The Full Story
More About the Town of Oacoma
Some of the first visitors were the Corps of Discovery including explorers, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, who arrived on September 16, 1804. Members of the expedition camped for two days at the mouth of American Crow Creek just below present day Oacoma. They named the site Camp Pleasant for its abundance of wildlife, plums and grapes. After completing their journey to the Pacific Ocean, the group returned to the same site on August 28, 1806. (More information on the Lewis and Clark Expedition can be found here.
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More than 80 years later, President Benjamin Harrison issued a proclamation opening the western part of South Dakota for settlement. On February 10, 1890, a gun was fired off in Chamberlain, SD to signify the beginning of open settlement in Lyman County and 13 other counties west of the Missouri River. Many of Oacoma’s earliest settlers came from Plankinton, SD. The townsite was first known as Nobleton but soon changed to Sherman. Upon completion of a survey by Newton Gilbert on August 19, 1891 consisting of 55.15 acres of land, the townsite was platted as Gladstone. A post office was established at this location with James Rigg of Plankinton serving as Postmaster. Mr. Rigg gave it the name O-A-Coma.
A land patent issued under the townsite’s name of Oacoma was obtained from the U. S. Government by County Judge, John G. Bartine on July 14, 1893. Oacoma became the first county seat for Lyman County in 1894.
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The railroad was completed across the Missouri River from Chamberlain and White River Valley Rail Service Co. provided the first rail service to Oacoma in August of 1905.
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Oacoma grew rapidly as new businesses flourished including two lumberyards, two banks, two newspapers, a blacksmith shop, restaurants, hotels, a drug store, land offices, lawyers, doctors, three grocery and general merchandise stores, fire and sheriff’s departments, a jail, and saloons. The original courthouse building burned to the ground under suspicions of arson by accused cattle rustlers. Although the building was replaced soon after the fire, the Lyman County Courthouse was eventually moved to Kennebec in 1922. Crossing the Missouri River was made on a floating pontoon bridge, in a freight boat or even over the ice during the coldest winter months until 1925 when a highway bridge joined the east and west sides of the river.
One business with history dating back to Oacoma’s earliest days remains in operation today. In 1919, Alfons “Augie” Wetterer and Albert Mueller purchased the Beeman Strong store, renaming it as the Oacoma Market. After Wetterer’s death in 1946, Albert’s son, Alfred, joined his father in running the business. The Mueller family made an important decision to move their business to another location in Oacoma due to the federal government’s plan to construct dams on the Missouri River which required the highway passing through Oacoma to be relocated. Albert built his new business, Al’s Oasis, at its present site where it continues to thrive as one South Dakota’s most iconic stops along I-90.
