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- Welcome to "Dakota Life Detours."

We're gonna travel some side roads to visit three Dakota life stories that you haven't seen on television before.

Our host for this detour is the Mead Museum in Yankton.

The Yankton County Historical Society has set out to give you an authentic historical experience from this area from the pre-Dakota Territory to the modern day.

Bordered by the Missouri River, the city and county are named for the Yankton Band of Sioux Indians, who lived in the area since the early 1700s.

The Lewis and Clark Expedition sailed by in 1804.

Steamboats were traveling up the Missouri in the late 1840s.

The city was designated as the first capital of Dakota Territory in 1861, and that was the same year the first official newspaper, The Weekly Dakotaian was first published in Yankton.

The first school, well, that was held in the home of Dr. Abram Van Osdel, it opened in December of 1862.

And a dozen years later, the first railroad connected Yankton and Sioux City, Iowa.

The rich history of Yankton County, is preserved through many landmark buildings, historical sites, and the written word, and it's organized and presented for you to see right here at the Mead Museum.

The Missouri River offers recreational and fishing opportunities, but if you're at the streams and lakes of the Black Hills you're more likely to see a solitary fisherman with a fly rod, Creole and net.

And for Hans Stephenson, his skill at tying flies is a way to be creative and extend his fishing to times when he's not even on the water.

- I can see fish rising over here right now.

Nice to be out here.

Standing in the water, listening to the water.

My name's Hans Stephenson, I own Dakota Angler and Outfitter, it's a fly fishing shop in Rapid City, South Dakota.

"Step into my Studio."

I think fly tying has always been kind of an extension of fishing in that it almost takes you fishing while you're sitting there and you can imagine like, oh, if I only tied this fly a little bit differently that would work in this situation and you can imagine yourself fishing it.

So, it's a way to be creative but also extend fishing to the times when you're not even on the water.

And that's why I love it 'cause it never gets boring, even if you fish the same river or the same small stream.

There's always something changing in terms of the techniques you can use and the types of flies you use for those techniques.

And then, you're tying different flies and you're applying a different casting technique, and it just is always evolving, always changing and you're never just doing the same thing over and over and over again until it gets boring and you give up on it.

The fly that I tied is a variation of a fly called a clink hammer.

And it's a type of dry fly that became really popular in the last say 10, 15 years.

And that fly is a great, just attractor pattern.

It doesn't imitate one thing specifically, it has enough kind of characteristics that it just looks appealing all the time.

And so it's just a great fly to have in your box because you can always use it, essentially.

It's called a parachute drive fly.

The way that it lands on the water, it lands really softly like a parachute descending down.

And so, what I did was I built the body of the fly first with what we call dubbing, and then I tied in a hackle feather.

And then after I got done with the body of the fly, I took that hackle and I wrapped it around the wing.

And that's what creates all these little legs that stick out, and that's what holds the fly on the surface but also helps it land gently as it's coming down to the surface like a parachute.

And so, it just sits on the surface of the water on those little hackle legs and gives that kind of suggestion of an insect that's trapped on the surface of the water.

All of it is about learning how to piece together different techniques, essentially.

And so, the first thing you have to get good at is applying the thread to the hook, 'cause the thread is the base of every fly.

And so, the most basic fly patterns are literally no more than just a little bit of thread on a hook that looks enough like a little larva that they're feeding on.

And so, it's as simple as that.

But then you just start adding different techniques onto it where like, one of the techniques I did on that fly is dubbing and that's where you wrap some fine fibers on the thread, almost creating a yarn that's wrapped around the thread.

And then when you wrap the thread and that dubbing onto the hook, it builds the body of the fly.

You can catch a lot of fish on very basic flies but you just learn little techniques and add and add, and add and add, and add.

And really you're just applying materials in different techniques.

And like, you can look at a fly after you've tied for a long time and go, "Oh, I know what they did to do that."

'Cause you can just pick it apart in your brain, what techniques and how those materials were applied with those techniques to get a certain look to a fly.

What's cool about the whole thing to me is just that journey.

Once you get into it, especially trout fishing, you get sucked into this little ecosystem and what bugs are hatching and why are the fish eating them and what stage of that lifecycle of that bug are the fish really focusing on?

And then, that leads you to start thinking more about how could you tie a fly that imitates that specific insect at that specific stage in its life that the fish are really focusing on, and then if you get it right it just is like this big feedback loop.

