Editing Miner County, South Dakota (section)

==History==
The area is situated on the site of [[Dakota people|Dakota Sioux]] trails that connected two sites of cultural significance to the Dakota people, the [[Pipestone National Monument|pipestone quarries]] in southwestern [[Minnesota]] and the Sioux Crossing of the Three Rivers, near present-day [[Fort Thompson, South Dakota|Fort Thompson]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://history.sd.gov/preservation/otherservices/markersmasterlist.pdf|title=South Dakota State Historical Society Markers|access-date=November 28, 2015|publisher=South Dakota State Historical Society|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150824044505/http://history.sd.gov/preservation/OtherServices/MarkersMasterList.pdf|archive-date=August 24, 2015}}</ref> [[South Dakota Highway 34]] now roughly follows this route.

The [[Fort Ridgely and South Pass Wagon Road]], also known as Nobles Trail, the first road in [[Dakota Territory]], passed through the area. It was made in 1857, connecting [[Fort Ridgely|Fort Ridgley, Minnesota]] with [[South Pass (Wyoming)|South Pass]] in [[Wyoming Territory]], along the [[Oregon Trail]]. The Minnesota and Powder River Road of 1865 also passed through the county.<ref name=":0"/>

The boundaries of present-day Miner County experienced several changes during territorial times. The county was established in 1873 by the [[Dakota Territory|Dakota Territorial Legislature]] when [[Hanson County, South Dakota|Hanson County]] was divided into several parts.<ref>{{Cite web|title=DT, ND, SD: Individual County Chronologies|url=http://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/documents/DAKs_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm|website=publications.newberry.org|access-date=November 28, 2015|archive-date=April 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180402202102/http://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/documents/DAKs_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> It was named for Ephriam Miner, a territorial legislator, and Nelson Miner, a territorial legislator and captain in the [[1st Dakota Cavalry Battalion|1st Dakota Cavalry]]. At the time, Miner County spanned the southern half of present-day Miner and [[Sanborn County, South Dakota|Sanborn]] counties; Bramble County (now extinct) spanned the northern portion of these counties.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=History of South Dakota|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofsouthda01robi|publisher=B. F. Bowen|date=January 1, 1904|first=Doane|last=Robinson}}</ref> In 1879 the legislature combined Miner, Bramble, and portions of Wetmore counties, and eliminated the latter two. The new Miner County was organized the following year with [[Forestburg, South Dakota|Forestburg]] as the county seat. In 1883 the county was divided; the western portion being renamed [[Sanborn County, South Dakota|Sanborn County]], and the eastern portion retaining the name Miner County. [[Howard, South Dakota|Howard]] was named the county seat of Miner County.<ref name=":1"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/documents/DAKs_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm|title=Dakota Territory, South Dakota, and North Dakota: Individual County Chronologies|website=Dakota Territory Atlas of Historical County Boundaries|publisher=The [[Newberry Library]]|date=2006|access-date=March 30, 2015|archive-date=April 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180402202102/http://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/documents/DAKs_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1881, the [[Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad|Milwaukee Road]] railroad opened tracks in Miner County that followed Fort Ridgely Road from east to west, connecting [[Madison, South Dakota|Madison]] to [[Woonsocket, South Dakota|Woonsocket]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://history.sd.gov/preservation/OtherServices/SDRailroad.pdf|title=South Dakota's Railroads|access-date=November 28, 2015|publisher=South Dakota State Historic Preservation Office|page=80|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111204158/http://history.sd.gov/preservation/OtherServices/SDRailroad.pdf|archive-date=November 11, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[Chicago and North Western Transportation Company|Chicago and North Western]] railroad opened tracks from [[Hawarden, Iowa]], to [[Iroquois, South Dakota|Iroquois]], crossing northwest across the county in 1882.<ref name=":2"/> These railroads have since abandoned their tracks in the county.

The first settler in Miner County was Matthew A. Moore, who homesteaded near the present site of Howard in the spring of 1879. Significant homesteading started in the latter part of 1879 and concluded in 1884, when all available government land had been claimed. Settlers were primarily [[Norwegians|Norwegian]], [[Germans|German]], [[Danes|Danish]], [[Welsh people|Welsh]], [[Irish people|Irish]] and [[Swedes|Swedish]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|title=Prairie Tamers of Miner County, South Dakota|publisher=Prepared by the Federal Writers' Project of the [[Works Progress Administration]] in South Dakota|year=1939}}</ref>

On August 28, 1884, the second known photograph of a [[tornado]] was taken in Miner County. See [[1884 Howard, South Dakota tornado]].<ref>{{Cite journal|title=AMS Journals Online|doi=10.1175/1520-0477(1984)065<0360:etp>2.0.co;2|volume=65|journal=Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society|pages=360–364|doi-access=free}}</ref>

The current Miner County Courthouse was built in 1938 at a cost of $107,000 by the [[Great Depression]]-era [[Public Works Administration]] and was dedicated on September 26, 1938.<ref name=":3"/>

On June 13, 1943, two [[Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress|B-17 bombers]] from the 393rd Bomb Group of the [[Sioux City Air National Guard Base|Sioux City Army Air Base]] collided while on a training exercise over Miner County. One plane crashed immediately, and the other made a controlled landing in a creek bed several miles away. Eleven airmen were killed.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Crash of the Flying Sioux - South Dakota Historical Markers |url=http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM3QH3 |access-date=November 28, 2015 |website=Waymarking.com}}</ref>