Brookings, South Dakota

===Pioneer===
The county and city were both named after one of South Dakota's pioneer promoters, [[Wilmot Brookings]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=12775|title=Profile for Brookings, South Dakota|publisher=[[ePodunk]]|access-date=4 June 2014}}</ref> Brookings set out for the [[Dakota Territory]] in June 1857. He arrived at [[Sioux Falls]] on August 27, 1857, and became one of the first settlers there. He and his group represented the [[Western Town Company]]. After a time in [[Sioux Falls]], [[Wilmot Brookings|Brookings]] and a companion set out for the [[Yankton, South Dakota|Yankton]] area to locate a town in an area that was soon to be ceded by the [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]]. This trip began in January 1858, and the two soon encountered a blizzard that froze Brookings's feet, which both had to be amputated.

[[File:Brookings court house.jpg|thumb|left|[[Brookings County Courthouse]] ]]
Brookings rose to a high position in the Territory, becoming a member of the Squatter Territorial Legislature and later elected Squatter Governor. He then was appointed superintendent of a road that was to be built from the Minnesota state line west to the [[Missouri River]] about 30 miles north of [[Fort Pierre, South Dakota|Ft. Pierre]]. It was during this road's construction that Brookings came into contact with land that was part of this county at the time. He made settlement of this area possible for many people.