- This is a production of SDPD.

- When you study the history of this place we call South Dakota, one of the first things you learn is that there's a lot of it not just the history of the communities or the peoples here today, and more than the history of the American frontier and the native tribes.

Let's consider a timeline, say of millions of years.

For example, around 100 million years ago, this area was covered by a large inland sea known as the Western Interior seaway.

It brought a tropical climate to the northern plains, and along with that tropical plants and wildlife.

Now when that seaway receded, it left an historical record.

The shoreline of the sea ran right through what is now South Dakota, leaving a treasure trove of marine and terrestrial fossils.

In fact, it's been a target rich environment for geologists and paleontologists.

Their studies have told us that people first arrived in this area about 13,000 years ago, and over the last millennium, those people can be identified as the ra, Cheyenne Crow, ki, and Arapahoe tribes, and of course the Sioux who still live here on the Cheyenne River and the Standing Rock reservations, although some European and American explorers visited and even lived here as far back as the mid 17 hundreds, it was the Homestead Act of 1862 that opened Dakota territory to a tsunami of settlers.

And they were looking to prove up claims Through the early 20th century, they established counties and towns, and Dewey County was created in 1883.

It was organized by 1910.

Its namesake was William Dewey, the territorial surveyor general at the time.

Now Dewey County is one of five counties that lie within the Cheyenne River and Standing Rock reservations in South Dakota.

Settlers established communities like Green Grass, LA Plant, land, tree, Eagle, Butte, swift Bird, and Whitehorse, the county seat.

Well, that's right here in Timber Lake.

It was founded in 1910 with the arrival of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad.

Today, Timberlake is a friendly rural community and its heartbeat is in rhythm with life on the prairie.

People know their neighbors and they care about each other.

And despite its small size, it's a place where even the biggest dreams are possible.

Let's find out what they are.

Welcome to Dakota Life and Greetings from Timber Lake - Dakota.

Life is made possible with support from our members and for bands, community fund shifting paradigms and innovating equitable systems to create opportunities for people in the areas of small business, home ownership and financial security.

And by Morro Grande Electric Co-op in COR in Dewey and Zebo counties.

The only thing tougher than the weather are the members of the Morro Grande Electric cooperative, working together with their member owners since 1946.

Thank you.

- In the 16th and early 17th centuries, the Suan language, including the Lakota Dakota and Dakota dialects once cycled across the entire upper Mississippi region.

There were some conflicts with Decree and Chippewa, but it was the lure of the Great Plains Buffalo herds that brought the Sioux further west in the mid 16 hundreds.

Now, the Lakota acquired horses around 1740 and shortly after crossed the Missouri River to the west.

They lived in organized bands.

They wared and they raided, but it was the buffalo that brought them food and clothing as the white settlers and caval removed in a series of treaties defined that white native relationship.

The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 placed the Lakota on one large reservation.

It covered parts of North and South Dakota and four other states.

Following the Indian wars of the 1860s and seventies, the US government created several smaller reservations in including Cheyenne River in 1889.

Since then, roughly half of the reservation was confiscated by the US government and the damning of the Missouri River starting in 1948, submerged another 8% of the reservation.

The Sioux name is part of a native word, not osu, which the French shortened to Sioux.

The term refers to three groups, the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota.

Today there are four separate Lakota bands that call Cheyenne River, their Home.

Stay with us as we explore the Timberlake area, including meeting a father son team.

Now, while they're ready to work on just about anything that needs repair, it's more about making a career and realizing that you don't need to leave home to find everything you really wanted.

And we've got much more to share about Timberlake.

But first, we found that many people living here now descended from those first settlers who organized the town in 1910.

And because of that direct heritage, the town celebrates the days of 1910.

Every July there's a parade and rodeo, and it's a bit like a pilgrimage for former residents from all over the country to come back and reconnect with old friends and maybe make some new ones.

- Some of Timberlake's busiest days of the year are the days of 1910.

People from far and wide converge on Main Street to taking the sights and sounds under the big top tent.

You can find all sorts of food crafts and of course plum jelly.

People dance, people sing, people see people they haven't seen in a while on Main Street.

People converge for the parade.

