“The 1900 Campaign Whistlestop By Theodore Roosevelt”

On September 11, 1900, Theodore Roosevelt spoke from a platform at this intersection on Ninth Street and Minnesota Avenue. Thousands turned out for ‘Roosevelt Day’ to see and hear the 41-year-old governor of New York, who was running for the vice-presidency on a ticket with the incumbent Republican president, William McKinley, of Ohio.

South Dakotans generally knew Roosevelt as a wealthy easterner who enjoyed frequent and extended retreats to the rugged western frontier. Little Missouri, near Medora, Dakota Territory, was the site of a ranch house which he built, largely with his own hands. He had received recognition and honors for his leadership in the Spanish-American War where he led a regiment of volunteers, the Rough Riders, in a charge against an enemy stronghold on San Juan Hill in Cuba. Many also admired his efforts to enact political and social reforms while he served in both appointed and elected posts.

Roosevelt’s visit to Sioux Falls occurred during his national campaign tour. In all, he barnstormed through 567 communities in 24 states, made 673 speeches to more than 3,000,000 people. The candidate and a small troupe of Midwestern office-holders made 27 whistlestops in South Dakota between September 11 and 14. Sioux Falls was the fourth stop of the campaign train in the state.

Many local dignitaries participated in the celebration with O.L. Sues serving as Marshall for the day. In Roosevelt’s entourage was Colonel Melvin Grigsby of Sioux Falls, a prominent Civil War veteran, one-time Attorney General of South Dakota, and commander of Grigsby’s Cowboys, another unit commissioned for the war with Spain.

Despite a stormy day, people from the city and the surrounding countryside lined the streets before 10:00 A.M. to shout ‘Teddy’ as he rode in a horse drawn carriage from the Milwaukee Depot at Fifth Street and Phillips Avenue to the speakers’ stand. Steam whistles blew, storefronts bore patriotic decorations, and banners stretched from one lamppost to another.

Stalwart supporters wore buttons, and bands paraded along with hundreds attired in khaki Rough Rider costumes.

Stiff chilling winds forced Roosevelt into nearby City Auditorium for his 30-minute speech to an overflowing house, but then he returned to the outdoor platform for a few rousing words to the

cheering crowd. He declared, ‘You have got to have courage, honesty, and good sense, and you have got to have them on the part of the nation just as much as on the part of an individual.'

In the November general election, the team of McKinely and Roosevelt won 57 percent of the 96,000 votes cast by South Dakotans. When William McKinley died on September 14, 1901, in Buffalo, New York, from wounds inflicted by an assassin, Theodore Roosevelt became the 26th President of the United States of America.

Dedicated in 1996 by the Minnehaha County and South Dakota State Historical Societies, Sioux Falls Area Foundation and Citibank.

Minnehaha County, 100 Minnesota Avenue, Sioux Falls Central Fire Station (2006)