- This is a production of South Dakota Public Broadcasting.

If you study history, you'll soon find out it can be a mix of fact and legend.

For example, legend tells us that in 1804, the Lewis and Clark expedition learned of the birth of a male child near the Expedition's encampment in what is now southeastern South Dakota.

Captain Lewis is said to have sent for the child and wrapped the newborn in an American flag.

During the council at Calumet Bluff Lewis declared the baby and American.

This boy grew up to become chief of the A Hwan Dakota, also known as the Yankton Sioux.

And he was known by the name as struck by the Reed.

However, journals of the expedition make no mention of this incident, but you will hear it as part of oral history passed down by the tribe.

History also tells us that by the late 1850s there was strong pressure to open this area to European settlement.

Struck by the RE and several other chiefs journeyed to Washington DC in 1857, they wanted to negotiate a treaty with the federal government.

Struck by the Reese's name appears first on that document.

It's the Treaty of Washington.

It was signed in April, 1858.

A treaty provision included moving the tribe to a 475,000 acre reservation on the north side of the Missouri River in what is now Charles Mix County.

To date, the Yankton Sioux Reservation is the second largest in the United States, and it's located entirely within the county.

The tribal headquarters is here in Wagner, and for context, Wagner straddles Highway 50 and about a dozen miles east of the Fort Randall Dam on the Missouri.

Now Wagner was founded in 1900 and incorporated a few years later.

It's named for Walt Wagner, the local postmaster at the time, along with tribal activities.

Wagner and the surrounding area offers great fishing, boating, camping, and other recreational opportunities.

The community is a hub that draws shoppers and workers from around the area.

Wagner is a progressive and growing town known for excellent educational and healthcare systems.

The fact is, it's a town with big city amenities and that small town feel, and that's what we're here to explore with you.

Welcome to Dakota Life and greetings from Wagner - Dakota.

Life is made possible with support from our members.

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CHSA farmer-owned cooperative.

- The Yanks are a tribe from the Mississippi region.

They settled in South Dakota and Minnesota in the 18th century.

They seeded 2.2 million acres to Iowa in the 1830s.

And 20 years later, the tribe seeded another 11 million acres.

By 1860, it had turned over almost all of its remaining land to the US government and most tribal members had moved to the Yankton Reservation.

The reservation started with nearly a half million acres, but homesteading by settlers in the 1880s withdrew much of the reservation from tribal control.

Today, the Yankton Sioux reservation covers about 40,000 acres.

The Yankton Sioux people have a deep connection to their land and their traditions.

They are passed down from generation to generation.

The traditional way of life was based on hunting, fishing, and gathering.

The animals they hunted became food, clothing and tools and wild plants and berries were also gathered for food.

The Yankton Sioux people have strong spiritual and artistic traditions.

They're centered around the belief that everything in the world is connected and that all living things have a spirit.

They also believe in the importance of community and family.

They're known for their bead work, will work and painting, and they have a strong tradition of storytelling to preserve tribal history.

Coming up on the program, we're going to explore the Wagner area with a stop by the Boys and Girls Clubs.

Tell you about the 6 0 5 Unity Jam and the Sip family homestead.

But what about those folks who help Wagner with their morning caffeine fix?

Well, they're over at the grind house.

- A tiny little setting that can also, it can be stressful when you get a rush, but you know, we work through it and it's just, it's all about having fun and giving the community, you know, a tasty product.

Hardest part of starting a business is where you're gonna call it.

Every drink has a fresh brown coffee beans.

Our building kind of looks like a little cabin house type structure.

And we are sitting right on Highway 46.

Yeah, so grind house 46.

- 46 comes from the highway.

The coolest thing in the morning is like when you wake up in the morning and if you haven't had your coffee, you kind of have this arrow about you.

Like you're just like, I, I think I've seen memes like, don't talk to me until I've had my cup of coffee.

Well, when you're the person that hands that coffee to the person that needs that little boost in the morning, they have a smile on their face or they like have a sense of relief or they're very, it's like it's, they're happy to see you.

- Myself and my team of baristas, we all have to get really creative.

