View/Open

37
lMalllllllll. ofNarur1J Hiltoly. Spring 1995.
~Forw.: Fon HfIY' SIQt.1 Unn.,.$ity, 26
lDch' AIr l"l1otbIctkM ID COIIlI9Ion Karuas
.a
AN EDITOR HAILS THE AUTOMOBILE:
AL J. ADAMS AND THE SISSETON COURIER
by
Keitb A. SeuUe
Ill! HiEry, Ormt Proposal (W1published), S
rSitJIIMfUIIfImU Netf'I!ettno, 10 (1992): S.
.... TIre Hom Book Magazine, 61.5
'1WJImiorBoob,I990),8.
11M
1993.
JlkiJrtl, (New Yark: Morrow Junior Boob,
Albert J. Adanu exemplified the Sooth Dakota small town editor in hi,
management of the Sisseton Courier. Between his purchase of the paper in 1923
and his death in 1944, "AI," as he was commonly called, did more than simply
gather his hometown's news and publish it weekly. On its editorial pages Ai
projected his vision ofa better civic life and in various conununity organizations
he actively worked for his principles. No issue affecting Sisseton missed his notice,
comment, and commitment. The impact of the automobile, although an issue of
profound consequences for Sisseton as elsewhere, ignited strangely little
canmunity controversy and Adams's Sisseton Courier provides the historian with
a special vantage point from which to analyze this silent revolution.
About the automobile's rapidly gained popularity and much of its economic
impact. there is HttJe doubt in history. As Robert Karolevitz, a South Dakota
historilUl, wrote,
The automobile came to South Dakota as it did to all other states, and its
increased use started a gradual change in shopping, rann marketing and
generallivingpattems. The importance of the railroads begon to dimini'h.
and snmll to\Vns ... ultimately experienced declining business activity as
improved roads and greater speed permitted farmers to travel to larger
population centers. l
Reynold Wik, an historian who has researched the Ford automobile's impaet,
confumed that the automobile ended rural isolation and much monotony in his
South Dakota boyhood home. ~ Cheaper access to distant markets also accounted
ror the business·minded farmers' demand. Yet historians are still awed by the
transfonnatioo wrought by motor vehicles. FOlll1ation of the car-dependent eulture
in the flTst thirty years of the twentieth centwy shUek one historian of the
automobile as something that "would have been an impressive accomplishment
Keith A. Sculle js head, rcx:uch and education, D1inois Hi~c Preservation Agency, and adjunct
profes90r of history, Uniycrsity of D1inois at Springfield. He is author of numerous articles on the
automobile in American culture and co-authored (with John A. Jakie) The Gas SlQtion in Aml.'rica
(Johml Hopkins University Press, 1994).
!
38
over a period of centuries; as it was, it took place in two generations:>! In his
classic study olbow small town life changed radically in the process, Main Street
on lhe Middle Bor~r. Lewis AtJx:rtoo pointed out that even those who prophesied
ecoocmic growih through improwd tnmsportatiOD did Dot understand in 1900 that
the automobile and its highways would triumph over such rival systems as the
railroad, interurbans, and bicycles. Contemporary observers and dispassionate
scholars alike attributed unimagined cultural chlUlge5 to the automobile's
ascendaney. ~
A phenomenon as remarkable as the rapid and virtually unquestioned
acceptance of a new technology laden with profound consequences deserves
continued study. How to demystify it? Many attempts have focused on the national
scene: the early proliferntion of canpeting companies; the entrepreneurial wizardry
of those who founded the industry; the eager, widespread acceptance of taxation
to build a national highway system; and the popular delights of recreation and
status which drove popular demand for the autornOOile. So sweeping a triumph had
to be won at all levels of society and everywhere the process of many mundane and
daily changes eventually yielded Il seemingly mysterious social transformation.
Although little attention has been paid to the automobile's advent in individual
5n:LIl1l towns, close sautiny of these incremental changes in a small community like
Sisseton helps shed more light on how the automobile triumphed. s
Small town newspapers like Adams's Sisseton Coun'er offer a source for
exploring this perspective. Although outsiders are often bored by the petty
disclosures in local papers, tom1SJ'eOPle regard their chronicle of detail as essential
to life of the community. As significant as the lnfOl1l1.Dtion conveyed, however, is
the vision of a better community editors periodically project about their
community. Small town newspapers read like a record as well as conscience,
reflecting much of what the small town is and foreshadowing what it might
become. For Soulh Dakotans, wIon ale intimate obsava chancteriud as leading
"gratifying life in provinces and enclaves protected by distance from mainstream
America," there is perhaps no better window on how the automobile transformed
their small towm than their newspapers.6 Although many newspapers could be
studied for their response to the automobile. Adams' twenty--onc-year editorship
of the Sisseton Coun'er is especially instructive, for it coincided with the ascent of
the automobile and likely helped spur its acceptance in his community.
Adams reveals that the public's embrace of the aUlOmobile evolved slowly. A
review of his writing shows that acceptance of the automobile was an ongoing
affair, the result ofcontinual adjustment. The following reconstruction of the step­
by·step process of acceptance sheds light on the dynamics by which individuals
embarked upon what proved to be a historic jowney.
