Hello Everyone,
Located on the prairie of South Dakota, Mitchell, in its early days, was a railroad and agricultural town. Named after Milwaukee banker Alexander Mitchell, President of the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad, it was incorporated in 1883. Today, with a population of 15,000, it is a town based on tourism, manufacturing (including trailers, packaging, truck parts, toners, metal products, and industrial fans), food processing, and agriculture (corn, soybeans, livestock, and dairying). It is the seat of Dakota Wesleyan University.
Mitchell is known for its Corn Palace. It annually decorates with thousands of bushels of South Dakota corn, grain, and grasses arranged into several large murals. The town also has several fascinating museums to explore. Nearby Hansen Wheel and Carriage Shop is a company manufacturing authentic stagecoaches and other horse drawn wagons. The Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village preserves the archaeological site of a 1,000-year-old Native American Village. Some of these will be covered in Mitchell Part Two.
THE COUNTRY’S FIRST CORN PALACE
During the late 1880s, several Midwest agricultural towns constructed "crop palaces" also known as "grain palaces." The purpose was to entice people to visit their towns as well as have harvest festivals. These included the Corn Palace in Gregory, South Dakota and the Bluegrass Palace in Creston, Iowa. It’s estimated that from the 1880s to 1930s, 34 Corn Palaces were built in 24 Midwestern towns.
The first Corn Palace was in Sioux City, Iowa. While most of the Middle West suffered from a severe drought in 1887, this area had abundant rainfall producing excellent crops for over a decade. As America’s third largest meat packing center, it housed a population of 30,000 people.
Sioux City’s plan was to build five palaces over a five-year period from 1887-1891. The city was experiencing tremendous prosperity and growth, including bountiful harvests, and wanted to celebrate. Their rallying cry was “Corn is king.”
The first Corn Palace built was the 1887 palace. It was so large that it spread across Pierce Street and featured a large archway to drive through. Its highlight was a 200-foot tower enabling visitors to get a bird’s-eye view of the city and three surrounding states.
Local citizens constructed most of the interior displays, but states and businesses also had exhibits. Cattails and sorghum were used to make fancy designs. The windows were framed with corn and the roof thatched with grain stalks. The women in the community decorated the interior.
The town went corn crazy. Houses and businesses were decorated with corn and grains. Women wore corn head necklaces while the men wore corn husk hats and smoked corncob pipes. The craze continued for several years. From 1887 to 1891, each existing Corn Palace was destroyed and a bigger and better one built in its place.
Unfortunately, in 1891, the weather led to a financial disaster due to poor attendance which resulted in lack of funds to take the building down that year. An auction was held. H. Buckwalter and his son got the Sioux City Corn Palace for a bid of $1,200. They hoped to make money by recovering the materials. The sheep ate the corn, and they salvaged nails, lumber, and bunting.
Sioux City decided to wait until 1893 to build their next palace. However, this never happened. The town was hit by the massive Great Floyd River Flood in 1892 devastating between 400 and 500 businesses and homes. Financial panic swept the country in 1883 with more than 200 of Sioux City’s businesses collapsing within weeks. Plans to build a new palace were put on permanent hold.
MITCHELL CORN PALACE HISTORY
The first Corn Palace Exposition in Mitchell, later called the Corn Palace Festival, was the dream of L. O. Gale and Louis E. Beckwith who patterned it after Sioux City’s venture. Beckwith suggested it as an answer to the Grain Palace at Plankinton, located 22 miles west of Mitchell.
The Exposition was organized for several reasons. It aimed to attract people to Mitchell for a fall festival with top notch stage entertainment. It was to show off the fertility of South Dakota’s agricultural products and be a farmer’s competition for cash and prizes. Finally, it was a celebration climaxing their crop growing season and harvest.
Gale and Beckwith canvassed their town August 1, 1892 and found great enthusiasm with everyone they talked to. All the citizens of Mitchell wanted to participate. A committee was formed that went to the Main Street businesses and solicited in one day enough money to build the first palace. The structure was then constructed, and the exposition held from September 28 until October 5. In addition to the state band, music was provided by the Alexandria Band and an Indian Band.
The first Corn Palace was erected on the city’s Main Street on land donated by Beckwith. It was located two blocks south of the present day Corn Palace. The 100 x 66-foot wooden structure was completely covered with corn and grains. Colonel Rohe who had decorated the Sioux City Corn Palaces was hired to decorate Mitchell’s first Corn Palace. This structure was later torn down.
A new building was constructed in 1905 when the original Corn Palace had become too small. It was a 125 x 142-foot concrete building located at 5th and Main. That year the name changed from Corn Belt Exposition to Corn Palace. This building was torn down shortly after the 1919 festival.