They are amazing at creating drinks.

We're like, I try to compare ourselves to little bitty like lab scientists 'cause we're like mixing drinks.

We got all these cups and we have these flavors.

I keep everything on our social media.

That's a big way that we are able to advertise and announce certain drinks that we have.

That's new.

One of the recent drinks that just blew up and went crazy was the Barbie Lotus.

I advertised it a couple days before the movie actually came out and I mean, it just went crazy.

Like we ran out of product.

I didn't think it was gonna be that big, but I mean, the, the community as a whole just came out and just wanted something new.

And it's just really awesome when you see those trends that you think you don't know if it's gonna do good, and then you just give it a try.

And the community just really, they really support.

And that's the, that's the really cool thing about being in Wagner is that the community has supported us 110% on this new venture that we're doing.

And so that's really special.

Just wanted some coffee and saw this place and stopped in.

So that's also unique as we have those out of town, people that just come through and we get to chitchat, kind of get to know them.

They always say, this is a cute little shop in the middle of town.

It's always when you like pass through these small towns that you're always like looking for an espresso place or coffee place.

I grew up in Washington state where, you know, coffee's everywhere, so it's just kind of like a, a daily life thing.

And so, no, I wasn't expecting this at all, and it was a nice surprise.

We're not catering to just one specific group.

Coffee speaks to everybody.

Everybody loves coffee.

Everybody you know, wants to have just a drink.

Somebody actually said that we have, or bringing unity to this, this community by just having a native owned shop in the middle of town where everybody has supported it.

And that just, just makes you feel proud.

- We drove by it one day and my son was like, there's our coffee shop.

And so you could see it in his eyes that he had ownership and something that gave him pride, you know, and so it's, that translates to other people that are, are tribal members.

Like those are our people.

Like with what they've done, you know, they're, they're doing a positive thing and they're helping, helping their community.

- The settlers that moved into the yanked siouxland were immigrants from Holland, Norway, Sweden and Czechoslovakia.

They arrived looking for land to homestead.

The town would soon follow.

The original Wagner Town site was located three and a half miles south of the present location.

But like so many other communities in South Dakota, the influence of the railroad brought on a relocation.

The Milwaukee Land company laid out a new town site along the planned rail line in 1900.

Walter W. Wagner erected a tar paper covered store there and was granted a postal right by the US government.

So Mr. Wagner was appointed the first postmaster.

The Yankton Sioux called his tar paper town Tana, but it was the Milwaukee line that decided on the town name.

You see, Walter Wagner took a group of Milwaukee railroad officials on a fishing trip, and it was so successful they decided to name the town after their host.

Wagner has enjoyed steady development ever since.

And today descendants of the Yankton Sioux and those immigrants are here today.

The people in this area have a unique population makeup.

It's about half European descent and half Native American.

Now, Wagner has its share of ethnic tensions, but people of Wagner also look for opportunities to celebrate diversity.

And the young people are leading the charge.

For example, the school started doing a feather ceremony for native students and they would also receive a star quilt.

But now this has expanded and all students of all backgrounds receive that star quilt when they graduate.

And each June, the folks in Wagner celebrate their diversity with what's called the 6 0 5 Unity Jam.

It's a jamboree of art and music To celebrate cultures.

- I wanted people to come to Wagner, get outta their car, walk around the lake, walk over and see these buffalo.

And then when they're looking at 'em, they're gonna start to talk about, well, what kind of community is this?

Why are people doing this?

Why does this matter?

And all of a sudden, everybody has their own ideas and their own reasons for why they're here.

- The buffalo were painted from design submitted by students in the Wagner School District.

They're intended to be an enduring symbol throughout the year that the native and white cultures come together, share and celebrate each other annually at the 6 0 5 Unity Jam.

- 3, 2, 1, go for it.

Got set, set go.

- Wagner, in my opinion, has had an image problem for years and that's what's created the problems of trying to get teachers to come here.

EMT people, different things.

The, the town of the Chamber of Commerce here has been very active in looking for solutions.