,k place in two generations.'» In his
radically in the process, Main Street
d out that even those who prophesied
Ition did not understand in 1900 that
unph over such rival systems as the
lporary observers and dispassionate
turaI changes to the automobile's
: rapid and virtually unquestioned
th profound consequences deserves
,ttempts have focused on the national
rtpanies; the entrepreneurial wizardry
r, widespread acceptance of taxation
Ie pepular delights of recreation and
:omobile. So sweeping a triumph had
re the process of many mWldane and
Iy mysterious 'Sodal transformation.
te automobile's advent in individual
II changes in a ,small community like
utomobile triumphed. S
Sisseton Courier offer a source for
iders are often bor;ed by the petty
i their chronicle ,of detail as essential
Ie infannation conveyed, however, is
rs periodica!lly project about their
like a record as well as conscience,
s and foreshadowing what it might
I81e obseEver characterized as leading
>tected by distance from mainstream
on how the automobile transfonned
llthough many newspapers could be
. Adams' twenty-one-year editorship
Ie, for it coincided with the ascent of
:eptance in his community.
of the automobile evolved slowly. A
~ of the automobile was an ongoing
following reconstruction of the step­
t the dynamics by which individuals
joUrney.
39
Sisseton had been the county seat of Roberts County, South Dakota's
northeastemmostcounty, since 1898. Sisseton lies approximately 200 miles from
Pierre and about 300 miles from Minneapolis, the closest major urban center of
common reference in the Sisseton Courier during the 1920s and 1930s. In 1920
the population stood at 1,431 in Sisseton and 16,514 in the COWlty. A succession
ofSissetoo newspapers preceded the Courier before its founding in 1920. As for
automobiles, they began appearing on Sisseton's streets in sufficient numbers by
1910 that an ordinance enacted that year limited automobile speed and forced the
drivers to stop when their vehicles frightened horses. 7
Editor AI J. Adams was born a blacksmith's son in 1894 in the small town of
Kent, Minnesota. Educated through public high school, he apprenticed to a printer
at seventeen and went to Duluth, Minnesota, where he worked on that city's
Tribune. He later worked as a manager at a succession of Minnesota newspapers
and in 1923 began managing the Farmer andReporter, in Webster, South Dakota,
about 32 miles southwest of Sisseton. s
Al Adams as pictured with his obituary
November 30, 1944 in the Sisseton Courter.
In his reasoning about the automobile, Al Adams concurred with the new
middle class as defined in Robert Wiebe's classic study of American social
development at the tmn of the late nineteenth and the early twentieth century, The
Search/or Order 1877-/920. Facing a nation of "island communities" in which
affairs were locally controlled, the new middle class pW"Sued economic and social
gain for itself by advancing urban and industrial values and products. 9 Adams was
40
a lifelmg Republican who saw the I'domobile as an agent of modernization. But
Adams deviated signifiClllllly fran this brood. natiooal consensus in his calculatioo
of local and regional needs and shared faith in their values. He was in truth a
canplex Jl'I"OO defying easy claasificatiOll, as Wiebe rudily adalowlcdged most
Americans of the lime to be. 10
The lpdmd>iIc was already III essential element in Adams's reality when he
purchased the Stsseton Courier on October 15. 1923. Adams selected Sisseton to
begin his public life as a self<mploy<d newspaperman because he calculat<d great
material prosperity and ethical fulfillment in Sisseton's future. In short, he was
coovinced Sisseton \ID1ld be a great place to liYe and grow. As early as 1921, the
preceding owner-editor reported Sisseton's Saturday night population doubled
with the appearance of shoppers in automobiles; this may have dravm Adams'
attention while he managed the newspaper in the nearby community of Webster.
Within three days of buying the Courier, AdaJm declared fum faith in Sisseton
because of its location in a agriculturally divcnified regicn Amidst lhe 1920s
agricuIturaJ depression. this diven:ificatiOlJ--9rofit through dairying, be:ef.raising,
and oem, wheat, arxl cn:hard growing-made livelihood more probable than would
dependence on any one COmmodity,ll
As for the automobile, Adams considered it essential for the area's latest
economic diversifieation. the Dascent tourist indUStry.11 The numerous glacially
produced hills and lakes dotting Sisseton's vicinity offered fishermen great
recreational outlets and the cote8u provided scenic beauty. Access to these rural
resources from the remotely based urban population centers required automobile
transportation Although the Milwaukee Road pnmded adequate railroad service
to Sisseton, WIliI discussioo of reduced strYice in 1926, Adams thought only of the
automobile for bringing tourists through Sisseton into Roberts County. "The
l!lrough highways of the future will mean to the communities through which they
pass what the railroads have in the past and the more tourists we can route through
this way the mo~ favorable adVertising we will obtain. besides getting our share
of tourist money."J' Perhaps he believed railroads would have too uncertain a
future to rely on them for vital economic links. Or maybe he appreciated the
growing natiooaI taste foc individualized transportation the automobile satisfied. 14
Air service intrigued Adams enough in 1931 for him to advocate building a town
airport but stimulated no further remarb until a decade later, during the Second
World Wu, when be insisted the town's post-war landscape must in<;lude an
airport. 15 Horse and buggy went unmentioned even in news reports, ~Iegated to
status as a means of only local transportation ignored by the future-oriented
Adams. It is clear, however, that he exerted much of his twenty-ooe-year
stewardship for Sisseton on behalf of accommodating automobile travelers.