In 1920, since no building existed, plans were made to stage the show with a circus theme in a large tent. Although enthusiasm was great, bad weather severely dampened the attendance. Plans were expedited for a third Corn Palace that was completed in 1921. It doubled the seats to 5,000 and was heated which the first two palaces were not. It had a concrete floor instead of the dirt ones of the first two palaces.
It was finished just in time, without domes, for the 1921 festival. That winter Mitchell hosted the first boy’s state basketball tournament. In 1930, Russian-style onion domes were placed on the corners and at intervals along the roof.
In 1937, a lighting system was installed and minarets and kiosks of Moorish design added. These architectural features recaptured the look of the first palace. This building is the Corn Palace that visitors see today. All other cities’ palaces ceased to exist.
In 1964, a $395,000 bond effort was passed to update the Corn Palace. It accomplished new seating that provided a better view for everyone, new lighting facilities, improved air circulation, new stage props, and modern dressing rooms. In 1968, with the loss of the kiosk above and to the south of the main entrance, the Corn Palace installed new fiberglass kiosks. The palace’s domes, after shaking in strong winds, were renovated in 2015. The new turrets are metal.
Today the Corn Palace is home to a variety of events. Its uses include a rodeo, dances, stage shows, banquets, proms, and graduations. It is the arena for Mitchell High School Kernels and Dakota Wesleyan Tigers’ basketball games as well as district, regional, and state basketball tournaments. USA Today named the Corn Palace as one of the top ten places in America for high school basketball. Continuing the corn theme, the town’s AM station’s call letters are KORN.
One annual event since 1971 is the Corn Palace Stampede Rodeo. It is sponsored by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and is a four-day event. In 2020, it takes place July 16 through the 19th. In addition to the rodeo events, there is western music, a rodeo queen competition, chili cook-off, parade, golf tournament, and more. Proceeds go to Mitchell’s charitable organizations.
The Corn Palace Festival is held in late August each year. Main Street becomes seven blocks of rides, carnival attractions, food and specialty vendors, and agricultural displays. Farmers bring in their best produce to be judged. Headliner performances occur inside the Corn Palace. In 2020, it will be held August 26 through 30. An admission is charged.
Since 1892, with a few exceptions, the Corn Palace has been redecorated each autumn with 12 different naturally colored corn species and other grains and grasses - making it “the agricultural showplace of the world.” Since 1921, three large 20-by-30 foot mural panels have been at the building’s front. Six smaller murals are on the building’s south side, facing the Corn Palace Plaza.
HOW ARE THE MURALS DONE
Each year a new theme is selected annually by the Corn Palace Festival committee. An artist then develops and paints the various individual panels in miniature. His or her designs are then approved.
There have been several artists. The most noted one was Native American Oscar Howe, who was responsible for the artwork and overseeing the project from 1948 to 1971. Cherie Ramsdell, a local art teacher, did designs for years as did Cal Schultz. Since 2019, Dakota Wesleyan University students, who are enrolled in digital media and design courses, create the artwork. They are doing this under the guidance of Associate Professor Kyle Herges.
One farmer grows all the corn. Twelve colors are used which are red, brown, black, white, orange, calico, green, and shades of yellow. Blue corn was too fragile as the kernels kept falling out. Each color, when it is grown, has to be isolated by at least a quarter mile from the rest since cross pollination would dilute the colors. To decorate the building, 325,000 ears of corn are used.
Other farmers will contract early in the year for a certain amount of grain such as rye, sour dock, grasses, and milo. In the decorations, 1,800 bundles of oats, 500 bundles of flax, 30,000 rye brooms and 20,000 bundles (eight truckloads) of sour dock are used. Sour dock is a weed that is green in color when it is hung but turns red as it dries out. The dock has to be hunted in 30 miles around Mitchell with much of it found in ditches. The others are grown in fields.
It is the task of artists to lay out each panel in full scale detail, using chalk on black roofing paper. They work from their original painting which is three-quarters of an inch to one foot scale.
The roofing paper’s various sections are marked as to what color corn is to cover a given section to form the final scene or design. It is kind of like a giant paint-by-numbers done with South Dakota corn, grasses, and grains. Each roofing paper is then tacked to a large panel.
A power saw is used to saw individual ears of corn in half lengthwise. Their flat sides are then nailed to the building. For angles, a hand ax is used to trim the ears. It is vital to give extreme care to alignment and the direction each ear is placed. About 1.5 million nails are used in the decorating project with each ear of corn having four to five nails to hold it up. Corn is cut as work proceeds. The Corn Palace hires 20 college students in the summer to put up the borders using 500,000 staples. Each panel is individually completed from a scaffold before the next is started.