And this is one of those things that could bring people here, give people a chance to see what the town is about, find out the message that that matters, and start to think twice about, you know, what, maybe we should consider living here for at least coming to visit.

- I've always seen a bit of a divide in our community, but being a part of this, it's made me seen that there are a lot of people who are passionate about this, who care and they want to know more and they want to see a stronger community.

- 40 some years I've watched the two communities point fingers at each other and just provide every excuse why the other guy's at fault can't we do something different.

And, and everybody kind of agreed it's time to do something different.

- The purpose of this gathering is, is to come together and, and purpose is, is powerful.

- I, I've noticed course, like I said, I was a counselor here for 40 years, that what students who are now adults, they're now in leadership roles.

They want a different world.

They want jobs, they want a future.

They don't want to keep arguing over the same things their parents argued about.

They, they're just tired of it.

- So I think it's important to just be willing to come for even just a little bit and be open to meeting new people and be open to learning new things - In our language we say you weak iah and that is unity.

And as I came here this morning and we sang some songs and to see the people, it was, it was a good feeling, a good energy.

- We live together, we don't even know each other.

How many native people have gone to Czech days?

How many Czech people have gone to a powwow?

It's amazing that you, you hear how many people have never done anything like that and yet they've lived in one area and those are the kinds of things younger people would like to see changed.

- I am really excited about the youth powwow.

As you might have heard, we've never done youth powwow inside of Wagner, so it's pretty big.

And I really love the Native American culture.

I love learning about it.

I just find learning about other people's culture is so fascinating and I feel it's so important to understand them so that we can have respect for them.

So that's why I wanted to get involved.

- So things are, are changing and getting better and people want them to get better.

That's the part I like.

If everybody's gonna be at each other's throat over everything.

How do you make life better?

You don't.

So I think most people want to see an optimistic message and they want to see an outcome.

And that's what today is gonna produce an outcome.

We'll see what, but it's only one day and it's one step.

We're not trying to change the whole world.

Just take one step.

- Wagner has its share of athletic success to post about, in fact, one of the state's most famous basketball player, Hales from here in Wagner, South Dakota Sports Hall of Famer, Mandy Copel was a 1999 Wagner high grad and continued to play at the University of South Dakota.

She led the Wagner Red Raiders to back-to-back State Class A basketball titles in 1997 and 98 and set national high school records for field goal shooting.

She scored 2,500 points and was a three time North Central Conference, MVP.

While at the university, she set or tied 18 USD records and set NCC records for points and rebounds.

She's also a former assistant women's coach at USD and at Colorado State.

She returned to Wagner to teach and coach for a while, but has moved on.

Well, it may be a Copel family thing because in 2023, Mandy's niece Ashland Copel scored 22 points and nearly seven rebounds per game leading the Red Raiders to a second place finish at the girls state a tournament.

And her parents, Mike and Tara Copel are both teachers at Wagner and coach the girls basketball team plus Ashlyn's sister Macy was also a regular starter for the Red Raiders too.

But whether it's athletics or education, Wagner encourages young people to be their best.

Many Wagner athletes have gone on to play at the college level and they have their names on a mural at the Boys and Girls Club.

And that club features an after school and summer year round program designed to provide safe and educationally enriching programs for first through 12th graders.

So let's visit the Wagner Boys and Girls Club and find out what makes that program so special.

- My favorite thing, I would say dodgeball.

I was, I was a dodge ball geek.

I loved to dodge ball.

- I'm learning a bridge.

- It's not Wagner without the Boys and Girls Club of the Missouri River area.

Thousands of kids have made their way through the club.

- We serve over 130 kids a day.

It's, it can be a lot at times considering that we only have six staff, but at the same time, it makes it all worth it in the end because of how much they have funding.

- Before it was established in 1998, this building was a combination of Wagner's City Hall, public Library and Fire Department.

- One of my fellow board members, judge Bruce Anderson, he and I had addressed the, the city council together.

We were standing out in the street after the meeting and, and I looked, I, I looked at the building and I looked at Bruce, I said, you know, Bruce, someday we're gonna take over this whole building.