41
oiIe U III egenI of modernization. But
,......... c:aaaensus in his caltulation
ith .in 1bcir values. He was in truth a
1_
.. Wicl>c ROdiIy odmowlodged most
ill Al!Ims's reality when he
15,1923. Adams sele<:1<d SissetDn to
JIPCIDUID bcglDe be calculated great
in Si8SC'!IM's future. In 9~ he was
,live IJld grow. As early as 1921, the
• Saturday night population doubled
_ ; tbi.s _ have drown Adams'
in the nearby community of Webster.
IdBms deelared firm faith ill Sisseton
IIiwrsified n:gion. Amidst the 1920s
jIDlfit through dairying. boOf-raising,
l i _ more probable thlll would
cred it essential for the area's latest
It industry.l] The numerous glacially
11"1 vicinity offered fishermen great
IICCZlic beauty. Access to these rural
required. automobile
od provided adequate railroad serviee
,in 1926, Adams thought only of the
Siasetoo into Roberts County. "The
,the commuoities through \\!tieh they
lp'J.tjm centers
-= more tourists we can route through
will obtain, besides getting our share
railroads would have too uncertain a
links. Or ~ he opproeiated the
lSpOI1atioo the automobile satisfied. 14
I for him to advocate building a lawn
nIila deeade lata, during the Second
post-war landscape must include an
led even in news reports, relegated to
atioo ignored by the future-onented
_
mueh of his twenty-one-year
nmodating automobile travelers.
Adams held mrtcnvi)iJc bWlSp(i.tatioo. critical for Sisseton's outlying farmers
and distant toorists alike. He often and routinely leetured on a eardinal principle
in the small town boos1<:r's eode: buy loeally. For example, a half-page
advertisement for sixteen loea! men:hants appealed: "When you buy your needs
out-of-town, you take that mueh away from younelf. Keep your money working
at home."" Argummts sgaiost mail ~ purchases n:Oe<:l<d hi. earliest eoncems
with the potential drain ofcapilaJ out ofSisseton. 11 During the Depression., he
wuned that out-of-town salesmen traveling door to door should be avoided
because they offered no refunds to dissatisfied customers.· 1 Cooversely, Adams
believed JocaI nuchants 8II'lII1ged Ibci.r inventories for Icx:al taste. III Feeling secure
in Sisseton's financial future so long as its merchants capitalized on Roberts
County's assets, Adams felt no need to lash out againsllcx:al COOSUDlCl'5 driving
to larger nearby towm on buying sprees.
Autanobiles """not sbrinkin8 Siasetoo's linancial base in the 1920s; indeed,
automobile·bome COOSwnefS could enrich it at the expense of smaller, adjacent
towns, each of which Adams labeled a "Icx:al market:>20 He believed aggressive
marketing by Siasetoo merchants would nourish their town IJld eounty colh,etively
as a leading "trade area." even in the Depression. 21 He seemed blind to the
possibility that the S1IIomobile might only be Sisseton's temporary ally in the IJend
toward ever larger markets in which such towns might eventually lose many
regular CCI1.S\JIDl%S to larger nnmicipalities easily reached by faster automobiles on
better roads. Adams came to Sisseton hoping to belp transform it into a larger
trade center. Advertising in his Courier ''will put more people in touch with
Sisseton and will be a big factor in bringing them to this city to do their
business.'''22 His vision of an aggrandiurl Sisseton never extended beyond the
territory circumscribed within a 10·15·mile radius having Sisseton at its
epicenter. n
Tourists visiting the region required lodging, \\!tieli Adams regularly
encourage Sisseton to provide in the form of clean and ample campgrounds for
aulCmObile b'llvelers. When. in 1929, Sisseton's eity couneil undertook a program
to n:habilitate the existing eampgrounds, Adams reported progress at the site with
characteristically regular attention., predicting it would eventually be one of the
best within severallumdred miles, ard within a couple yean, a flne park. 2~ He then
watched with equal care as Sisseton built a mWlicipal campground with rental
cabins in the early 1930s. Adams reasoned these travelers by automobile would
linger in direct proportion to the campground's and Sisseton's overall physical
attractiveness. Some might even be attracted as permanent residents. TheRfore,
he suggested, "I' is time to think of the garden ... Villages on the outskirts of the
city ask how to plant their roadsides to make them attractive to visitors driving
42
through .. .'''25 Dusty streets too were undesirable and surfaced streets were an
amenity expected by outsiders. "Dustless" became an Adams watchword for
mWlicipaJ progress. x; He also watched with avid interest and regularly declared his
support for Sisseton's program of laying gravel on commercial streets in 1925 and
paving them with a material known as "tarvia" in the early 1930s.Z1 By welcoming
the automobile as the major technology to build a more prosperous Sisseton,
Adams embraced a series of changes he perceived necessary to m.aximize the
automobile's beneficial impact Dependence aD the automobile became reason for
fw1her investment in the automobile's needs.
~
Main Street Sisseton was commonly filled sometimes
even congested with autos in the 19405.
Photo courtesy Oliver Swenumson.
