and is so known to this day. The members were mostly young men, many of them possessing great ability, and well educated; but they represented, too, the careless, carefree, happy-go-lucky life of the frontier.
The location of the capital was the matter of most importance. Bon Homme, Yankton, and Vermilion were all candidates for that honor. The Yankton men, shrewd politicians that they were, before the organization of the legislature offered to John H. Shober, of Bon Homme, the presidency of the council and to George M. Pinney, of Bon Homme, the speakership of the House, in consideration of which Pinney and Shober were to give up the ambitions of Bon Homme to be the capital and were to support Yankton for that honor, while the territorial penitentiary was to be located at Bon Homme. Upon this understanding both houses of the legislature were organized. James Somers, a noted desperado of the Dakota frontier, was made sergeant-at-arms of the House.
When the people of Bon Homme learned of the trade by which their prospects for the location of the territorial capital had been defeated, they brought such pressure to bear upon Speaker Pinney that, when the bill came up for final passage in the House, having first gone through the Council all right, Pinney left the speaker's chair and moved to substitute Bon Homme for Yankton in the bill. This motion was defeated; he then moved to substitute Vermilion for Yankton, and the motion prevailed.
When Pinney was elected speaker, he had agreed in writing to support Yankton for capital; his perfidy