And we just looked at each other and laughed.

'cause that was such a farfetched thought.

And now 25 years later, the Boys and Girls Club has that entire building.

It's all dedicated to, to the Boys and Girls Club.

And probably as much as anything that speaks to the success of the club, to how successful the club was that the city of Wagner just looked at, at what we were doing on one end of the building and said, why don't you do more of it?

Here's some more space to do that.

- Each room has their own environment.

Each room has their own program.

Each room has their different, you know, types of people and you get to interact with people that maybe you don't interact with at school - Rooms like this doctor, - Nurse, nurse snack room has, we do games, you know, we have snack, learn about health, you know, learn about healthy foods, how to, you know, keep your body healthy.

- S - We have gym that one, you know, just kind of play, learn new games, stuff like that.

Stay active, learn how to keep your body active while also playing safe games.

We also have the game room.

That one's kind of the social interaction room.

That one I feel like is very important at the club because it's very, this is where you like, learn how to interact with people that maybe you don't interact with on a daily basis.

This is how you learn how to interact with other, you know, adults, how you make relationships, friendships, stuff like that.

- I grew up in Wagner, South Dakota all my life.

And I start coming to the club when I was in first grade, so about six years old.

You know, it really just gave me like the social, physical, mental health wellbeing that I really needed and craved, which I probably wouldn't have got at home because I'm a single child, so I didn't really have any brothers or sisters or cousins to play with.

So yeah, just kind of gave me an outlet to basically better my life and not just, you know, sit at home and not really do anything productive.

So - Art room, that one's really popular.

A lot of people like that one to be creative.

Everybody loves the art room.

- Ever since I was, I was little.

I always loved coloring, I always loved just anything artistic.

I'm starting a beading class in there teaching other kids how to bead.

But my beads actually just came in today.

But I'm planning on starting that more in the future.

Just sharing my culture or sharing the native culture, sharing with the other Native American community because I knew that when I was younger I would have liked to learn how to be, but I didn't learn it until later in life.

But I just hope to share my knowledge that I do have now.

- The mural in the gym is representation of our community as a whole.

It's an amazing piece of artwork out there.

- Just kind of tying in that culture of the native people with the club.

You know, what, how we can connect the two.

Every time I look at it, I see something different.

You know, there's, it incorporates like the braiding of the hair, which is, you know, in like in Sweet Grass and stuff that we do as native people, - Creation stories.

And there's a lot of Native American stories within it.

And to even have our staff up there, it's, it means a lot to see that every day and have the kids see that every day, it's gonna be there forever.

That's the thing.

And just to have that part of our club's history, it means so much - Helpful.

Deliver.

- If there's any kids out there that are questioning coming to the club, I would say just take the chance.

It changed my life drastically.

I was, I was in a bad spot before I came to the Boys and Girls Club.

And the Boys and Girls Club saved me.

Like there's no, there's no other way to say it.

Like they, it just saved me.

- Since 1900, Wagner has established some long held traditions.

The local Rotary Club has been doing service projects for generations, and the club is one of the few in the world to own their own building.

Each September, over 10,000 visitors come to Wagner for the Labor Day Festival.

It's a three day event that includes a kids' fishing derby, a large pageant with a crowning of the Labor Day Queen and an alumni sports tournament, plus a carnival and a rodeo.

Patricia Fry's family has deep roots in the community.

Patricia is a Rotarian and Chamber of Commerce.

President Fry's owned the community bank and Patricia has her own insurance agency.

It's been at her family since 1925.

Bowie's Food Company has been the grocer for Wagner for over a century.

The company has been owned by the same family since the town of Wagner was first incorporated.

Now before we travel on, let's take a tour of Sip Homestead Farms and we're gonna meet the Schoenfelder family.

They're the fifth generation to live on that land.

The family has transformed an original way station from the 18 hundreds and it now provides a unique loing experience for the visitors.

- I am very happy with just the beauty of South Dakota and the Prairie.

We love the Rolling Hills when it's just a nice breeze and you watch the, the grass just sway back and forth.