Decorating usually starts in late May with the removal of the rye and dock. The old corn and metal are stripped at the end of August. New murals are started in September and completed by early November. All nails and staples must be removed before starting the restoration project each year.
The trim, composed of grasses and grains, is put up before the panels are completed. This is typically redone in June or July. They are tied in bunches then stapled in place according to the design that has been selected.
The exceptions to the corn decoration have been in years of war and drought. During 1943 and 1944, the Corn Palace made a small contribution to the war effort by eliminating all grains from its decorations. Painted panels with a theme of “Allied Victory” were used until 1946. Drought canceled the murals between the years of 1894 to 1899.
Murals are done when the corn is harvested. Sometimes there is inadequate dry corn to complete the panels. This can cause a delay. The panels are completed except for the unavailable corn. When the corn is deemed to be sufficiently dry, so as not to rot, they are then brought to Mitchell to be nailed to the panel.
However, that doesn’t always work. Due to dry weather, some of the colors of the corn aren’t always available so the trim is touched up rather than replaced. For example, in 1982, panels weren’t changed for the first time since 1945. In 2006, a severe drought was so tough on corn crops that the Corn Palace skipped its annual redecoration. With the drought of 2012, the palace got by with using fewer of its 12 natural colors of cultivated corn.
An unusually wet 2019 has pushed back corn mural construction in 2020. The theme will be South Dakota Homegrown. Murals include one of the Corn Palace and another of McGovern for President in 1972. Others include images of the Crazy Horse Monument, a rodeo cowboy riding a bucking bull, a woman standing on the prairie, a hunter with sights on a pheasant, a combine harvesting a field of grain, a motorcycle with the word “Sturgis,” and a bighorn ram standing in front of the Badlands.
Money for the annual decoration, around $130,000, is raised through the building’s rentals, basketball games, corporate and private events, and ticket sales from concerts and other events. It is open year round to visitors with no admission fee, About 500,000 travelers come by annually.
The Corn Palace is known as “The World’s Largest Bird Feeder.” During the winter, pigeons and squirrels feast on the corn. Time and weather also destroy the corn panels’ beauty.
WHAT WE SAW
We saw completed murals in 2010 with the theme of transportation through the ages. We saw a bicycle, motorcycle, canoe, sailboat, hot air balloon, train, snowmobile, and a four wheel ATV.
When we were there in September 2018, we were fortunate to see the new panels installed which would last into 2019. The theme was A Salute to the Military because of the recent commission of the USS South Dakota, a Virginia-class nuclear submarine. It featured a salute to all five U.S. military services with helicopters, Navy vessels, military jets over Mount Rushmore, homage to the Native American code talkers, and the flag raising at Iwo Jima.
At night, you can see a wonderful light show at the Corn Palace. The minarets light up in shades of green, gold, red, and blue. On the outside, 6,000 lights are used. Since times for this show change, it is best to check inside.
Inside, you can see numerous interpretative panels and watch a 15 minute video about the Corn Palace. Visit the educational center upstairs to see prints of numerous themes Oscar Howe designed. Photographs tracing the Corn Palace’s history are also upstairs.
Visitors also see murals on the sides of the basketball court and above the stage. These are refreshed every fifteen years, but the pictures stay the same. The ones on the side were done by Oscar Howe. On one side, the topics are Father De Smet, Native Americans praising the corn harvest, and Native Americans smoking a peace pipe. The topics on the other side are gold mining, pheasant hunting, and Mount Rushmore. Those on the stage are by Cal Schultz, who did the artwork in the 1980s.
DETAILS
The Corn Palace is located at 604 North Main Street. Its phone number is (605) 995-8430. You can explore the building for free except when events are held. Hours are Memorial Day through Labor Day 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. The rest of the year they are open daily from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. From January through April and in December, the Corn Palace is closed Sundays. A gift shop is located in the Corn Palace during the summer but moves across the street from the Corn Palace during the rest of the year. It has all kinds of corn items and souvenirs. There is also a concession stand. The Corn Palace is temporarily closed because of the virus.
CARNEGIE RESOURCE CENTER
If you want to see souvenirs spanning the history of Mitchell’s Corn Palace and see more of Oscar Howe’s work, head for the Carnegie Historical Center. You will also see changing exhibits about Mitchell area history and genealogy.
The building was constructed in 1903 with funds from steel magnate Andrew Carnegie and used as a library until the 1970s. The Mitchell Area Historical Society acquired the library in 2006.
It now houses that group, the Mitchell Area Genealogical Society, and several of Howe’s original art and prints. After the coronavirus settles down, society programs will be held at the Center on the third Monday of each month at 7:00 p.m. The public is welcome.