- Go for - H there's lights, there's sirens, and there's a whole lot of waving.

- The tractor is given by Jim Keller.

Thanks for coming - While parade, participants do compete for votes to see who has the best float.

All kids seem to care about is the candy, but of course, the rodeo is the main attraction, and it's the Rodeo association that puts on this shindig every year, a - 19 10, 1 - Of the biggest, best celebrations of the year - Right here.

Tim Wife, lemme ask you this, so - You guys are gonna - Have a little bit of fun on a Saturday night tonight.

- If planning a good rodeo takes knowledge, this team has it in spades.

You guys are all ex rodeo rock stars.

- Yes, - I'm not ex, I still am.

- They need X.

He's a champion.

He's a champion.

We, we all three have been champions - And their expertise shows the days of 1910.

Rodeo was named the 2021 South Dakota Rodeo of the Year.

- When you rodeo, you just went and got on, you know, and now you gotta put this on and it's a lot more pressure, a lot harder, not a lot more work.

- I don't know.

- It's, it's a lot of fun.

- And if fun is the name of the game, these two are the DJ and mc of the party.

- Born and raised in Timberlake.

Come from a big rodeo family.

I'm a, I'm a rodeo announcer, full-time as well.

So I'll be announcing the rodeo here tonight.

And the Rodeo Club puts on the days nine 10, but it, it takes the whole community to make it happen.

So it's just awesome to get to be a part of it.

Sport of rodeo in, in the cowboy way of life itself is, is something that's pretty special.

There's no sport like it where, you know, everyone's competing against each other, but yet everyone's their biggest, biggest cheerleader.

You know, you, you watching the rough stock and every other event, and a buddy will go out there and have a great ride and then go back and help their buddy.

That's, that's trying to beat them, you know, and everyone's up against each other, but yet everyone's just having a good time and, and, and trying to enjoy themselves and, and win a little bit of money to keep going down the road.

So just getting to be a part of that, getting to be a part of the western way of life.

You know, like I said, I, I rodeoed my whole life and I stepped away from it because of injuries.

And so now to get to be a part of it and kind of have control of the show is something that's pretty special.

Now this - Is the matchup of the nine.

This horse gets flat out buck.

He's gotta be strong.

Come on, great.

- It's all fun.

But, but once rodeo time, it's all business.

So it's, it's like, it's like my job.

So we're clocking in for work here soon and get you gonna get after it.

You - Guys see our pickup man riding - In here?

This is my buddy right here.

Yeah, this is my, he runs all my music, all of my sound and everything.

So he does a great job as well.

We'll be right next to each other usually for a majority of the rodeo, but we might only say 10 words, the whole rodeo.

But I trust him fullheartedly that he's gonna play the right songs and, and, and have the right, the right noise level and things like that to where we don't gotta communicate.

Things are just click like this.

- It's always nice to find that happy medium all the way around the arena, just so everybody can have a good rodeo experience here.

- A bit of a round applause.

I always say at the beginning too, it's like, you know, we're here for, we're here for the people in the crowd.

1910.

I think you're gonna like it.

- Earlier I mentioned that in Timberlake even the biggest are possible.

Well, here's what I mean.

Timberlake native Tucker Craft is now a Green Bay Packer, tight end craft honed his skills early at Timberlake High School.

He played running back middle linebacker and punter on the nine man football team.

And during his senior year, craft rushed for over 1400 yards and had 24 touchdowns.

He was named First Team Allstate, but then he went on to play for the jackrabbits at SDSU.

Kraft was named Consensus, FCS All American and all Missouri Valley football conference.

And then in May of 2023, he was picked in the third round of the NFL draft by the packers.

The 78th overall pick, Tucker received that call surrounded by friends, family, and well wishers at the aircraft spraying airfield and hangar here in Timberlake.

You know, it's common for young people like Tucker to leave their hometown well education work or even military service, but it's also not unusual for some of them to come back after they've seen a bit of the world.

That's part of our next story.

- The short name is Quinn's Auto, but it, the official name is Quinn's Auto and Equipment Repair and Restoration.

We wanted to get everything we did do in our name, so, but everybody just calls it Quinn's Auto.