It's so calling and so relaxing.

- It was a love of the South Dakota Prairie that brought Lisa Schoenfelder from the Pacific Northwest back to her family's land that sits just outside of Wagner.

- Well, it was originally Homestead in 1896 by my great-great-grandfather.

And he put his oldest son Frank Sip on here.

And then it went down from generation to generation.

And I'm the fifth generation - Through the generations.

One constant here has been this log cabin, which dates back even farther than the family has owned the land - Before my family homesteaded it, it was a way station.

So in the 1880s, they would've built this cabin and put the gentleman could have been a woman, but a person out here to keep track of the people who would travel through the way station.

And he would keep those records.

So this, the logs that you see here are the original logs, and we worked very hard to clean those logs up so that they can be observable to anybody who comes and, and sees us here - Through all the original logs sits where the original window was back in the 18 hundreds.

- If you look at the original picture of the house, that picture is dated about 1903.

It's kind of interesting, if you put yourself back at that time, you know that it's south facing, the sun comes in, it lights the room.

And I guess you could also think about, you know, that's the window that people saw things, you know, back in 1900.

- It's this window into the past that gives this former farm its sense of history, its character, and its allure to visitors seeking a unique prairie experience.

- You can feel it now as we sit here, our guests always talk about how cozy and calm and relaxing it is.

Even the farm setting.

I mean, people come from the city.

We have a guest right now who's from, you know, New York City, and they're just enjoying themselves here with the, the peace and the quiet and, and the calmness.

And you know, one of our treasures we have here in South Dakota, rural South Dakota, - Lisa's made sure some aspects of the family farm have remained on this land today.

There's still animals roaming the place, and grain still is an important thing here, but today, some of that grain is used in a much different way.

- My husband has been brewing beer since 1995, and we lived out in the northwest for many years and it was a very big beer brewery culture out there.

And we were looking for a way to get back here on the farm.

And we came up with this idea about building a brewery out on the farm.

You know, even we ourselves thought we might be a little bit crazy, but it's worked out fairly well.

And, and we do have people who come to see us not only for the, you know, the bed and breakfast, but also for the brewery.

And I think what's, what's nice about that is it kind of ties in with a little bit of the family history, because my grandfather used to make beer as I think many of those grandfathers out there did because that's how they got beer.

- So this, Lisa developed this recipe.

This was a Lisa recipe.

You want that - For Lisa.

Her goal is to make sure someone from the SIP family is still on this piece of land for many years to come.

- I hope that we can pass it on to the next generation.

It just makes me connect even more with my ancestors and how their life would've been back.

You know, in those days, their struggles.

It helps give me encouragement because there were days where it's pretty tough and it's like, I don't know about this, but no, I just have to remember what it was like for my grandmother and my great-grandmother.

It was tougher for them.

So if they can do it, I can do it too.

- Wagner Lake here on the west edge of Wagner is a park and a recreation area.

The idea to have this lake actually started in 1933.

The Chamber of Commerce, the mayor and area businessmen, all donated funds to purchase some land.

Then a dam spillway and a bridge were constructed as part of a WPA project.

In fact, local relief workers did most of the work.

Today, the area around the lake has a new picnic shelter and an old bathhouse with a new tin roof.

There are stone picnic tables here and there, and an artesian well sends water flowing down a rock waterfall on the north side of the lake.

Below the artesian well is the Wagner Community Memorial Garden.

There there are planning areas with flowers dedicated to deceased, loved ones, organizations and families.

A walking and bike trail starts on the southeast corner of the park and goes completely around the lake.

It's a wonderful place to relax in the shade or enjoy the water.

It's also the site of the annual 6 0 5 jam that we visited earlier.

We hope you've enjoyed your visit to Wagner.

You can find more stories about this area on our website and you can replay or click and share our stories on Wagner with a friend, or enjoy the video features on all the other communities we visited around the state by going to sdpb.org/dakota Life.

Thanks for watching.

From the heart of Charles Mix County in Southeast South Dakota.

I'm Larry Rohr for all of us at SDPB.

Thanks for coming along for the ride.