WHO WAS OSCAR HOWE
Oscar Howe was a Native American born May 13, 1915 at Joe Creek on the Crow Creek Indian Reservation. He was a full-blooded member of Yanktonai Band of the Dakota Nation. He learned the basics of native art at the Santa Fe Indian School (1935-1938) where students were encouraged to take pride in their culture. In 1940, he taught art at the Pierre Indian School.
He was commissioned for $65 in 1940 to paint the interior dome of the Carnegie Library through the South Dakota Artists project under the WPA (Works Progress Administration). He was also commissioned to paint several large murals at the auditorium in Mobridge, South Dakota.
By visiting the Center, you can still see his painting today Sun and Clouds and Rain Over Hills. Howe worked at night on the project. After a day, he found he was using the wrong kind of paint as it flaked off, and he had to start over. It’s the only one of its type in the world. On the second floor of the building, you can view many of his paintings.
In 1942, he was inducted into the army serving in North Africa and Europe so he did not paint for several years. He earned his B.A. degree at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell in 1952 where he taught as Artist in Residence. He was commissioned to illustrate the two volume North American Indian Costumes and started designing Corn Palace panels in 1948. He designed these murals until 1971.
He received a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1954 and became an assistant professor of fine arts at the University of South Dakota from 1957 to 1983. He was accorded the status of Professor Emeritus of Art in 1980. Howe was named the artist laureate of South Dakota in 1960. He died in 1983.
Although similar to other work produced by the Santa Fe Indian School, Howe had his own style. He first painted on hides then switched to ledger paintings of the 19th century. His work has been compared to Cubism. His goal was to portray the contemporary realities of his tribal culture.
WHAT ELSE IS THERE
In the Corn Palace room, there is a list of entertainers who performed between 1892 and 2009 at Mitchell’s Corn Palace as well as many autographed photographs of these performers. Look for the billboard of various entertainers from the Paul Whiteman show such as the Four Modernaires. You also see souvenirs which trace the history of that building such as plates, ashtrays, and glasses.
The Center has a portrait and the tools of Andrew Jackson Kings who built Mitchell’s first Corn Palace in 1892. He was born in 1855 at Macopin, New Jersey. King constructed the building in 59 days using mostly rough sawed lumber.
He became a contractor after moving with his wife Mary to Mitchell in April 1883. He also built the Carnegie Library, the Elks Lodge, and the Masonic Lodge. He retired from this profession in 1916. From 1888 to 1920, he served on the city council and was a member of the school board for seven years. He died in January 1939.
You can see a miniature of the 1892 Corn Palace. It was built by Kings’ great grandson, Sam Kings.
They have the jacket of Iwo Jima survivor Jack Thurman, a local farm boy. He was on Mount Suribachi when the flag was planted. He is still alive and lives in the Denver area.
Look for the surveyor’s compass of Israel Greene. On October 15, 1859, he led a detail of twelve Marines on the assault and capture of John Brown at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. He later served as a major under Robert E. Lee. Israel was engaged by the Dakota Territorial Legislature to survey the route from the James River Valley to Fort Thompson and Pierre. It was called the Fort Thompson Trail. At Pierre, it joined the Deadwood Trail as a way to the Black Hills Gold Rush. He was also a member of Commodore Perry’s crew, who sailed into Tokyo Bay in 1883 to establish relations with the Japanese.
In 1870, Israel and his wife, Edmona, moved to Rochester, Minnesota where his brother Herman Cady Greene lived. In 1872-73, the whole family moved to Firesteel, later known as Mitchell. The two brothers were known throughout the area for their surveying skills. Israel Greene was born in 1824 and died in 1909.
DETAILS
The Center’s address is 119 West 3rd Avenue in Mitchell. The telephone number is (605) 996-3209. Hours are Monday through Saturday afternoons from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. Admission is free. Tours can be scheduled before or after hours by calling them at (605) 996-3209. It is temporarily closed because of the virus.
Located on the prairie of South Dakota, Mitchell, in its early days, was a railroad and agricultural town. Named after Milwaukee banker Alexander Mitchell, President of the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad, it was incorporated in 1883. Today, with a population of 15,000, it is a town based on tourism, manufacturing (including trailers, packaging, truck parts, toners, metal products, and industrial fans), food processing, and agriculture (corn, soybeans, livestock, and dairying). It is the seat of Dakota Wesleyan University.
Mitchell is known for its Corn Palace. It annually decorates with thousands of bushels of South Dakota corn, grain, and grasses arranged into several large murals. The town also has several fascinating museums to explore. Nearby Hansen Wheel and Carriage Shop is a company manufacturing authentic stagecoaches and other horse drawn wagons. The Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village preserves the archaeological site of a 1,000-year-old Native American Village. Some of these will be covered in Mitchell Part Two.