- Ken Quinn arrived back on his family's land near Timberlake after service in the army as a mechanic and several years with a large equipment company in Colorado.

- We are currently living across the road in the homestead of my great-great-grandparents.

So we're fifth and sixth generation here on this land.

- Where did that mechanical aptitude come from?

Just being on the farm?

Do you have some education or background - In that?

No, I have no education.

I formal education other than what I got in the military.

Okay.

But I grew up just loving mechanical things.

My dad, every, every farmer was a mechanic back then.

You know, you just had to be.

And I just enjoyed working with him and, and fixing things.

And you know, when something was broke and one of my brothers didn't want to fix it, they would, you know, I'd be happy to join in and help with the repairs.

- Back in Timberlake, Ken was a farmer, but when a close friend who had a repair shop passed away, it left a void.

So Ken went into business to fill it.

His son Caleb, inherited the family interest in mechanics and chose to pass on a tech school scholarship to join his dad.

- My plan at that time was to do that, be away for four years and then come back and hopefully start up a shop with my dad, because that's my real passion.

I completely enjoy welding, but building cars is definitely my passion.

Yeah.

And it was just shortly after graduation that I was thinking, why go away for four years doing something that I like, but at the same time turning down an opportunity to start now.

And so I made a few phone calls and decided to stay here.

Mechanic wise, working on engines always seemed to come pretty easily to me.

Obviously things that need to be picked up and learned, even still now, body work was a little tougher for me to warm up to.

Took me some time to build the patience to do it.

I'd say seeing the progress from something that is running really poorly and then making it run great or something that's rotting away in a tree row and turning it into something beautiful is just the resurrection of that.

And just to see it progress.

I really enjoy that.

- And it's good that they enjoy working with each other because their list of projects has grown well beyond cars, - Four wheelers, lawnmowers, lots of tractors, boats.

Trying to think if there's any more unusual things in that.

But as I said, made mention before, I have trouble saying no when they ask.

So if we don't know it, we're determined to figure it out.

So we have the resources and he's great on research and finding ways to accomplish something we've never attempted before.

So you know that Never say die, that I'll figure it out.

Yeah, we will.

We will make it happen.

I don't know how, but we'll make it happen.

I'll call you when we're done.

- You haven't shared that secret with your dad that there are YouTube videos out there.

- Yeah, I just figured it out.

Yeah, - Quite a handy tool.

Most everyone we work, work for.

I know personally I either I grew up with them or I know their family, so there's not so much an obligation, but just a desire to be helpful to be there because I know the feeling of I need something done and I don't know what to do.

I'm in tr you know, I have a difficulty.

And just the satisfaction of being able to, you know, solve their problem.

It's just, it's worth it.

No matter how many times you bust your knuckles or run against wall, then you can't figure it out, but you finally do it just, it all goes away when it, the gratitude that people express.

- Yeah, - Timberlake and Dewey County is all about the land and water now, originally called the Big owl and Little Owl Rivers, they're now known as Thero and Little Monroe Rivers.

And that name comes from an early French traitor in the area.

The owl or Thero provided traditional winter campgrounds for the Cheyenne and later the mini Kanju and two kettle bans of the Teton Sioux.

The grassland watershed surrounding the river later attracted European settlers in the late 19th century.

That's also when cattle barons from southern states grazed thousands of cattle on the rich grasses here.

Now today, these same grasslands and rivers still attract a lot of people.

You see the draw now is the little Monroe State recreation area.

The idea took root at a meeting at the Timberlake Golf Club early in 1932.

The club members were talking about the need for additional recreation and employment because you see, this was amidst the Great Depression.

So they purchased 160 acres nearby and they received federal funds, which they earmarked for employment for the destitute, in needy.

Now, by July 4th, the following year they had a celebration to Christen the new recreation area.

This prairie oasis is still the home for an abundance of animals and plants.

We're not far from the little Monroe River.

And if you're gonna stay here, the park has some non-electric campsites, a boat ramp, and a picnic shelter.

People across Timberlake like to enjoy the outdoors, whether it's walking, running by bike, or in the case of one group traveling on just one wheel - Year reunion.

