Page:A Brief History of South Dakota.djvu/124

118 Presently a carriage containing two well-dressed gentlemen was seen approaching the village from the east, and a committee of citizens went out to meet it and welcome the new governor; the two men were invited to accompany the committee forthwith to the banquet hall. There they partook of a fine dinner, and several hours were spent in speechmaking.

The guest of honor thanked the people sincerely for the courtesy, spoke of his good impressions of the community, and declared his intention to settle among them. This declaration was greeted with hearty cheers, but at that moment three or four carriages containing a large party of well-to-do people drove through the village, stopping only for a moment, and then driving on toward Yankton. Some one brought word into the banquet hall that Governor Jayne and his party had gone through to Yankton without giving Vermilion an opportunity to show him honor. Then the chairman turned to the guest at the banquet and asked him his name. He said it was G. B. Bigelow, and he was much surprised to know that he had been mistaken for the new governor of the territory, supposing that he had met only the usual hearty welcome which the new towns of the West held out to intending settlers. Sorely as were the people of Vermilion disappointed, their sense of humor was too great to permit them to mourn long over the laughable mistake. "Governor" Bigelow lived with them for many years and in the fullness of a ripe old age died among them, respected by every one; but Yankton became the temporary and the permanent capital of Dakota territory.