota Association of County Officials,
“Until 1982 Oglala Lakota and Washabaugh County, South Dakota, were the last unorganized counties in the United States. Although it was organized and received a home rule charter that year, Oglala Lakota County… contracts with Fall River County for its Auditor, Treasurer, Director of Equalization, State’s Attorney and Registrar of Deeds.”
Technically the Unorganized Borough in Alaska remains unorganized. There, boroughs equate to counties with a different name so, evidently, we have a situation of semantics. Nonetheless, the larger point remains that Oglala Lakota continues to be governed in an unusual manner. Additionally, it had the lowest annual per capita income of any county in the United States — only $8,768 — which likely explained some of the peculiarities. It couldn’t afford to provide these services on its own.
Why Shannon?
The name Shannon affixed to the county from 1875 to 2015. Nonetheless that didn’t stop residents from selecting a new name in a landslide. It captured 80% of ballots cast in the November 2014 election. The South Dakota Legislature reviewed and endorsed the vote the following Spring. Thus, Shannon became Oglala Lakota.
Peter C. Shannon lived in South Dakota for several years in the late Nineteenth Century. He’d been a career politician from Pennsylvania. During that time he served in minor positions as a loyal supporter of Abraham Lincoln. President Ulysses Grant rewarded Shannon by appointing him Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Dakota Territory.
He held that position while counties formed within the Territory. Naturally they named one for him. Consider him a political hack who benefited from fortunate timing. Eventually Shannon “fell out of favor with territorial lawyers who successfully blocked his application for reappointment in 1881.” He died in San Diego in 1899 from injuries suffered in a carriage accident.
Nonetheless, a county still bore his name for more than a century.
Why Oglala Lakota?
Plenty of counties in the United States referenced insignificant historical figures. Yet, their names still stand. However, here the Pine Ridge Reservation covers the entirety of the county. Its people belong to the Oglala Lakota Nation. That should be sufficient justification simply by itself.
In addition, Peter Shannon didn’t treat the Native American population well. He “took part in the corrupt and coercive process of carving up the enormous Great Sioux Reservation in the late 19th century.” The Rapid City Journal quoted Short Bull, a member of the tribe who explained, “for Oglala Lakota tribal members like himself, Peter Shannon embodied the changes forced upon his people; from governance changes to the introduction of private property ownership.”
It seemed like an open-and-shut case. Many Oglala Lakota, the primary inhabitants of the county, viewed Shannon as an oppressor. The name needed to go. I’m surprised the vote didn’t hit greater than 80%.
Other County Name Changes in the Works?
I don’t know. Hopefully the 12MC audience will speak up if anything seems to be in the works. I did spot a recent (September 2015) article in the State Journal-Register from Springfield, Illinois: Historical society director floats plan for new Illinois county names
“[Bill] Furry, the executive director of the Illinois State Historical Society, suggests renaming Illinois’ counties. All 102 of them. And he wants the public to participate… ‘For more than 150 years, they have honored a past that is beyond any living person’s memory,’ Furry said. ‘Given that Illinois history is rarely taught in school these days, the names of the counties might as well be written in Latin, or worse, French. Illinois is French, by the way’.”
To which the Jacksonville Journal-Courier from west-central Illinois responded, Renaming counties a costly, unnecessary rewrite of history; “Even now and then, a good idea comes to light. This is not one of them.”
Jacksonville, Illinois, one should note, fell within Morgan County. The county was named for one of those figures who died beyond any living person’s memory: Daniel Morgan, a hero of the Revolutionary War and the suppressor of the Whiskey Rebellion (1791–1794).
Maybe the suggestion hit a little too close to home.
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