I always explain to people like, fly fishing can be really challenging but once you get a few pieces right and you get there when they're in a good feeding situation, like a good hatch, it just feels like you're willing fish out of the water 'cause you can put that fly in front of 'em and they just grab it, and then you cast it out again and another one grabs it, and you catch 15 in a row in 20 minutes.

I love to go all over the place.

What I love about what we have here is we're lucky with just access and not a lot of people around really, even though right now we're in a pretty urban setting but we've got city parks all through town.

Wild trouts, so these are not stocked fish, they're wild brown trout.

And you can 12 months a year be right in town catching wild fish, it doesn't really get much better than that.

- In June, 1936, Yankton's first museum opened on the side of the present day Riverside Park.

It was the Dakota Territorial Hall, and it was moved to the west side of the park in 1953.

About 10 years later, the Yankton County Historical Society was formed and took over care of the museum.

Its exhibit space expanded over the years and then in 2012 the Historical Society's board of directors launched a plan to restore and move to the Mead Building on the north edge of Yankton.

It's a multi-year and multi-million dollar venture, it reopened in 2018 and continues to be a work in progress.

Now let's get back on the road.

There's another multi-year project and this one involves gymnasts.

They're the Midland Tumblers.

These school kids, no matter what age, have put forth the effort to build a 50 year tumbling tradition.

(people cheering) (indistinct chatter) - [Cameraman] Hey coach, could I have an interview with you?

- There was a couple of other towns that I recall over the years that attempted this.

(people cheering) But it was all high school age kids.

- These are our 1992, 20th year, Midland Tumblers.

- [Edna] What was really, I think, drawing about the Tumblers it incorporated kids of all ages, all school ages.

- [Teacher] So let's begin.

(upbeat music) - Every other kid in Midland was doing it at the time, so it's something you wanted to do and socialize, just have fun.

(upbeat music) - [Edna] They all had to learn how to work together, build that relationship, teamwork, family, trust.

You have to have trust if you're gonna let somebody fly over you.

♪ Left it till my tears went silent ♪ ♪ If this is war I don't think I can fight it ♪ ♪ Had to let you go let it flow cry ♪ ♪ Can't say we didn't try ♪ - [Announcer] Get ready for some halftime fun, it's the Midland Tumblers.

- Its just a memorable show.

It's something you may never see ever again.

(people applauding) - [Teacher] 25 years ago, the Midland Tumblers were started by an individual that helped the town of Midland became known as home of the Midland Tumblers.

The person I'm talking about is Mr. Larry Joy.

Larry, would you please come forward?

(people applauding) - [Edna] My husband was actually a student of Larry Joy's and he had him in PE class and he said, when the big trampoline, they used to have a huge trampoline, and then some smaller equipment come into the school.

And he started working with the kids, people just kind of thought he was crazy.

(upbeat music) - When I got there, there was a mini tramp, somebody had donated some money and there was a mini tramp and some mats, and I started using them in PE classes because they were there.

And plus, I just had an interest in gymnastics.

And in college, I did some diving and I was a diving judge, so I had an interest in that kinda stuff.

But no real intentions of starting a team.

We just tumbled, learned basic tumbling, like how to just tuck and roll, dive and tuck and roll, that kind of stuff at first.

Some of 'em were naturals and some not so much, but even a kid that wanted to do it bad enough if he worked hard enough could still kind of pick it up.

And then we put on a little program for the community, that's how we got rolling.

And we made mistakes and it was a little scary at times because it was trial and error, we were figuring it out as we went along.

(gentle music) - You know, tumbling is, well, we grew up with it.

We didn't deem it a dangerous sport.

But if you stop and think about it, if you're leaving the ground, propelling off of a trampoline at who knows what kind of speed or what form, you know, you're subject to falls if you miss the mat.

Land on your feet, you know, you can break bones.

Land on your head, you can, you know, cause serious spinal injury.

It's just all...

There is some risk involved.

We were at state tournament in Huron, years ago, back in the 1980s, and Jeff Jones had just gone over one of the bigger pyramids and came down and landed wrong with his ankle, and they ended up having to take him to the emergency room.

(foreboding music) "But not till after the performance."

he said - We were pretty safe in practice, we always had safety belts and you'd have kids on either side.

If somebody was trying to learn how to do the summaries you'd always have somebody holding them up or we had big foam pits to land on while kids are learning different things.

