Written by Don Schubert
If it were not for the railroad, Garretson would probably stand where Palisades State Park is located. However, it would have been known as Palisades, not Garretson.

White settlers began moving into rough terrain near Split Rock Creek, where Garretson is now located, by the mid 1800’s. However, most settlers abandoned the area after the Minnesota Massacre in 1862. They did not begin returning until a military reservation and Fort Dakota were established in Sioux Falls in 1865.

From 1872 to1880, the area saw a large growth in settlers. S.W.Patten, one of the original founders of the village of Palisades, constructed a flour and feed mill on Split Rock Creek. A small village sprang up around the mill when a post office was built in 1878. The village was first called Pleasant Valley, then Palisades.

In 1886 silver was discovered just down river from Palisades. S.W. Patten was instrumental in discovering the silver. The location of his mine, Merrimoe Loade, can still be seen today as a large depression on the land on the North West side of the river. The assay of the ore proved to contain such a low percent of silver, however, it just was not feasible to continue mining or expand investments.

The Willmar-Sioux Falls railroad line came through in 1888 and the Village of Palisades was already thriving, fueled by a large number of new settlers. In 1889 the Sioux City and Northern Railroad was built by a group of investors from Sioux City which connected with the Willmar-Sioux Falls Railroad line about one and a half miles northeast of Palisades and brought the death of Palisades and the birth of Garretson.

It has been reported that this junction was supposed to have occurred at the location of the town of Sherman thereby guaranteeing the future of that town, and it would have secured the locations of the village of Palisades at its original location. However, it appears some investors saw an opportunity to salvage some of their investment by moving the junction to land they had control over. The businessmen of Palisades were offered free building sites if they would move their businesses to the new location of the town, which was then named Garretson. One of the investors, A.S. Garretson of Sioux City was a driving force behind this and the railroad. The town was renamed Garretson after A.S. Garretson.

The movement of the businesses and the development of building sites of the junction of the railroads sealed the doom of the Village of Palisades and did little good for the location of the town of Sherman. The move from the Palisades to the Garretson site took place in 1889, the same year that South Dakota became a State. Garretson was incorporated as a city and the articles of incorporation were filed on August 22, 1891.

Although the legacy of the James Boys dominates area folklore, theirs is not the only legend. And it is certainly not the first.

Early settlers to the area were told a tale by Native Americans concerning the history of the Spirit Canyon, as they knew the rocky gorge at Garretson. In a time unrecorded, an Indian Warrior. Ha-ShootchGa proved a troublemaker of the first order, setting one tribe on the other at gatherings and trading sessions, telling each side that the other was cheating them.

There lived among one tribe a spirit-protector, Iktomi and as he walked the banks of the Split Rock Ha-ShootchGa insulted him, questioning Iktomi’s bravery and skill. A tomahawk duel resulted, with Ha-ShootchGa turned and fled as Iktomi drew back his own weapon. With his eyes aflame, the Spirit sent his weapon streaking after his enemy and, as it slashed into the ground at the fleers feet, it burst into a shattering lightning bolt that cleared the rock and opened the Devils Gulch of the Spirit Canyon. And Ha-ShootchGa’s tomahawk, as it came hurdling back to earth, sliced out the Palisades.

Another legend of the Gulch concerns the story of Nellie Harding. Nellie, her father, mother, and brother were headed to Dakota Territory in a covered wagon. While camped on the banks of the Sioux River, the family was murdered by some Indians led by a white renegade. They captured Nellie and brought her to the Devil’s Gulch. The young girl’s lover, Dick Willowby, had a vivid dream of the event at his home in Wisconsin. He immediately set out to rescue his Nellie and found her with the captors at Devils Gulch. Dick started shooting at the small party. The only one left alive was the renegade and he appeared with Nellie. A shot from Dick’s pistol meant for the renegade killed Nellie. Dick pursued the renegade for five miles, each shooting at one another. Dick was mortally wounded, but the renegade’s horse stumbled causing his rider an instant death. Dick dragged himself back to his Nellie and died with her in the Canyon.

The other legend of Devils Gulch. Of all the mysteries surrounding Devils Gulch at the North end of Garretson, one of the least known lies beneath the surface of Split Rock Creek. Legend has it in 1876, the outlaw Jesse James coaxed his horse to jump the ravine over the creek to evade a posse that was close behind him. But less well known is the story of the bottomless pit, said to exist beneath the water east of where Jesse James reportedly jumped. In a creek channel that runs anywhere from four to ten feet deep, the pit has been plumbed to a depth of 600 feet without ever finding the bottom. Geologists who have been to the site suggest the bottomless pit might have been formed by an ancient earthquake.

A road off 5th Street in Garretson leads you to a tree-hidden canyon known as Devil’s Gulch. It is a natural chasm, which features scenic rock formation of red quartzite. Next to diamond red quartzite is the hardest rock there is. Devil’s Gulch was formed millions of years ago during the glacier age. Devils Gulch also known as Spirit Canyon, is part of an impressive display of Nature’s power. Hundreds of thousands of years were necessary for flowing water for the Split Rock’s small tributary to slowly cut its way through the solid red quartzite that composes the area’s bedrock. Some geologists say the process was aided by a large earthquake before recorded history, an idea given support by the Indian legend of a tomahawk duel between Native Warriors. The rock has been dated to an age of twelve hundred million years ago, and in some places is believed to be three thousand to four thousand feet thick.

While standing at the footbridge in Devil’s Gulch, imagine the outlaw Jesse James riding as fast as his horse could gallop because a posse is hot on his tail. Jesse approaches the chasm and quickly summarizes the situation.

The story begins at the September 7, 1876 robbery of the First National Bank in Northfield, Minnesota. The gang forced its way in, killing a bank clerk, leaving two of its own member’s dead in the street.

Fleeing Southwest towards Dakota Territory, the six remaining members of the gang split up to elude the following posse. The well-known outlaw youngers, Jim, Rob, and Cole, along with Charlie Pitts, separated themselves from the James Brothers and headed Northwest from Mankato, they were captured at Lake Hansha, Minnesota.

Frank and Jesse pushed on to Dakota Territory, and followed the Split Rock Creek as it crossed the border. Just North of Garretson, Frank followed the river to the West bank while Jesse rode on the East side not knowing Devil’s Gulch laid ahead. As he circled back west, he pulled up short when faced by the Devil’s Gulch.

With the posse closing down on him, he spun his horse and spurred it towards the chasm. With the lawmen watching, Jesse’s horse hurled itself across the twenty-foot gorge. With his pursuers left behind, Jesse rode a mile North where he joined up with his brother Frank. The pair holed up in a rock cave Northwest across the river from the Gulch. Legend says the brothers hid out several days in the area, also making use of cave south of Garretson, in the Palisades State Park before working their way back home to Missouri , arriving in Mid-October 1876.

Jesse James was gunned down in 1882, but his legend lives on in Garretson.

City of Garretson, SD

City of Garretson, SD