Highways construeled to and from Sisseton, however, were the most
financially costly and politically volatile issue to which Adams found himself
drawn on behalf of the automobile. 211 He strongly supported balanced public
budgets and abhorred governmeot indebtedness.29 Although Adams understood the
high cost of grading and realigning old roads, graveling and paving them to serve
automobiles) he never rejected the wisdom of this expense. 30 Instead, he promoted
a succession of such organizations as the Twin Cities-Aberdeen Scenic Shoreline
Association, the Fort Sisseton Memorial Association, and the South Dakota Lakes
43
lSinbJo IIld surfaa:d _
wm: an
W _
III Adams watclIword for
... inleRstllld ",gularly declared his
d ODW IIIIM7cial streets in 1925 and
• in tho ear\y 1930.. ~ By welcoming
build •
prosperous Sisseton.
~ -lIlY to maximize the
OIl the lUtomobile became reason for
t
IDCI'C
s.
~"
~
~'"
l­
";:
f:'
0l0Il!y filled sometimes
:os in the 19405.
r Swa::rumson.
SisIdDn, however. were the most
sue to v.lliclI Adams found himself
ItnlIJ8Iy SUjlpOIted balanced public
.." Allbaugh Adams understood the
•gmeIing IIld paving them to serve
Ihia _ . " Instead, be promoted
in Cities-Aberdeen Scenic Shoreline
ciatian, IIld tho Soulb Dakota Lake'
Association which attempted to raise awareness of South Dakota's towist
possibilities and lobbied for highway consttuc.tion fimds to tap this potential.
Adams', campaigns in those areas begao sbortIy after be pun;1ulsed the newspaper
and continued through the economically dep""sed 1930,." In 1930 and 1931,
befm:: New Deal funds assisted publie construction in the name ofWlClllployment
relief, Adams rose to the most prominent position be ever held, director of the
South Dakota Lakes Association-a ten-<:ounly consortium in northeastern South
Dakota created to promote tourism Ihero-while arguing for paved highways to
achieve access to the area.!2 During the govertlOlUip ofNew Dealer, Tom Berry,
Adams, a stalW1Irt Republican, regularly editorialiZ<d against what be believed was
a prejudiced allocation of highway fwuls to Berry', political friends. We.. roads
10 be built only along the soulhc:m side of South Dakota as a corridor to the slate's
prinK:: lOurist destination in the Black Hills? Or was the glacial lakes region oCthe
nartbeast, cen1cred in Roberts County, to get its fair share of funds and recognition
as a tourist attraction? "It is time we did a little selfish seclional boosting of our
own up lhis way," Adams counseled)) His editorial salvos grew stronger during
Governor Berry's administration. Adams's politics were dearly colored. ifnol
motivated, by his frustrated desire for an influx of tourists in automobiles.
Although Adams initially su,pended judgment of the New Deal, he became
eonvinced that its tendeney to partisanship rather thWl national recovery was
n:fiected in the allocation of vital highway construction funds. In Roberts County
the issues became whether U.S. highways 14 and 16 to the Black Hills would be
improved and developed at the expense of highways in the northeastern comer of
the state-including U.S. 81, the Meridian Highway tracking through Roberts
County-and whether at least one of tile state's few snow plows would be assigned
to open the northeast's roads. l4
Partisanship disappeared from Adams' editorial, about automobile highway,
following the 1937 inauguration of Leslie Jensen, a sympathelic RepubliCWl
governor. Nevertheless, the newspapcnnWl's 20-day bip to the east coasL in the
late swruner of 1937 convinced him that South Dakota's largely gravel-surfaced
highway system should be replaced by a more expensive hard surface to draw
tourists. 35 That same year Adams advocated widened highways to accommodate
the increased traffic although he fully acknowledged that roads only six years old
had already become deficient. J6 Two years later he remarked. "It is surprising the
amount of money that the people of the United States huve invested in modem
m::ans of transportation in the last quarter of a centwy. ")l In the ever expWlding
need for road building Adams perhaps had a sense that the automobile had gotten
out of control.
44
The automobile's extensive physical i.nfluence on the Iandsc:ape
lIOlwithstanding, Adams found its cultural influence potentially even greater. lie
editorialized on the automobile as symptom in one issue of his paper:
Nowhe<e across the Atlantic is then: anything like the proportiOlllllc
number of automobiles as in America.
Here may be found llJIllIIll% reason wily r1Idicalism does 001 grow and
prosper in AmeriCll. Our automobiles are DOt owned principally by the
wealth as in Europe. The gJ1:lIlfr proportion of them belong to the farmer,
the teacher, the mechanic, the clerk, the small merchan~ the rai ~oad man,
and so OD. They are indicative of the progress and general prosperity of
America, ....
