Codington County Museum

Using photography, historic documents, and a drone video, Wilson will share a few of the interesting experiences that Irish and his crew had while surveying for the Chicago & North Western Railroad from 1879 to 1881. The adventures touched upon other aspects of life in Dakota Territory during the era, and included negotiations with the Lakota to scout across their land. The work was cut short by the Hard Winter of 1880-81, though they tried to keep the work going for the first several months of blizzards. The talk will end with a particular research success to locate the camp location where Irish and his men experienced the first blizzard of the Hard Winter.