THE COUNTRY’S FIRST CORN PALACE
During the late 1880s, several Midwest agricultural towns constructed "crop palaces" also known as "grain palaces." The purpose was to entice people to visit their towns as well as have harvest festivals. These included the Corn Palace in Gregory, South Dakota and the Bluegrass Palace in Creston, Iowa. It’s estimated that from the 1880s to 1930s, 34 Corn Palaces were built in 24 Midwestern towns.
The first Corn Palace was in Sioux City, Iowa. While most of the Middle West suffered from a severe drought in 1887, this area had abundant rainfall producing excellent crops for over a decade. As America’s third largest meat packing center, it housed a population of 30,000 people.
Sioux City’s plan was to build five palaces over a five-year period from 1887-1891. The city was experiencing tremendous prosperity and growth, including bountiful harvests, and wanted to celebrate. Their rallying cry was “Corn is king.”
The first Corn Palace built was the 1887 palace. It was so large that it spread across Pierce Street and featured a large archway to drive through. Its highlight was a 200-foot tower enabling visitors to get a bird’s-eye view of the city and three surrounding states.
Local citizens constructed most of the interior displays, but states and businesses also had exhibits. Cattails and sorghum were used to make fancy designs. The windows were framed with corn and the roof thatched with grain stalks. The women in the community decorated the interior.
The town went corn crazy. Houses and businesses were decorated with corn and grains. Women wore corn head necklaces while the men wore corn husk hats and smoked corncob pipes. The craze continued for several years. From 1887 to 1891, each existing Corn Palace was destroyed and a bigger and better one built in its place.
Unfortunately, in 1891, the weather led to a financial disaster due to poor attendance which resulted in lack of funds to take the building down that year. An auction was held. H. Buckwalter and his son got the Sioux City Corn Palace for a bid of $1,200. They hoped to make money by recovering the materials. The sheep ate the corn, and they salvaged nails, lumber, and bunting.
Sioux City decided to wait until 1893 to build their next palace. However, this never happened. The town was hit by the massive Great Floyd River Flood in 1892 devastating between 400 and 500 businesses and homes. Financial panic swept the country in 1883 with more than 200 of Sioux City’s businesses collapsing within weeks. Plans to build a new palace were put on permanent hold.
MITCHELL CORN PALACE HISTORY
The first Corn Palace Exposition in Mitchell, later called the Corn Palace Festival, was the dream of L. O. Gale and Louis E. Beckwith who patterned it after Sioux City’s venture. Beckwith suggested it as an answer to the Grain Palace at Plankinton, located 22 miles west of Mitchell.
The Exposition was organized for several reasons. It aimed to attract people to Mitchell for a fall festival with top notch stage entertainment. It was to show off the fertility of South Dakota’s agricultural products and be a farmer’s competition for cash and prizes. Finally, it was a celebration climaxing their crop growing season and harvest.
Gale and Beckwith canvassed their town August 1, 1892 and found great enthusiasm with everyone they talked to. All the citizens of Mitchell wanted to participate. A committee was formed that went to the Main Street businesses and solicited in one day enough money to build the first palace. The structure was then constructed, and the exposition held from September 28 until October 5. In addition to the state band, music was provided by the Alexandria Band and an Indian Band.
The first Corn Palace was erected on the city’s Main Street on land donated by Beckwith. It was located two blocks south of the present day Corn Palace. The 100 x 66-foot wooden structure was completely covered with corn and grains. Colonel Rohe who had decorated the Sioux City Corn Palaces was hired to decorate Mitchell’s first Corn Palace. This structure was later torn down.
A new building was constructed in 1905 when the original Corn Palace had become too small. It was a 125 x 142-foot concrete building located at 5th and Main. That year the name changed from Corn Belt Exposition to Corn Palace. This building was torn down shortly after the 1919 festival.
In 1920, since no building existed, plans were made to stage the show with a circus theme in a large tent. Although enthusiasm was great, bad weather severely dampened the attendance. Plans were expedited for a third Corn Palace that was completed in 1921. It doubled the seats to 5,000 and was heated which the first two palaces were not. It had a concrete floor instead of the dirt ones of the first two palaces.
It was finished just in time, without domes, for the 1921 festival. That winter Mitchell hosted the first boy’s state basketball tournament. In 1930, Russian-style onion domes were placed on the corners and at intervals along the roof.
In 1937, a lighting system was installed and minarets and kiosks of Moorish design added. These architectural features recaptured the look of the first palace. This building is the Corn Palace that visitors see today. All other cities’ palaces ceased to exist.
