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Nicollet Tower

  • August 23, 2000
  • Rated 4 of 5 by cd19 from Severna Park, Maryland
Nicollet Tower

You can see South Dakota the way the first map maker saw it. Near Sisseton is a geographical feature that was named by Joseph Nicollet. He was a French scientist who mapped the land between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers in 1838-39. One of his favorite locations was this rise in the earth. He called it 'Coteau des Prairies,' a French word that means 'Prairie Hills.' We will begin in Aberdeen, South Dakota.
We flew to Aberdeen, rented a car and followed highway 281 north for twenty miles, turned right and went east on South Dakota Highway 10 toward Sisseton. East of Britton the land begins to rise. It is the region named 'Coteau des Prairies,' French for Hills of the Prairie. A dozen miles east of Britton you will find Fort Sisseton on the south side of SD Highway 10. A five-hour guided walking tour will show you the area's wildlife and geology.
Here are some thoughts about the Coteau Des Prairies. About 11,600 years ago the last ice age melted. Imagine, if you will, during the next really big snow storm that the North Pole has decided to slip southward as far as the Missouri River. That is about what happened. It was called the Late Wisconsin Ice Age.
There already existed a huge geographical feature in eastern South Dakota that was not fully covered by all that ice. This wedge-shaped landform starts around Sioux Falls and extends barely over the North Dakota border to the town of Geneseo, a few miles north of Sisseton. The east to west distance across it is 130 miles at the thickest portion. North to south is 250 miles. Its top is about 1000 feet higher than the surrounding terrain. As the ice melted, water from the 'Coteau des Prairies' began to flow into three major river systems on the continent. Northbound the water finds the Red River and empties into Hudson Bay. Water going east enters the Mississippi River and finally the Gulf of Mexico. Those streams to the west of the Coteau flow to the James River that feeds the Missouri River.
Joseph N. Nicollet writing of his impressions of the Coteau Des Prairies in 1839 said this: 'May I not be permitted in this place to introduce a few reflections on the magical influences of the prairies? . . . I pity the man whose soul could remain unmoved under such a scene of excitement.'
Climb the Nicollet tower and you'll agree with him.
The town of Sisseton is down the hill toward the east a few miles. You may eat lunch there at several places along Highway 10, American Hearth, Jackson's, Lakeland Steak House or West End Grille.

From journal Touring Northeastern South Dakota

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