- For most people growing up in South Dakota, learning to ride a bike is almost second nature.

But here in Timber Lake, riding a bike is often a little different than in other places.

- It's kind of hard staying on and yeah, it was just mostly hard staying on with it and trying to go.

For me, a lot of people exaggerate it.

It's not the hardest thing in the world, but it takes time.

- That's right in Timberlake.

Instead of two wheels, a lot of the kids learn to travel on one.

- You can just go ride around, go to places that with a normal bike you can't.

And people being impressed.

- All this unicycling around Timberlake started with Bo Bigler who started riding when he was a Jack Rabbit.

- After a few years of college, my friend and I were at the bike shop in Brookings and bought a unicycle and started from there.

So I was probably about 20 or 21 when I started Unicycling.

- After moving back to his hometown and settling down, Bo decided it was time to get his family involved with his hobby.

- When our oldest daughter turned eight, we gave her a unicycle for her birthday and then it just kinda exploded from there.

- My dad started in college and then my mom did after they got married.

And then my sister learned and I learned when my brother learned.

It's just really nice to have a family that knows how to unicycle.

'cause not very many kids get to know how to unicycle - The bigler rolling around town soon caught the attention of the community and others wanted to learn the art of unicycling, eventually giving the small town a unique distinction.

- We've had some foreign exchange students over the years.

They, if they didn't know how to unicycle when they got here, they had to learn.

So it's, it's been fun.

We've taught a lot of kids over the years.

I would say in the Timberlake community there's about 30 people, kids and adults that can ride.

So we're like the highest per capita unicycle community in the state of South Dakota for sure.

- Thus, the Timberlake Unicycle Club was born and began performing all across the state.

- The kids come and go, they, you know, it's, it's fun for a while and then when they get a little bit older, you know, they kind of move on to different hobbies or this and that.

And some of them like doing halftime shows, so they do that.

Some of 'em like doing the talent show in the summer, you know, so that's what they do.

Most everybody likes doing parades though, so that that can be kind of fun if we got, you know, 10 or 15 of us in a parade.

So it just, and everyone's schedule's different, you know, sometimes everyone wants to do bunch parades in the summer and it works out.

- It's just fun hobby to do.

It's fun to go go around and do halftime shows and parades and stuff.

- If you wanna learn how to ride, folks in this group say it's never too late to learn.

- There's an old statistic that says it only requires 10% balance to unicycle, 40% persistence and 50% determination.

So only 10% balance, mostly just not giving up.

- You can definitely pick it up at your age old age.

It's just really fun.

You can do a lot of things on it.

It's not just one way.

It means a lot.

It's unique to ride motorcycles and not many people can do it.

So it's fun.

- Newspapers in general have had a pretty rough time of it over the last couple of decades, but some still thrive since the town was founded.

The Timberlake topic has chronicled and events in this corner of the world.

The newspaper actually came together in 1913.

The Dewey County Advocate and the Timberlake Tribune merged now since 1922.

The home of the Timberlake topic is the same building right here on Main Street, but there is one part of Timberlake history that didn't make it into the news.

Well, at least for several years.

It was the secret life of Elizabeth Meyer.

She was born in Timberlake in 1912.

Elizabeth attended St. Joseph's Catholic school.

She even played violin in the orchestra.

But without anyone knowing, Elizabeth served in the CIA.

That was from 1947 to 1972.

For 25 years she was an undercover agent.

Sud Meyer was the first female CIA agent to handle assets in the foreign field to conduct full cycle recruitment and to earn the intelligence medal of merit for her clandestine work.

Her stations included Beirut, Damascus, Baghdad, Cairo, and New dhi.

And even though some of her career is publicly documented, when Elizabeth died in 1989, many other details of her work remain secret At the high school.

They cheer on the Timberlake Panthers, but there's much more to brag about than the extracurriculars great attendance metrics.

A unique and very competitive scholarship program and a vocational program that's unique to this corner of South Dakota, - Just across Main Street from Timberlake High School, sits a classroom in a class all its own - Career.

And technical ed is very hands-on.

You learn by doing.

It's much more in tune to that than it is reading a book and passing a test.

You have to be able to do this with your hands.