In 1964, a $395,000 bond effort was passed to update the Corn Palace. It accomplished new seating that provided a better view for everyone, new lighting facilities, improved air circulation, new stage props, and modern dressing rooms. In 1968, with the loss of the kiosk above and to the south of the main entrance, the Corn Palace installed new fiberglass kiosks. The palace’s domes, after shaking in strong winds, were renovated in 2015. The new turrets are metal.
Today the Corn Palace is home to a variety of events. Its uses include a rodeo, dances, stage shows, banquets, proms, and graduations. It is the arena for Mitchell High School Kernels and Dakota Wesleyan Tigers’ basketball games as well as district, regional, and state basketball tournaments. USA Today named the Corn Palace as one of the top ten places in America for high school basketball. Continuing the corn theme, the town’s AM station’s call letters are KORN.
One annual event since 1971 is the Corn Palace Stampede Rodeo. It is sponsored by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and is a four-day event. In 2020, it takes place July 16 through the 19th. In addition to the rodeo events, there is western music, a rodeo queen competition, chili cook-off, parade, golf tournament, and more. Proceeds go to Mitchell’s charitable organizations.
The Corn Palace Festival is held in late August each year. Main Street becomes seven blocks of rides, carnival attractions, food and specialty vendors, and agricultural displays. Farmers bring in their best produce to be judged. Headliner performances occur inside the Corn Palace. In 2020, it will be held August 26 through 30. An admission is charged.
Since 1892, with a few exceptions, the Corn Palace has been redecorated each autumn with 12 different naturally colored corn species and other grains and grasses - making it “the agricultural showplace of the world.” Since 1921, three large 20-by-30 foot mural panels have been at the building’s front. Six smaller murals are on the building’s south side, facing the Corn Palace Plaza.
HOW ARE THE MURALS DONE
Each year a new theme is selected annually by the Corn Palace Festival committee. An artist then develops and paints the various individual panels in miniature. His or her designs are then approved.
There have been several artists. The most noted one was Native American Oscar Howe, who was responsible for the artwork and overseeing the project from 1948 to 1971. Cherie Ramsdell, a local art teacher, did designs for years as did Cal Schultz. Since 2019, Dakota Wesleyan University students, who are enrolled in digital media and design courses, create the artwork. They are doing this under the guidance of Associate Professor Kyle Herges.
One farmer grows all the corn. Twelve colors are used which are red, brown, black, white, orange, calico, green, and shades of yellow. Blue corn was too fragile as the kernels kept falling out. Each color, when it is grown, has to be isolated by at least a quarter mile from the rest since cross pollination would dilute the colors. To decorate the building, 325,000 ears of corn are used.
Other farmers will contract early in the year for a certain amount of grain such as rye, sour dock, grasses, and milo. In the decorations, 1,800 bundles of oats, 500 bundles of flax, 30,000 rye brooms and 20,000 bundles (eight truckloads) of sour dock are used. Sour dock is a weed that is green in color when it is hung but turns red as it dries out. The dock has to be hunted in 30 miles around Mitchell with much of it found in ditches. The others are grown in fields.
It is the task of artists to lay out each panel in full scale detail, using chalk on black roofing paper. They work from their original painting which is three-quarters of an inch to one foot scale.
The roofing paper’s various sections are marked as to what color corn is to cover a given section to form the final scene or design. It is kind of like a giant paint-by-numbers done with South Dakota corn, grasses, and grains. Each roofing paper is then tacked to a large panel.
A power saw is used to saw individual ears of corn in half lengthwise. Their flat sides are then nailed to the building. For angles, a hand ax is used to trim the ears. It is vital to give extreme care to alignment and the direction each ear is placed. About 1.5 million nails are used in the decorating project with each ear of corn having four to five nails to hold it up. Corn is cut as work proceeds. The Corn Palace hires 20 college students in the summer to put up the borders using 500,000 staples. Each panel is individually completed from a scaffold before the next is started.
Decorating usually starts in late May with the removal of the rye and dock. The old corn and metal are stripped at the end of August. New murals are started in September and completed by early November. All nails and staples must be removed before starting the restoration project each year.
The trim, composed of grasses and grains, is put up before the panels are completed. This is typically redone in June or July. They are tied in bunches then stapled in place according to the design that has been selected.
The exceptions to the corn decoration have been in years of war and drought. During 1943 and 1944, the Corn Palace made a small contribution to the war effort by eliminating all grains from its decorations. Painted panels with a theme of “Allied Victory” were used until 1946. Drought canceled the murals between the years of 1894 to 1899.
Murals are done when the corn is harvested. Sometimes there is inadequate dry corn to complete the panels. This can cause a delay. The panels are completed except for the unavailable corn. When the corn is deemed to be sufficiently dry, so as not to rot, they are then brought to Mitchell to be nailed to the panel.
