St. Louis Boycott

Saturday, December 26, 2009

A public meeting held in Pierre on this day in 1884 generated a threat to boycott all products from the city of St. Louis, Missouri coming into Dakota Territory – a result of Missouri Senator George Vest’s strong opposition to admit Dakota as a state of the Union. Residents of Jamestown, on the other hand, issued an edict on December 31st citing the folly of the boycott. They claimed that punishing the businessmen of St. Louis for the offenses of Senator Vest would not be fair, and that another means should be sought. Senator Vest, along with most Democrats in Congress, opposed the admittance of such a large agricultural state, especially since admitting a northern state would unsettle the balance of Republican and Democratic states in Congress. Eventually, Dakota Territory was divided, north and south, and admitted to the Union in 1889.

Dakota Datebook written by Jayme L. Job

Sources:
The Morning Alert (Jamestown, ND). Wednesday, December 31, 1884: p. 1.
Kingsbury, George W. and George Smith. History of Dakota Territory, Volume 2. 1815. The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co: Chicago. Pp. 1823-26.