- Inside of Northwest Area school's, mobile, vocational and technical education classrooms, hundreds of high school students get their hands on future career paths every year.

- From the time you're a freshman through a senior, you can make it through all eight of our mobile units and you would be introduced to eight different career fields.

We're the only place that does that.

- I think it exposes them to so many different things that a lot of times a small town can't, and we know they're in demand because they know they only have one chance to take this class in high school.

So you need to try it and, and, and it gives them a taste of a little bit of everything.

- A taste that includes culinary arts, construction, trades, engine mechanics, drafting and architecture, health sciences, welding technology, graphic design, and currently in Timberlake electronics and intro to it.

- Right now, the kids are doing networking.

And what the networking is involving is actually all the aspects that you would do with the hard wiring for a network.

It's probably one of the best programs these small schools could have because they may not pursue networking as a career.

But everybody wants to know how to hook their computer up to a network.

And when we get into the residential wiring portion, again, they may not choose it as a career, but it's just good to have under your hat that you know how to hook up an outlet or a switch or even a light bulb.

- It's the wheels on this program that has made the knowledge go round and round for decades.

- This year marks our 50th year as as the multi-district.

Originally the multi-district started with three mobile units and we have expanded of course over time.

We, we now operate eight mobile units, - Each moving school to school every semester.

- We serve in small communities, the rural schools, where it's more difficult, I think for those schools to have their own career and technical ed program.

The equipment to, to have a modern program in your school is expensive.

And by the use of the Perkins Funds, Northwest area is able to equip our units with state-of-the-art up to date equipment, - Pooling student populations from multiple schools allows access to federal funding to purchase equipment like what's found in the welding technology unit.

- We're just really proud of the equipment we have and, and the concept itself of being able to bring a program like this to these rural communities and basically even a student that comes out of welding one, my goal is to have them employable in this industry, straight outta high school.

- A working knowledge, something that they can take with them right outta high school.

- I think the tricky part is the teacher pipeline, you know, and we see that across the board, not just in CTE, but I think it hits CTE especially hard, especially this co-op because these teachers have to travel from their home base every day to multiple miles to teach in that school.

And that's, that's taxing.

- I live here in Timberlake, I commute every place else.

My shortest drive is seven miles.

I have been here for 33 years.

I started at this town and I'm glad to be back here.

I've been the instructor of this particular program for, well this is 35 years, and once every four years I drive 120 miles a day to school.

Gotta make sure that coffee mug is full when I hit the road.

Yeah, it can be a little challenging with road conditions and that kind of thing, but it's pretty exciting for me as a, as as a instructor to be able to pass my knowledge off on to these young people, nine through 12 graders and, and give 'em a shot at, you know, a career.

- There's a century old landmark near Timberlake.

It's the Episcopal Indian Mission Church Chapel of the Holy Spirit.

But folks around here call it the Old Stone Church.

It was built in the summer of 1922, and it stands on the east side of Fire Steel Creek, about three miles south of the Grand River.

Frank Wagner of Caldron, South Dakota managed the construction and volunteers quarried massive sandstone blocks from a bluff not far away.

The huge boulders were pride from the top of the bluff with bars and wedges until they fell down the steep slope.

Then they were pulled by teams of horses to the construction site.

Well, the church drew people from many faiths for many years, but it was volunteers once again.

That came in 2004 to restore the building.

Today the Old Stone Church is not only a landmark, it's also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Now, when you visit Timberlake, be sure to stop by the museum.

It's run by the Timberlake Historical Society.

You're gonna learn about this area's unique archeological finds.

You'll see displays about life in Timberlake through the years and a special exhibit about the White Horse winter count.

Now, a winter count chronicles the history of Native Americans, and this one ranges from the 17 hundreds well into the 20th century.

We hope you've enjoyed your visit to Timberlake.

You can see more stories about this area on our website.

You can also replay and share stories about the Cheyenne River Reservation, our Timberlake features, and all of the other communities that we visit.

And that's at sdpb.org/dakota Life.

Thank you for watching.

From the wide open spaces here at Dewey County in North Central, South Dakota, I'm Larry Rohrer for everyone at SD pb, thanks for coming along for the ride.