However, that doesn’t always work. Due to dry weather, some of the colors of the corn aren’t always available so the trim is touched up rather than replaced. For example, in 1982, panels weren’t changed for the first time since 1945. In 2006, a severe drought was so tough on corn crops that the Corn Palace skipped its annual redecoration. With the drought of 2012, the palace got by with using fewer of its 12 natural colors of cultivated corn.
An unusually wet 2019 has pushed back corn mural construction in 2020. The theme will be South Dakota Homegrown. Murals include one of the Corn Palace and another of McGovern for President in 1972. Others include images of the Crazy Horse Monument, a rodeo cowboy riding a bucking bull, a woman standing on the prairie, a hunter with sights on a pheasant, a combine harvesting a field of grain, a motorcycle with the word “Sturgis,” and a bighorn ram standing in front of the Badlands.
Money for the annual decoration, around $130,000, is raised through the building’s rentals, basketball games, corporate and private events, and ticket sales from concerts and other events. It is open year round to visitors with no admission fee, About 500,000 travelers come by annually.
The Corn Palace is known as “The World’s Largest Bird Feeder.” During the winter, pigeons and squirrels feast on the corn. Time and weather also destroy the corn panels’ beauty.
WHAT WE SAW
We saw completed murals in 2010 with the theme of transportation through the ages. We saw a bicycle, motorcycle, canoe, sailboat, hot air balloon, train, snowmobile, and a four wheel ATV.
When we were there in September 2018, we were fortunate to see the new panels installed which would last into 2019. The theme was A Salute to the Military because of the recent commission of the USS South Dakota, a Virginia-class nuclear submarine. It featured a salute to all five U.S. military services with helicopters, Navy vessels, military jets over Mount Rushmore, homage to the Native American code talkers, and the flag raising at Iwo Jima.
At night, you can see a wonderful light show at the Corn Palace. The minarets light up in shades of green, gold, red, and blue. On the outside, 6,000 lights are used. Since times for this show change, it is best to check inside.
Inside, you can see numerous interpretative panels and watch a 15 minute video about the Corn Palace. Visit the educational center upstairs to see prints of numerous themes Oscar Howe designed. Photographs tracing the Corn Palace’s history are also upstairs.
Visitors also see murals on the sides of the basketball court and above the stage. These are refreshed every fifteen years, but the pictures stay the same. The ones on the side were done by Oscar Howe. On one side, the topics are Father De Smet, Native Americans praising the corn harvest, and Native Americans smoking a peace pipe. The topics on the other side are gold mining, pheasant hunting, and Mount Rushmore. Those on the stage are by Cal Schultz, who did the artwork in the 1980s.
DETAILS
The Corn Palace is located at 604 North Main Street. Its phone number is (605) 995-8430. You can explore the building for free except when events are held. Hours are Memorial Day through Labor Day 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. The rest of the year they are open daily from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. From January through April and in December, the Corn Palace is closed Sundays. A gift shop is located in the Corn Palace during the summer but moves across the street from the Corn Palace during the rest of the year. It has all kinds of corn items and souvenirs. There is also a concession stand. The Corn Palace is temporarily closed because of the virus.
CARNEGIE RESOURCE CENTER
If you want to see souvenirs spanning the history of Mitchell’s Corn Palace and see more of Oscar Howe’s work, head for the Carnegie Historical Center. You will also see changing exhibits about Mitchell area history and genealogy.
The building was constructed in 1903 with funds from steel magnate Andrew Carnegie and used as a library until the 1970s. The Mitchell Area Historical Society acquired the library in 2006.
It now houses that group, the Mitchell Area Genealogical Society, and several of Howe’s original art and prints. After the coronavirus settles down, society programs will be held at the Center on the third Monday of each month at 7:00 p.m. The public is welcome.
WHO WAS OSCAR HOWE
Oscar Howe was a Native American born May 13, 1915 at Joe Creek on the Crow Creek Indian Reservation. He was a full-blooded member of Yanktonai Band of the Dakota Nation. He learned the basics of native art at the Santa Fe Indian School (1935-1938) where students were encouraged to take pride in their culture. In 1940, he taught art at the Pierre Indian School.
He was commissioned for $65 in 1940 to paint the interior dome of the Carnegie Library through the South Dakota Artists project under the WPA (Works Progress Administration). He was also commissioned to paint several large murals at the auditorium in Mobridge, South Dakota.
By visiting the Center, you can still see his painting today Sun and Clouds and Rain Over Hills. Howe worked at night on the project. After a day, he found he was using the wrong kind of paint as it flaked off, and he had to start over. It’s the only one of its type in the world. On the second floor of the building, you can view many of his paintings.
