South Dakota Emigration and Immigration

United States Immigration Online Genealogy Records

Online Resources

 * 1500s-1900s All U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s at Ancestry; index only ($); Also at MyHeritage; index only ($); includes those with Destination of South Dakota
 * 1821-1989 U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 at Ancestry; index & images ($)
 * 1895-1956 United States, Border Crossings from Canada, 1895-1956 at MyHeritage; index & images ($); includes those with Destination of South Dakota
 * 1898-1899 South Dakota State Historical Society: South Dakota State Brand Book (Index), 1898-1899
 * 1900 Little Gem Brand Book, 1900

Cultural Groups

 * 1920-1939 Germany, Bremen Emigration Lists, 1920-1939 at MyHeritage; index only ($); includes those with Destination of South Dakota
 * Germans Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritage; index only ($); includes those with Destination of South Dakota
 * Italians Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritage; index only ($); includes those with Destination of South Dakota
 * Russians Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritage; index only ($); includes those with Destination of South Dakota
 * Odessa3: Germans from Russia

People
The photo above shows men working on a South Dakota railroad around 1910. During the first half of the nineteenth century, various Sioux (also called Dakota) tribes lived in the area that became South Dakota. These included the Santee, Teton, Yankton, and Yanktonnais tribes. The Dakota Sioux Indians comprise about five percent of the state's present population. Most of the present inhabitants are descendants of pioneers who came to South Dakota before 1920. Pre-statehood settlers of South Dakota generally came from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois. Many of the pre-1860 settlers were of Norwegian descent. Some came to southeastern South Dakota by covered wagon across northern Iowa or southern Minnesota. Others came by railway to St. Joseph, Missouri, then by steamboat up the Missouri River. The first major influx of settlers began in 1863, after passage of the first Homestead Act. Homesteaders in the late 1860s and early 1870s came from the eastern and mid-western states. Many others came from Europe, including groups of Swedes, Danes, Czechs, and Germans from Russia. The Black Hills gold rush of 1875-1877 also attracted thousands of people. The great Dakota land boom in northeastern and central South Dakota began in 1877 and reached its peak by 1887, two years before statehood. This boom, coinciding with the construction of railways into the region, brought many additional settlers. Immigrants of many ethnic backgrounds, especially English, Scandinavian, and Dutch, continued to come from nearby states of the upper Mississippi valley. Small groups also came directly from overseas, including Welsh immigrants and additional Germans from Russia. New lands became available in the western part of the state in the early 1900s, but a severe drought in 1910 and 1911 brought a temporary halt to homesteading and caused significant emigration from the state.