3lI
Adams habitually hailed automobile service stations as "modem" when their
openings were DlUlounced on the Courier's pages.]9 Although automobiles could
embody or facililale virtues according to Adams, they always remained devices of
human service and were incapable of controlling human behavior. Thus, Adams,
for example, neva-beheld the automobile as a status symbol. However, this did not
prevent his receiving and printing a large quantity of national automobile
advertising laden with irrational lures of fantasy and myth appealing to status..&O
Adams evidently counted on the force of individual will to ward off the
psychological indutenlents to which many succumb in the automobile age; for
example, the tendency to isolate and easily exempt oneself from social
responsibilities while driving about in lhe automobile's self-«Jntained metal
envelope. Writing of the pleaswe of sighlsceing in a new all-weather enclosed
automobiles of the 1920s, Adams recommended riders alight occasionally to
stretch their legs and enjoy the fresh air. "Automobiles, we should remember, are
only the means to this end, not the end in itself," he W8l11ed. 41
Adams confmed most of his efforts at laming the automobile to endless
reminders about reckless driving. Wen before the appearance of psychological
articulations about the aggressive social pathologies fostered by automobile
driving. Adams appreciated the individual ope:raItt's capacity for destruction. Each
accident involving the people in his small town likely intensified the watchful
editor's desire to halt this destructive process. While people acconunodated
themselves to the automobile's negative implications in lhe general process of
accepting the new technology, Adams soon tried to direct public response:
Sentiment is swinging oYer to regard lhe drunken driver as one who
commits more than a misdemeanor; but it should swing faster and go
4S
icoI influence 00 the landscape
ino....ce polaIliaUy even greater, He
I mooc issue of his paper:
III)'lbiDa like the proportiooate
my I'IIkalism does not grow and
. . IlDl owned principally by the
ioo of them bel00g to the fanner,
IIIlllU merehallI, the railroad man,
_and general prosperity of
lee statioos as "modem" when their
paga," Although automobiles eould
_ they always remained devices of
~Iina human behavior, Thus, Adams,
Istatus symbol. However, this did nol
IF quantity of national automobile
My and myth appealing to status,'''
DC individual will 10 ward off the
succumb in tb: automobile age; for
*iJy exempt oneself from social
: lIUlDmobile's self-contained metal
ICCing in 8 new all-weather enclosed
IICDded riders alight occasionally to
lkInObiles, we sbould remember. are
elf," he warned.. 41
1 taming the automobile to endless
ble the appearance of psychological
fostered by automobile
l'Ita"s capacity for destruction. Each
IOMI likely intensified the watchful
<C55, While people acconunodated
Iplic.ations in the general process of
tried to direct public response:
~es
the drunken driver as ODe who
It it should swing faster and go
further. The man who. drunk, drives a car or true.k. is 8 madman; 8 man
without sense, without reasonability, without judgement He puts in
jeopardy the lives of meo, womeo and childreo. He endangers property,
He may eause frightful loss of life, hideoos maimings, terrible aceidents,
No maniac with 8 gun iJ allowed upon the streets; the man who
deliberately makes himsdf. maniac and fits himself out with a ear loaded
with potential death Cor marty, should be dealt with with [sie] the utmost
severity.42
Automobile aeeidems and the resultsIlt deaths and property damage were reported
regularly On the Courier's pages. By the late 19205. Adams added editorials
warning aOOut seasmal hazards: rutted and muddy winter roads, automobiJe- and
pedestrian-filled Sunun<I' roods," Editorials periodically appeared decrying a
variety of individual, year.round problems: speeding, "road hogging," faulty
equipment (bra1c<s, heOOJigbts, and tires), undimmed headlights, drunkenness, and
absent-mindedness at railroad crossings and when merging onto main roads. 44
Although there is no indicaLiOll Adams actually appreciated the fact that an
autmlobiJe can iIdx:e a false sense of invincibility with consequent reck.lessness,
he did believe lhe obvious soluticn to dangerous driving resLed in driver reguiaLion.
For a person dedicaLed to the principle of minimum government inlervenLion , it
is instrucLive that Adams moved by increments from belief in vohmtary to
mandatory compliance in order to achieve driver safety. On one occasion, appalled
at the large number of traffic deaths, Adams wrote, "We cannot endure such
slaughler. Some cure must be evolved, and. 00 matter how drasLic it may be, we
shall have to grin and accept it.'>45 He alwllYS called for driver "courtesy" and
vigorous enforcement of existing traffie laws;4lS but, likely appreciating the limiLed
remedy this aITcroed, also cndor>ed the stste'slengtbened code ofdriver violations
enacted in 1929 and also recommended standardized education for new drivers a
year later.~l Nagging news about accidents and regularly repeated editorials on
driver safety suggest Adams never tamed Lhe automobile to his satisfaction. 48
Although trucks and busses posed many of the same threats as automobiles and
required similar regulatim, they never received the same attcnLion Adams devoted
to the automobile.
Aoolhcr cluillcnge to acecmmodating the automobile eventually loomed in Lhe
fonn of advertising billboards erected along the roadside. Although billboards
introduced garish art placed indiscriminately throughout the countryside as early
as the end of the nineteenth century, well before the automobile, Adams was
startled when they eame to his countryside. Pemaps because they were not yet
numerous or brash enough in the highway system evolving around Sisseton, he
46
early 01\ obsaved thal billboards ""'" often not OS bad OS what they concealed. By
1931, howev<2-, Adams cl>argod thalsioce biUboard advertising along the road nOl
only blighted the landscape (and often gave false infOllllatioo) but also posed a
hazard to safe driving. be favored a state tax on lhem. He was also persuaded that
they constituted unfair competition for newspaper and magazine advertismg
because the latter two media were taxed heavily, he thought.. and billboards were
not As the intended main advertising mediwn for his town's merchants, Adams
may well have felt or anticipated billboards' appeal to passing motorists. 4 \1
Adams' civic code also made the automobile an essential tool for building his
idealized community. To the smaU town's legendary virtues of neighborly intimacy
and support, the traditional morality of his area,. Adams added !he automobile as
a means to overcome "provincialism., and sectionalism, destroying dialects and
spreading tolerance and understanding everywhere,"5(1 Automobile roads ~-ere the
single greatest civilizing source-more than the church, public school, printing
press, or homo-Adams preached. It also bound the nation more tightly as it
facilitated communication between rural and small town citizens. 51 The overall
effect of the automobile enhanced mutual dependence and conununal sharing
among small lawn denizens at the same time their sphere of acquaintances
expanded. The automobile made possible an ideal balance: participation in both
Iocallllld national community.
