Three new bronze statues to be added to the Trail of Governors in Pierre will be unveiled this morning (June 17, 2022) during a ceremony in the State Capitol Rotunda.
The Trail’s Foundation Board will host the event at 10am CDT. The statues to be added are of Andrew E. Lee, Frank Byrne and William J. Bulow. They will bring the total number of statues along the trail to 31, which makes it current. The next statue added will be of the state’s 33rd governor, Kristi Noem. Although Bill Janklow was the 27th and the 30th governor, he only has one statue along the route.
The Run With the Govs’ 3.5 mile walk-run event will be held tomorrow, beginning at 8am CDT. It starts at the Capitol’s front steps and follows the statues. Registration information can be found via Facebook. Event proceeds are donated to the Trail of Governors Foundation.
The Trail of Governors is funded by donations and donor opportunities are still available for Govs. Samuel H. Elrod, Coe I. Crawford, Frank Byrne, William J. Bulow and Harvey Wollman. All donations are tax deductible and managed by the South Dakota Community Foundation. More information is available online at TrailofGovernors.com.
More about this year’s additions:
Andrew E. Lee served as governor from 1897 to 1901. Lee, born in Norway, worked as a store clerk in Wisconsin before moving to Dakota Territory. He started a mercantile and owned farms near Vermillion. Lee was South Dakota’s only Populist Party governor. The Lee Medical School building at the University of South Dakota is named for Lee, on land he donated.
Frank Byrne was governor from 1913 to 1917. Byrne was born in Iowa and was lured to Sioux Falls by the Dakota Boom. He worked for homesteaders before filing his own claim in McCook County. He later moved to Faulk County, and became a land company owner at Faulkton. He was lieutenant governor before being elected governor.
William J. Bulow served as governor from 1927 to 1931. He was born in Ohio and received a law degree from the University of Michigan. Bulow moved to Beresford where he opened a law office and served as mayor. After his term as governor, Bulow was elected a U.S. Senator, serving for 12 years.
Comments