Category Archives: News

In 1949, the South Dakota Legislature designated the coyote as the state animal, despite a legislator who recommended the bull instead.

The word “coyote” has been traced back to Mexican Spanish, around 1759. Coyotes can be found in almost all the North American continent, from Alaska to Central America. The coyote has a long history in South Dakota.

In American Indian folklore, the coyote is often cast as a trickster and deceiver. “American Indian Myths and Legends” contains a story about a coyote from Jeremy Leading Cloud of the Rosebud Indian Reservation. The coyote took off the thick blanket he was wearing and put it on the rock, Iya, to keep the rock from freezing. Coyote soon grew cold and wanted the coat back, but Iya would not give it to him, saying, “What is given is given.” Iya became a big rock, crashing upon the coyote and flattening him. The story has a moral, and it is: Always be generous in heart. If you have something to give, give it forever.

Those in the Lewis and Clark Expedition referred to coyotes as “prairie wolves.” On Sept. 18, 1804, near the White River in what is now South Dakota, William Clark wrote, “I killed a Prairie Wolf, about the Size of a Gray fox, bushy tail, head and ears like a Wolf, Some fur, Burrows in the ground and barks like a Small Dog. What has been taken heretofore for a Fox was those Wolves …”

The name coyote has even been applied to the people of South Dakota. This originated in the fall of 1863, when a horse owned by members of Co. A. Dakota Cavalry beat a horse owned by a major in the 6th Iowa Cavalry in a race at Fort Randall. It was said the Dakota horse ran like a coyote, and its owners at once gave the horse that name, which almost immediately afterward was applied to the entire Dakota Company.

In 1924, a coyote standing on a wreath was approved for the crest of the South Dakota Army National Guard. The Guard’s training exercises are called the Golden Coyote. The South Dakota Air National Guard is nicknamed the “Lobos.” “Lobo” is Spanish for wolf. The wolf, coyote, fox and domestic dog are all members of the biological family Canidae.

The mascot of the University of South Dakota is Charlie Coyote. When the school’s first yearbook was published in 1902, the editors had already dubbed its athletic teams “the Coyotes.” A bronze statue of a coyote is located on the USD campus.

Among current South Dakota high school sports teams, coyotes are the mascots of Jones County and Waverly-South Shore high schools. Kimball High School uses the spelling Kiotes. The coyote has been called the most vocal of North American wild mammals. A coyote known for her singing skills was Tootsie. Fred Borsch, who owned a liquor store in Deadwood, was given a coyote pup in 1947. He named the pup Tootsie and taught her to howl as he sang. The two cut a record called “South Dakota Tootsie.” The duo often appeared in parades and events in Deadwood. On Aug. 6, 1949, Gov. George T. Mickelson declared Tootsie South Dakota’s Official Animal at the Days of ’76. At the height of their fame, Borsch and Tootsie took a 10-day tour that included a visit to the White House. Tootsie died in 1959, but she still lives on in Deadwood. A giant neon sign of a howling coyote is located on historic Main Street near the original location of Freddie’s Spot Liquor Store and a display about Tootsie can be seen at the Adams Museum.

Not all coyotes are as fortunate as Tootsie. Although honored as the state animal, a bounty has often been placed on coyotes’ heads. The coyote has been blamed for many dead calves or lambs on the prairie, and for missing dogs and cats. Efforts to reduce the coyote population in western states through poisoning, trapping and bounty hunting have not had much effect, as wildlife officials found that 70 percent of the entire population had to be killed every year to make a dent in the numbers. Coyotes have a biological mechanism that triggers larger litters whenever their numbers drop.

The coyote’s ability to adapt is one of its greatest skills. The coyote can change its breeding habits, diet and social dynamics to survive in a wide variety of habitats. That resilience is why the coyote was adopted as South Dakota’s official state animal. “The coyote has managed to get along in the face of civilization that is encroaching upon him,” State Sen. Alfred Roesler told his colleagues in 1949. “Again, you might say his spirit to survive is a lot like the citizens of South Dakota who have gone through adverse conditions.”

Students wishing to apply for a $1,000 college scholarship from the South Dakota Farm Bureau (SDFB) will need to have their applications submitted to South Dakota Farm Bureau by March 15, 2016 to be considered.

To be eligible, the applicant must be a high school senior or college student whose parents or guardians are current members of the South Dakota Farm Bureau, and have been for at least two years.

Application forms and full details are available on the SDFB website through a link on the homepage or under the “Get Involved” menu heading. Winners will be announced in May.

The South Dakota Farm Bureau Scholarship Fund was established in 2005 by Richard and Agnes Ekstrum of Kimball, S.D. Richard, who served as South Dakota Farm Bureau’s president from 1975-95, passed away in September at the age of 83. His legacy lives on in the creation of this endowment which has thus far awarded $28,000 in college scholarships to 28 students who are children of SDFB members.

Dakota Wesleyan’s Skyler Forgey of Colome had a second place finish in the 800 meter run at the Great Plains Athletic Conference indoor track and field championships in Lincoln, Neb.  Forgey finished the race in a time of 2:19.10.
As a team, the DWU women finished in 10th place.

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development announced that the University of South Dakota (USD) has been selected to receive grant funds to connect the University of South Dakota campuses in Vermillion, Pierre, Rapid City, and Sioux Falls, South Dakota with 24 rural hospitals and clinics including one on Lake Traverse Indian Reservation. USD will receive $499,897 through USDA’s Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) Program.

“The DLT program delivers medical and educational opportunities that are needed in rural areas,” said Bruce Jones, Acting State Director for USDA Rural Development. “These funds will ensure educational opportunities exist for residents of the state of South Dakota no matter where they live.”

USD is a public coeducational research university located in the community of Vermillion, South Dakota. USD was established by the Dakota Territory legislature in 1862, 37 years before the establishment of the state of South Dakota, USD is the oldest public university in the state.

The funds will be used to support this distance learning project. All hub and end-user sites have sufficient broadband networks in place to support it. USD Vermillion campus, the lead organization, will oversee this project towards its overall goal of preparing medical students and nursing students for careers in rural healthcare practice. This project will provide service to the South Dakota Counties of Minnehaha, Pennington, Hughes, Clay, Grant, Lawrence, Walworth, Tripp, Roberts, Brule, Spink, Moody, Custer, Day, Hutchinson, Hand, Gregory, Charles Mix, Jerauld, Bon Homme, Turner, Haakon, Faulk, Douglas, and Turner.

“This DLT program will benefit South Dakota by building stronger connections between rural healthcare facilities and the University of South Dakota’s state-of the-art simulation centers,” said Cheryl Tiahrt, Deputy Chief Information Officer at USD. “The funds will allow us to build a telehealth video network linking the University’s resources and educators to healthcare professionals and students across the state.”

The DLT Grant Program provides access to education, training and health care resources in rural areas. USDA Rural Development has eight offices in the state that assist rural communities. Office locations include a state office in Huron, along with area offices in Aberdeen, Mitchell, Pierre, Rapid City, Sioux Falls, Watertown, and Yankton.
President Obama’s plan for rural America has produced historic investment in rural communities. Under the President’s leadership, these investments in housing, community facilities, businesses and infrastructure have strengthened America’s small towns and cities and helped improve the nation’s economy.