So yeah, it was dangerous, Jason but to me, I guess, I never felt unsafe in any sense of the word.

- [Larry] And it wasn't as dangerous a lot of times as it looked because these kids, when they landed they knew how to come out of it.

They could roll out of some pretty good wrecks.

So, I think, I mean, nothing wrong with the drill team at halftime, but there was no danger there.

And it's kinda like bull riding, you know?

Part of the thrill of, in my mind, part of the thrill of bull riding is the danger of those darn things, and I think that was part of the excitement, the thrill for the crowd could, you know, they didn't know if they were gonna wreck or not, or they thought they might.

You just, you never knew for sure, and so, I think that was part of the excitement.

- [Announcer] Well, as you said before, they are the most popular halftime entertainment at any of the state tournaments, and they border on being scary to watch.

I think that's what makes them so much fun, everybody really gets into their routine.

- [Larry] Used to be, a lot of times, at halftime people would go get pop and popcorn or whatever, it seemed like when we were tumbling, they always stayed put.

- [Edna] Even some of those that were getting up to go do something, say, if it was halftime at a basketball game, some of 'em would turn around and sit back down because people would say, "You don't wanna miss this."

(audience cheering) You know, crisscross was probably one of the bigger, more exciting, drew more response from a crowd, just because the older kids could close it up and cause some scare factor.

(audience cheering) - We didn't do the crisscross, they added that later, but obviously that added a little extra excitement to it.

Your timing had to be, obviously, had to be perfect.

- [Edna] There would be times you would feel the other person, you might catch their hair, you might catch a fingernail, you might catch a foot, you might have their T-shirt in your hand.

But the whole goal as you got older and braver was to give a thrill, to thrill and to entertain.

- I don't know how to explain it, really, it's an unbelievable feeling.

I still get goosebumps watching old tapes and watching the tumbling tapes 'cause I've been there and experienced it, it's just something you'll never do again.

- [Edna] You get a sense of instilled pride because you're doing something that not everybody had the chance or the opportunity to do.

Seeing all those kids, no matter what age, you know, it was the effort they put forth that was truly their success.

(audience cheering) - [Larry] If you play a basketball game, somebody has to lose.

If you play football games, somebody loses and there's disappointment.

When we would tumble, everybody was rooting for the tumblers, people from other towns, people across the state.

So, it was kind of a win-win situation.

So there was a lot of joy and the kids always felt good about it when they got done, 'cause everybody was happy.

- It gives us great pleasure to present Larry Joy, the son of Edna and the late Errol Doug Joy, with his class and teacher, and appreciation for starting the tumbling program.

(audience applauding) - [Jason] I'm sure being the founder of the Tumblers and to see it carry on for 50 plus years, it's gotta be huge for him.

Big place in his heart and, wanna see it keep going.

- [Announcer] I present to you a unique group, the few, the proud, the Midland Tumblers.

- [Edna] The last traveling team that went to the state tournament was in 2007, I took 12 tumblers that still wanted to go.

- [Announcer] The Midland Tumblers under the direction of Edna Gale.

- And those 12 kids got the biggest standing ovation.

Sorry.

(audience applauding) - [Announcer] A great tradition, the Midland Tumblers, nothing like them.

(audience applauding) - I wouldn't have dreamed in a hundred years that they'd still be tumbling in Midland 50 years later.

But I have to think about all the kids that did benefit from it and then even coaches and the community, and I think it's awesome.

It makes me kind of emotional.

- [Edna] You know, I don't think he ever stopped to consider when he started this PE class event course, whichever you want to call it, ever dreamed it would develop into what it became or lasted as long as it has.

The legacy he gave to the town of Midland is just truly amazing.

(audience cheering) (upbeat music) - The Yankton County Historical Society's new home here at the Mead Museum features permanent exhibits.

One on the Yankton State Hospital entitled, "Minds, Methods and Medicine."

Another on the "Journey Forward" called "Connecting Cultures."

It's the story of white settlement in the land of the Yankton Sioux.

There is also a revolving lineup of traveling exhibits.

And here in the digital age, there are online resources ranging from Dakota Territory records and early newspapers, to a link to the South Dakota State Historical Society, and more information about historic homes in Yankton.

Let's head out now to the open prairies.

There's another link to the past and that's the image of the cowboy on horseback managing cattle.

But let's be fair, there are many women in that picture too.

So, let's meet a real cowgirl.