In 1942, he was inducted into the army serving in North Africa and Europe so he did not paint for several years. He earned his B.A. degree at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell in 1952 where he taught as Artist in Residence. He was commissioned to illustrate the two volume North American Indian Costumes and started designing Corn Palace panels in 1948. He designed these murals until 1971.
He received a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1954 and became an assistant professor of fine arts at the University of South Dakota from 1957 to 1983. He was accorded the status of Professor Emeritus of Art in 1980. Howe was named the artist laureate of South Dakota in 1960. He died in 1983.
Although similar to other work produced by the Santa Fe Indian School, Howe had his own style. He first painted on hides then switched to ledger paintings of the 19th century. His work has been compared to Cubism. His goal was to portray the contemporary realities of his tribal culture.
WHAT ELSE IS THERE
In the Corn Palace room, there is a list of entertainers who performed between 1892 and 2009 at Mitchell’s Corn Palace as well as many autographed photographs of these performers. Look for the billboard of various entertainers from the Paul Whiteman show such as the Four Modernaires. You also see souvenirs which trace the history of that building such as plates, ashtrays, and glasses.
The Center has a portrait and the tools of Andrew Jackson Kings who built Mitchell’s first Corn Palace in 1892. He was born in 1855 at Macopin, New Jersey. King constructed the building in 59 days using mostly rough sawed lumber.
He became a contractor after moving with his wife Mary to Mitchell in April 1883. He also built the Carnegie Library, the Elks Lodge, and the Masonic Lodge. He retired from this profession in 1916. From 1888 to 1920, he served on the city council and was a member of the school board for seven years. He died in January 1939.
You can see a miniature of the 1892 Corn Palace. It was built by Kings’ great grandson, Sam Kings.
They have the jacket of Iwo Jima survivor Jack Thurman, a local farm boy. He was on Mount Suribachi when the flag was planted. He is still alive and lives in the Denver area.
Look for the surveyor’s compass of Israel Greene. On October 15, 1859, he led a detail of twelve Marines on the assault and capture of John Brown at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. He later served as a major under Robert E. Lee. Israel was engaged by the Dakota Territorial Legislature to survey the route from the James River Valley to Fort Thompson and Pierre. It was called the Fort Thompson Trail. At Pierre, it joined the Deadwood Trail as a way to the Black Hills Gold Rush. He was also a member of Commodore Perry’s crew, who sailed into Tokyo Bay in 1883 to establish relations with the Japanese.
In 1870, Israel and his wife, Edmona, moved to Rochester, Minnesota where his brother Herman Cady Greene lived. In 1872-73, the whole family moved to Firesteel, later known as Mitchell. The two brothers were known throughout the area for their surveying skills. Israel Greene was born in 1824 and died in 1909.
DETAILS
The Center’s address is 119 West 3rd Avenue in Mitchell. The telephone number is (605) 996-3209. Hours are Monday through Saturday afternoons from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. Admission is free. Tours can be scheduled before or after hours by calling them at (605) 996-3209. It is temporarily closed because of the virus.
Corn Palace in 2010
Side of Corn Palace in 2010
Working on a Mural in 2010
Close Up of Motorcycle Mural from 2010
Close Up of Hot Air Balloons from 2010
Close Up of Snowmobile from 2010
Interior of the Corn Palace - Corn Pictures Above the Stage by Cal Schultz, Those on Side by Oscar Howe
Front of Corn Palace in 2018 - Setting Up for the Festival
Close Up of Domes and Turrets
Side of Corn Palace in 2018
U.S. Marine Corps Mural at Corn Palace in 2018
U.S. Air Force Mural on Corn Palace in 2018
Interior of Corn Palace in 2018
Oscar Howe's Corn Mural of a Peace Pipe Scene Located on Side of Stage
Oscar Howe's Mural of Praising the Corn Harvest on Side of Stage
Concession Stand at Corn Palace - Known for Corn Balls
Oscar Howe Prints for Space Age Murals in 1969 for Corn Palace
Another Oscar Howe Print for a Mural for the Corn Palace
Corn Palace at Night
Corn Palace Bathed in Different Colors
Another Shot at Night
Carnegie Resource Center
The Dome Painted by Oscar Howe - Sun and Clouds and Rain Over Hills
Oscar Howe Print on the Second Floor of Carnegie Resource Center
Another Oscar Howe Print on Second Floor of Carnegie Resource Center
Portrait of Andrew Jackson Kings Who Built the First Corn Palace
Miniature of 1892 Corn Palace by Sam Kings, Andrew Jackson Kings' Great Grandson
Iwo Jima Survivor Jacket Worn by Jack Thurman
Israel Greene's Surveyor's Compass