Results may have been otherwise, for historians and sociologisls have claimed
that fanners and small town people grew to be like the urban dwellers they hosted
on automobile vacatioos and with whom they daily traded goods by automobile or
truck. Adams for one, however, wanted his community to take advantage of the
syrnblosis bUI resist any erosion of values in the e~hange. 51
Amidst the Depression, Adams beganlentatively 10 doubt the automobile's
blessings. Although it was not his manner to complain and admissions of self­
dOlJbl are absent in the Courier, his 1936 editorial «Community Dangers,"
blaming out-of·town shopping, was perhaps Adams'sbJeakest editorial in his
twenty-one years:
With paved highways and other forms of transportation, small
communities are drying up. There is no greater tragedy than a deserted
village-a town or small city drying up. BUl the process is going on. It is
here in South Dakota. It is everywhere. 53
Sisseton and Roberts County, on balWJCe, however, grew in Adams's mind to
achieve lhe desired balance between rural and urban life he envisioned. When in
the late 19305, Adams began 10 editorialize about the negative impact of
47
lOt as bod as
v.bat they «>ncealed. By
IboInl ad>atising along the road not
• ...... information) but also posed a
on them. He was also persoaded that
ewspIper BDd magazine advertising
M1y, be dnJgbt, and billboards were
mn fir his town', merchants, Adams
• ippe8l to passing motorists. 49
IbiIe an essential tool for building hi,
0IdaIy Yirtuea of neighborly intimacy
uea, Adams added the automobile 85
lOCtionalism, d<otroying dialects and
wbcrc.»50 Automobile roads were lite
1 the cbwt:h. public school, printing
bouDd the nation more tightly as it
lid small town citiz.e:ns.,\ The overall
depeDdc:oce and conununal sharing
lime their sphere of acquaintances
n ideal balance: participation in both
Drians and sociologists have claimed
c like the urban dwellers they hosted
daily traded goods by automobile or
community to take advantage of the
I the exchange.'2
attatively to doubt the automobile's
to cmtplain and admissions of self.
,6 editorial "Community DlU1gers;'
ps Adams'sbleakest edilorial in his
JI1DS
I
of transportation, small
greater tragedy than a deserted
,But the process is going on. 1t is
•OOwevCl', grew in Adams' 5 mind to
lid 1D'bIn life he envisioned. When in
lizc about the negative impact of
automobile pamng congestion, be probably dismissed it in the long nm as a
consequence of economic recovery. ~
In one of the last editorials Adams wrote before dying prematurely of a heart
attack stemming from. a boating accident late in 1944, he foresaw victorious
servicomen _ g from the Second World War to Sisseton's and Roberts
County's good life. Only three months before, Adams had editorialiud for the
specific highway improvements he belilWed Roberts COIDlty deserved. 55
Careful attention to Adams's gradual aa:ommodatian to the auto yields
meaning not only roc Sissdoo and Roberts County but also beyond I. can be taken
as a case study testing the theory that the new middle class promoted the
automobile for personal financial and slatu9 gain. 56 Although Adams eludes this
theory, a pattern emerges. As an articulate spokesman for South Dakota values,
Adams exemplified those who valued persistence above boom, character before
lICclaim ht his cautious accommodatioo to the autemobi1e's long-term implications
for an idyllic community, Adams shared his fellow Soulh Dakotans' stalwart
commitment to making a horne safe :fran urbmJ. and industrial America's perceived
depredations by adopting one of its chief products. He welcomed automobile
tourism to mainIoin northeas1em Scuth Dakota', colonial ,talus, at once dependent
on automobile tourists' spending dwing brief visits and yet removed from their
influcn::e l'IlaJt ofthe time. To the end, lJlJIntd>i.Ies and the good life were pW'1ners
in Al Adams's paternal vision for conununity.
NOTES
1. Robert F. KuoIcvitz, Cllallmgt: Thl! SOII/JI Da!o/D Slory (Sioux FsJls: Brne! Preu, 1975), 5.
2. Reynold M. Wik, Hmry Ford and Grau-rootJ AmericQ (Ann Arbor: Univemty ofMichigan
PmilI, 1972),25.
3. John B. Rae, The America" Automobile: A BriefHiJlory (Chicago: Univaw.ity ofChkago Press,
1965), I.
4. Lewis Atherton,MQiII StTfIet GW till! Middll! Border (1954; reprint cd., New York: Quadrangle
Boob, 1954), 237-240', and Michael L. Bcrecr. "The Motoriution ofLibiary and Rclaled Services
in Rural America, 1912-28," Ian Ienning., cd., Roadside AmericQ: TIre Automobile i" DI!$ign wtd
Culhlre (Ames: Iowa State Univmlity Preu, 1990), 62-73.
