Rowena: THE IVANHOE OF DAKOTA

BY WAYNE FANEBUST

Rowena, South Dakota, was another child of the quarry industry, a business that both intrigued and frustrated those of an entrepreneurial bent. No one was ever able to figure it out, although many tried their best. Successes were towering but temporary while failures were overpoweringly profound. Thomas J. Ryan from Dubuque, Iowa, was more than willing to try his luck in the fickle industry. The millionaire son of a renowned Dubuque Pork Packer came west to invest heavily in the quarry business, but first he created a town that he named Rowena, after a novel entitled Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott. The timing of all this was very interesting because Congress was in the mood to divide Dakota Territory into two news states: North and South Dakota. Ryan was a single man and his political affiliation was not a matter of public record, but in all likelihood, he was a Republican, the party that had long dominated Dakota politics.

Ryan purchased several hundred acres of land in Split Rock Township about 11 miles east of Sioux Falls. In 1887, the Illinois Central Railroad was under construction from Cherokee, Iowa, to Sioux Falls. A man named George Nix, associated with that railroad, convinced Ryan to buy land near the railroad after seeing chunks of quartzite protruding above the surface in a vast pasture. Ryan was impressed and after buying a quarter-section of land from Nelson A. Webster, he platted it into 43 city blocks, including a park that he named Garnet Park. On September 29, 1888, it was official: Rowena was real.

Among the structures built was the Nixon Hotel, a drug store, a bank building with a second story that was the site of the city hall and an office of Dr. Holtsclaw, the first and only doctor in Rowena. It is noteworthy that the wooden bank was replaced by one made of quartzite. It still stands like some immovable part of the past.

The flurry of activity caught the attention of a Sioux Falls newspaperman, who after visiting the area, noted that Rowena had “20 elegant buildings…not cheap huts, but large, modern buildings.” Ryan was an ambitious man tempered by a touch of romanticism, and had up to this point, spent $50,000.00 on his new city in the making. This kind of money evidently impressed the reporter who slyly noted that Rowena was a “dark horse candidate” for the state capital.

The people who initially made up the population of Rowena were mainly from England and Wales, men who were skilled stone cutters. Scandinavians did most of the grunt work. It was noted that the mix included a few Italians whom the reporter derisively referred to as “dagos,” who were living in a “crazy looking shanty on the rocks,” while surviving on “Sioux Falls lager, cheap cigars and macaroni.” Other than that the reporter lamented the lack of women in the new community, and those who brightened up the streets of Rowena, were rather affected by “uppishness (sic) of demeanor….”

While the town was under construction, work on quarrying stone was commenced with great vigor. Ryan’s company, the Minnehaha Granite Company, had a large contingent of men at work leveraging out the quartzite that was cut into paving and building stone for shipment to cities all over the country. He built a stone crusher, the first of its kind in the area. His initial payroll was $10,000.00 per month. The skilled stone-cutters were usually paid by the piece, meaning they could earn up to $10.00 per day, an income that far surpassed the $1.25 per day paid to an ordinary laborer.

As it turned out, 1888 was a peak year for the quarry business, including the companies in Sioux Falls, East Sioux Falls, and Dell Rapids. The following year was also very successful, but by 1890, the stone industry faced a sharp down turn. In fact, the Sioux Falls Granite Company at East Sioux Falls was broke. This trend continued throughout the 1890s as demand for stone declined due to the national depression that followed the Panic of 1893. Through it all, the quarry industry limped along as best as it could.

One might have expected that Ryan would build a fabulous mansion in Rowena, but that never happened. In fact at some point, he pulled up stakes and left the area rather quietly. After all, his grand scheme collapsed and business failures in those days were akin to personal failures. Rowena continued on without Ryan, as a hub for the agricultural business, one that seemed to survive in the worst of times.

Rowena did experience a bit of excitement of another sort during the dark days of the depression. On January 12, 1896, A. L. Shipley, the agent at the railroad depot sounded the alarm after he claimed two armed men robbed the depot of $170.00 at gunpoint. Shipley summoned help and a posse was quickly formed, but came back empty handed. Shipley told the authorities that one man was tall and thin, unshaven and wearing a long overcoat and the other was short and heavy set, weighing about 165 pounds. That meant that the law officers and railroad officials were looking for two men: one tall and thin and the other short and fat.

No one matching Shipley’s description was ever found but attention soon turned toward the station agent. The officials suspected that Shipley was lying about the robbery and when he was taken to the sheriff’s office in Sioux Falls, he confessed that he made up the story. He admitted taking the cash because he had a drinking problem and furthermore, he owed a gambling debt of $700.00. He said that he spent the $170.00 on “riotous living.”

Shipley was charged with embezzlement on two counts, which to some may have seemed odd since he actually stole money.

In May of 1896, a downcast Shipley was tried in Sioux Falls before Judge Jones. He was represented by Joe Kirby, a high-powered defense attorney. Following a short trial that featured some name calling by jurors, Shipley was acquitted. It seems the presence of his wife and two children in the courtroom swayed the jury from finding him guilty even though the evidence, including his confession, pointed firmly toward guilt. Nevertheless, it was an appropriate finish for the minor episode known as “Robbery in Rowena.”

Thereafter, life in Rowena moved on at steady, peaceful pace. Over the years, changes were made in the town as the school closed and the Methodist Church did likewise. There is very little evidence left of the original town except a cluster of old homes surrounded by trees. Perhaps the strangest feature in Rowena is the presence of a quarry operation, one that produces crushed stone rather than building and paving blocks. It took a long time, but someone finally came up with another use for stone, so that the industry that some men once pursued with a passion, but to no avail, is making money at long last.