Sturgis was the obvious site for a new county seat when Meade County was created. It was the largest city in the area, they were the ones who fought hardest for the new county, and for years before the county was official, they had operated as if they truly were the county seat of what was a rogue county.
But when Meade County was nearing a reality, others quickly formed other ideas. Being the county seat meant prestige, as well as power. For some, it also presented a way to become wealthy, or wealthier, and that was the goal of Bill Myers.
Myers’ bid
In 1888, a proposed route from Mandan, North Dakota, to the Black Hills had been surveyed. It was one of various routes that were proposed to help attempt to move people back and forth from the hills. Such routes, if successful, had the potential to be exceptionally profitable for those along those routes.
Bill Myers was one such person. Myers owned a large amount of land where the Mandan and Black Hills Road would cross the Bear Butte Creek. On that land was the Carpenter School House, which had served as a polling place for various elections.
Like many before him, Myers had hopes that a bit of land speculating would pay off. And if all would have gone according to plan, Myers would have found immense wealth.
Myers had a hard sell though. While Sturgis seemed like the likely candidate for the Meade County Seat, Jack Hale was also using his wealth and connections to try to get the county seat located in Tilford. As local papers would label Myers, he was truly a dark horse in the race. But nonetheless, he was, at least for a short time, seen as a contender.
One of the big sells for Myers’ county seat was that it would be on a possible entry road to the Black Hills and thus had the potential to boom. If the Mandan and Black Hills Road were to be successful, then Myers’ county seat would gain even more importance as well as influence for the new county as a whole.
To sweeten the deal, Myers was also putting his money where his mouth was. He was ready to donate 40 acres of land to the new city that would be the county seat, the Carpenter School Building, which would serve as a courthouse, as well as his old war time fire proof, which could serve as a jail.
It was a deal that local farmers had largely been sold on, in part for the same reason why Myers was proposing it. The price of their land would skyrocket. With a new city that would serve as the county seat, it meant the railroad would soon show up, as well as investors, all of which would need land.
Shot Down
Myers’ “scheme” would never gain a lot of traction. While the local news would count him as a real contender, any real shot he had was short lived. After all, he wasn’t proposing an actual city as the county seat, but the prospect of a city.
For some, it was an ideal situation. The city of Sturgis was seen as corrupt by some, and Tilford wasn’t much better. They had been responsible for the schism with Lawrence County. So a new place, a new town, offered the possibility of something fresh and less tainted for the “new kingdom.”
Myers’ plan would spread like wildfire among the famers in the lower portion of Bear Butte Valley, and that fire seemed as if it was ready to consume more of Meade County. A group of farmers were already uniting to help promote Myers’ County seat, and those in Sturgis quickly took notice.
Once news reached Sturgis, the committee there would send a man down to talk with the local farmers. With a swift tongue, the fire Myers had started was cooling off, ready to be extinguished. And those in Sturgis, who had been dealing with numerous fires, knew exactly how to quench one more. Myers’ proposed county seat would sizzle out, and for the most part, be forgotten.