5. The standard hi9Uxy of the automobile and;1I mulbWeted influence is IlIffies I. Flink, TIre
Automobile Agt (Cllffibridsc: MIT Preu, 1988). Michael L. Berp, The Devil WQ8O" in God '$
CounJry: The AlUomobik andSociaICltaItge ill RIII'DI AIRfIricQ. 1893-/919 (Hamden, CT: Archon
Books, 1979) concentrates on the automobile'. rural influence in seneral and without dirrtine!ion
between specific rural places. The most comprehensive study reprdinlj 1I lIma1l town is Nonnlln T.
Moline, Mobility wtd /JIe Small Towrt. 1900-1910: TralUpOr/Dh"otf Changt in 0re8O". lIIinoi!J,
DeputmmtofOcagmphy,Rcscarcl!.P8pcrNo. 132 (Chicago: Univm.ityofChiell(lo, 1971). For the
Dakotas. ICC John E. Miller, Lr.xJlj",p HiJkJry GW HiptilJDjI 14 (Ames: Iowa SlIte UniVCl'9ity
Press, 1993), c:specialIy pp. 7-17 and Charles Ellis DM:kaon, ''Prosperity Rides on Rubber Tires: The
•
"
48
Impact of the Automobile on Miflot during the 19208," Nord! DaJ:okl HUIOl)'. 53:3 (Summer
1986):14-23.
6. Helbert T.1-IoIM:r, "South DekoCa: An Eltpieaioll ofRcgjonaJ HcritIBC." James H. Madison. ed"
Heat'tJond: C<JIfq}W'tltWe Hutom$ oldie M I ~ Statu
(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1988).204.
7. U.S. Dcputmcnt ofConuncn:c,FOIII'WGldt Cm.nu(Wuhinpx., Oovcmmcnt Printins OffICe,
1921),617; Norma Johnson and Oliva' SwenwnllOn. eds.,Aaoo.u tile T elJr3; Hulery ofSW:eion,
SOIIth Dakota. 1892-1992 (n.p.: SiactOrl Cenlmnial Book Cornmittcc, 1992). 1S. lOS.
Northcutm1 South Dakota'. introductory or '"pioneering" aUlmKlbilc period, u Art Buntin
labela it. is the subject or his Ikdcb:"'2Oth Century Picuering: The Roed and Auto Frontier in
Northc:m SD.," in 'I'M KlJrl E. Mtmd' Him:ri:QI tutd EdwalUral Seriu No.1 J: 18th Daioto
HisIoryC~.AprlJ }0-12,
1986, PapeTJ,QOmp. H[erbcrt] W. Blably (loWison. SD: Dakota
Stale College. 1986),13448.
8. Doane Robin!lOO, SQlltiI Dakota, vol. 2 (Ctuea,o: American Historical Society, 1930), 315-16;
SissetOlJ CouriD'. Nov. 30, 1944.
9. Robert H. Wiebe, TlteS,arclr!orOrder 1817-1920 (NcwYOIt: Hill and Wang. 1967).
to. Ibid" 134.
11. Si:l:sl!ton CQllrier, July 7.~. 22, 1921; lanA, Oct. 18, 1923; June 9, 1927.
12. For. briefoverview ofSouth Dakota touri9ffi, IIICe Shcbby Lee, NTrllVeling the Sunshine State:
The Growth o(TourWn in South DatDla." SOtith Dakota HU1Of')l19:2 (1989): 192-223.
13. SiDe/On COtirier, Jan. 31, 1924.
14. Flink. TlteAlilomobileAgc, 138.
IS. Sisseton COlIrier, July 9,1931; Sept. 9, 1943.
16. Ibid., Sept. 18, 1924.
17. For example, ibid., Aug. 2S, 1927.
18. For example, ibid., July 21, 1932.
19. Ibid., Aug. 21, 1924.
20. Ibid., Aug. 22, 1929; July 6, 1933.
21. Ibid., July 6, 1933.
22. Ibid., June 6, 1925.
23. Ibid., Aug. 22, 1929.
24. Ibid., Maoy 23, 1929.
2S. Ibid., Ap. 4, 1935.
26. Ibid., Aug. 8, 1929.
27. Ibid., Oct. 22, 1925; Aug. 1S, 1935.
28. See John CrBCCO, ''HislOfY o(the South Dakota Highway Department, 1919-1941" (master's
Ihetis, Univemty orSoulh Dataia, 1970) (Of an Idminirrtrative ovcrv}ew-.
29. For example, S.:sSl!'IlJJ'I COlIrier, Nov. 16, 1933; Oct. I, 1942.
30. For exampk, ibid., Jan. 21, 1937.
31. For example, ibWi., Mar. 6, 1924; May 21, 1936.
32. Ibid., Jan. 29, 1931; Nov. 19, 1936.
33. Ibid., Maoy 16, 1935.
34. Ibid., Maoy 16, 1935; Feb. 4, 1937.
3S. Ibid., Mar. 4, Sept. 2, 1937.
36. Ibid., Jan. 21, 1937.
37. Ibid., No.... 2S, 1939.
38. Ibid., July 9, 1925.
39. For example, ibWi., June 2S, 1925.
,
',' :_.i.~_ ,it
(/
.
49
101.. NtIftIt DG.b:IId HLsJoty. 53:3 (Summer
........
Hcri1Isc,"
rRq;cn&
James fl Madison, ed"
"'(W~ 00Ycmmen1 Printin! OffICe,
~ .....Acroa
f«In.· HisIoIyoj'Sis:Jl>IOIf,
n..
Boat CMiliiljtll:c, 1992), 1S, lOS.
