Yankton, South Dakota

===Native inhabitants===
[[File:DakotaTerritory.png|thumb|upright=1.15|The [[Dakota Territory]] in 1861.]]
The site of Yankton was occupied by the Yankton Sioux (Dakota) prior to the arrival of European settlers.  As part of the vast [[Louisiana Purchase]], the site of Yankton was visited by [[Lewis and Clark]] in 1804. In the journals of the expedition, the explorers write of a meeting on August 30, 1804, with members of the [[Yankton Sioux Tribe]] on a Missouri River bluff presently known as [[Calumet Bluff]]. As recently as 1857, the present day site of Yankton was occupied by a village of Yankton Sioux led by Chief ''Pa-le-ne-a-pa-pe'' ("Struck by the Ree").<ref>{{cite book |last=Kingsbury |first=George W. |year=1915 |title=History of Dakota Territory |publisher=S.J. Clarke Publishing Company |place=Chicago, IL |page=115}}</ref> Two years later, with the signing of the [[Yankton Treaty|Yankton Treaty of 1858]], the land was opened for settlement.<ref>{{cite web |title=History of Yankton, South Dakota |website=Yankton, South Dakota |url=http://www.yanktonsd.com/subcategory.cfm?cat_id=4&subcat_id=6 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080214105405/http://www.yanktonsd.com/subcategory.cfm?cat_id=4&subcat_id=6 |archive-date=February 14, 2008}}</ref> The city was founded where the small Rhine Creek (renamed Marne Creek in [[World War I]]) flowed into the Missouri River.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.yankton.net/history/ |title=History of Yankton |access-date=February 3, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080302035616/http://www.yankton.net/history/|archive-date=March 2, 2008|url-status=dead |website=Press & Dakotan}}</ref> The city grew as a stop for steamboats to take on fresh water and supplies, especially after steamboat traffic boomed when gold was discovered in the [[Black Hills]].