Facts and Statistics

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South Dakota

11,979

Total Church Membership

1-in-

2

Stakes

32

Congregations

14 Wards
18 Branches

13

FamilySearch Centers

13

History

Leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who sought refuge from mob activity in the 1840s considered the Native American country of the Dakotas a possible site for settlement. Without the full consent of the Church President, volunteer colonizers established a settlement at Fort Vermillion on the Missouri River. They built cabins, planted crops, and preached to members of the Sioux tribe. Relations with Native Americans were sometimes fraught. The leader of the settlement, James Emmett, returned to Nauvoo in the summer of 1845 to seek favor with the Church. He was accepted in full fellowship and returned to Fort Vermillion with two missionaries to rebaptize the settlers. In 1846, the settlement was abandoned as members followed Church President Brigham Young’s directions to gather west.

In May 1883, missionaries from Minnesota began to preach in the Dakota states. By 1950, Sunday Schools were organized at Mitchell, Aberdeen, Brookings, Ft. Thompson and Huron.