~"
............... period, u Art Buntin
Pirecail.,: The R.o.d and Auto Frontier in
wi R t IItIMtU SMu No. }j; J8tlt DakoIa
Hlmbat] w. BJIkdy (Madison, SD: Dakota
Amcril:an HislDricaI Society, 1930), 315.16;
~(NllwYcd::
Hill and Wang. 19(7).
let. IB,I92J;JWlC9,1927.
; ShclIby Lee, '"TIBWIIinB the Sunshine Stab:::
i.ofQ Hi.rIory 19:2 (1989): 192-223.
~Deputment,
inimatiWi 0Yel"rie'w•
• 1,1942.
40. T. J. Jacb:m Lc:ani, "Some Versions of Fantasy: Toward
II
Cultural History or American
Adver1iiinB. 1880-1930," Pr'OSp«tJu 9 (1984): 3S3·S4.
41.Si.Defal Courier, May 24,1935. For the cultural aspecb or..-vc driving, _ Raymond I.
NOV8CO. MAutomobiIe Driving and AggmiBive Behavior," Martin WlChs IIfld MaJpm CllIwford.
cds., The Car and tile City: The A,"tC/fJIobi/e, IN Blii/l E~ .. rmd Doily Urba" Life (Ann
Arbor: Univcnity ofMichigan Press, 1992), 234-47.
42. Sisseton Courier, Jan. 3, 1924.
43. For example, ibid., Jan. 19, 1928; Jan. 2, 1941.
44. For example, ibid., Sept. 12. 1929; Nov. 6, 1930.
45. Ibid., Nov. 7.1935.
46. For example, ibid., Feb. 23, 1928.
47. Ibid., May 22, 1930.
48. For example, ibid., Mar. 20, 1941.
49. Ibid., Ian. 17, 1924; Feb. 5, Oct 8, 1931.
50. Ibid., AU8. 19, 1926.
51. Ibid.
52. Bcrga-, 1M Devil Wagon in God'". COIUlIry, 209·10; Sf.tSl!ton COfIrler, Aug. 29, 1940; Iuly 3,
1941.
53. Ibid., Iune 18, 1936.
54. Ibid., Oct. 26, 1939; Iuly 2~, 1940.
55. Ibid., Aug. 17, Nov. 9, 1944.
~6. ~ I. Ling, A""1'11Ca cmd tlte AtdOlfltObile: Teclatrology, Reform tlI1d Social Chtll1p, 1893­
1933 (Manchester: Manchei1er Uniftl1lity Prns, 1990).
57. f"auiI M NdBJn,~ Ire WIUt Waf Wewr: HrJmQtJJader". tlI1d Towrt-Blfifder". Ur Wuln7r SOfItlt
!Jakola, J900-1917 (Ioww. City: Uni\lCnlity of Iowll Preu, 1986), 177; C.therine McNicol Stock,
Main Strut ill CriN.' n.~ Ontal Dtpnuiart tlI1d IN Old Middle CkuJ art tlte Nortltun Plaitu
(Chlpel HiU: Univcnity of North Cuolin. Press, 1992),217.
Admowledgrnent!i:
For substantial help lo access local sources, the author thanks Jack Adams, Oliver
Swenumson, and, of the Sisseton Memorial Library, Delores Eggen and Mary Ann
Cameron.
1919·1941- (mu1er's
50
A GREAT PLAINS POTPOURRI
POEMS
by
Michael L. Johnson
Frank James
Jesse gone with a shot
from behind, Youngers jailed
at last, he got himself
off--even after he'd
ridden with Quantrill's goonsAnd opened up his house
to tourists, took them through
for half a dollar, then
died at seventy-two
peaceful as any man.
Miehael L.
John~n is profes~[
and ehair of the English Department al!hc. UniveT5ity ofKansu,
Lawrmce. He holds a BA in English from Rice Univcl1lity, ll1\ MA from Stanford UniveT5ity. and
~ PhD. from Rice: Univmity. In addition to 'Nriting poetry, he is a1~ the author of the just published
NewWesk!rs: The West in ContcnpO"ury Americwr Cultr.tr-e, a survey of Western musie, dance,
Iitelllture, and art in AmeriClln culture.
,
j
51
; POTPOURRI
Fred Dubray, President ortbe
Inter-Tribal Bison Cooperative,
TeDs His Story ortbe West
is
when a storm comes
across the plains
'0.....08
buffalo stand
and race the wind
mes
vitha shot
but cattle tum
their backs and run
, Youngers jailed
>t
himself
Dr. Brewster Higley, the Man
Who Wrote "Home on the Range"
er he'd
Quantrill's goonsWhatever the sweet scenes his rhymes
up his house
rehearse, he was married five times
and often undoubtedly heard
.ook them through
many a discouraging word .
Dar, then
oty-two
my man.
PIIh IJqJIItmcnt at the University of KanBllS,
..-ry. an MA finm Stanford University, and
clry. be ill abo Ihe author ofthe just publimed
Ctda-•• survey ofWestem musie, dance,
,,
i
1
52
Quanah Parker
After he lost
the Llano Estacado, this
fearless Comanche chief surrendered but
soon beat the whites
at their own game:
went on
to deal in eattle, bought
a house large enough to hold all
his wives, and painted stars
across the roof
so he'd outrank
any general who might happen by