(siren blaring) - [Terry] I was probably 18, and she had taken a bad spill chasing horses and had a severe head injury.

After that injury, the doctors told her that she could no longer ride those like that, and she had to be very careful if she was going to ride as to what horse she would ride.

He told her that if she got it thumped again that she'd probably end up in a wheelchair.

(upbeat music) - She was a cowgirl and she was tough and she was standout, and she was like what I think a woman should have been.

- [Willie] The real cowgirl can walk up to you and you just know she is, the other one, there's some of 'em that would really like to be, but the real cowgirl, you can tell what she is by the way she handles herself.

- [Kalyn] They're not out there wearing long skirts or dresses.

They're not at home taking care of kids or the house.

They were definitely against the grain for being a woman during that era.

- She definitely was a cowgirl.

She didn't like housework or cooking or anything like that.

She was not domestic at all.

(Terry giggling) She liked working outside.

She liked working with livestock, and loved riding.

She could outride a lot of men.

There were a lot of men that admired her.

- [Willie] She wasn't just a trick rider, she was a cowgirl.

I think that's what they probably admired the most was that she was a cowgirl.

Yes, she was a hell of a trick rider, but I think being the cowgirl and running a ranch and surviving and stuff is probably what people admired more than anything about her.

- I feel that it's just what's in you.

Ag is something that either you like it or you don't like it, and there is no in-between.

And when you like it, it's just part of you, part of your personality, part of who you are and what you like to do.

She was just born into it.

Mattie was the youngest in her family, she was born in 1899.

She was actually a change of life baby, so her siblings were all quite a bit older.

Her oldest brother had her on a horse before she could hardly even walk.

So, she became a really good rider at a really young age.

And I know the horses at home that she rode, you know, you had to know how to ride to handle 'em.

Yeah, she didn't have a problem with them and she would just go a tearing on them.

And she was a fast rider.

As far as I know she was self-taught, it was just something she practiced at.

She was just good at it.

She did have someone, and I don't remember what his name was, that kind of gave her some guidance but I think pretty much she was self-taught.

Unfortunately, I was not here when she was trick riding but I know she would go down from the saddle down underneath the horses belly while it was running and you had to have your timing and things right so you didn't get clipped by the horse's hooves when they were running.

You had to have a lot of strength to do that.

She just did a lot of different tricks.

She made it look easy.

And to her, it wasn't scary.

She was just good at it.

(film rolling) She was well known in that era of time for her trick riding and things, and she liked the attention, she loved it.

And this was important to her, she enjoyed it.

And she went around to a lot of the rodeos, and she performed for Calvin Coolidge, he was very impressed with her riding and of course that was important to her.

She was proud that she was able to do that.

Mom used to try to trick ride too when she was a little girl and that would've come from Mattie.

I have a picture of mom in my closet that she's standing on her little horse dime and that all came from Mattie.

It's just kind of a fun fact, I guess, to be related to her.

Just was proud that she was able to have the life she wanted, exactly the way she wanted it.

- She was a celebrity for her time, in small town South Dakota, and across the nation, you know, we didn't have television that we could promote her in media that we were Mattie, Mattie, Mattie.

But she was definitely a celebrity and somebody to look up to as a woman.

- [Terry] It would be her mindset, yes, and it would be the drive behind her, but it would just be her.

What was in her, her interest, what she liked.

That was just her life and she would've never wanted any other life.

And she enjoyed it, she enjoyed her life and who she was.

I admired her for her ability to ride and the horses that she rode, as well as her trick riding.

And she was just that cowgirl, full, through and through, and got to live her whole life being that cowgirl and doing what she enjoyed and was able to do it basically most of her life.

She got to do what she loved doing and so many of us don't get to do that.

- There are many museums and exhibits all across the state that showcase the history of this area that we now call South Dakota, from community museums to the State Historical Society.

And along with all the exhibits, the Yankton County Historical Society has made a real commitment to restore an historic building and showcase the past.

It's the Mead Museum.

You'll find it just off Highway 50 on the north side of Yankton.

Thanks for coming along with us as we detour to some of the back roads of South Dakota.

and find out more about how our heritage is carrying us into an even brighter future.

You can replay or share stories, or even full episodes of "Dakota Life" at sdpb.org/dakotalife.

Join us again for another "Dakota Life Detours" and for all of us at SDPB, thanks for watching.

(upbeat music)