Peter Norbeck (August 27, 1870December 20, 1936) was an American politician from

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large po ...

. After serving two terms as the

ninth In music, a ninth is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a second. Like the second, the interval of a ninth is classified as a dissonance in common practice tonality. Since a ninth is an octave larger than a second, its ...

Governor of South Dakota The governor of South Dakota is the head of government of South Dakota. The governor is elected to a four-year term in even years when there is no presidential election. The current governor is Kristi Noem, a member of the Republican Party who t ...

, Norbeck was elected to three consecutive terms as a

United States Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

. Norbeck was the first native-born Governor of South Dakota to serve in office, and the first native-born U.S. Senator from South Dakota. (Norbeck was born in the portion of the

Dakota Territory The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of N ...

that would later become the state of

). He is best remembered as "Mount Rushmore's great political patron", for promoting the construction of the giant sculpture at

Mount Rushmore Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a national memorial centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore (Lakota: ''Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe'', or Six Grandfathers) in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dakot ...

and securing federal funding for it.

Early life and education

Norbeck was the oldest of six children born to immigrants George (born in

Jämtland Jämtland (; no, Jemtland or , ; Jamtish: ''Jamtlann''; la, Iemptia) is a historical province () in the centre of Sweden in northern Europe. It borders Härjedalen and Medelpad to the south, Ångermanland to the east, Lapland to the nort ...

, Sweden) and Karen (Larsen) Norbeck, who was Norwegian. At the time of Norbeck's birth, his family was living in a dugout on the family's , located northeast of Vermillion,

. He attended the public schools and the

University of South Dakota The University of South Dakota (USD) is a public research university in Vermillion, South Dakota. Established by the Dakota Territory legislature in 1862, 27 years before the establishment of the state of South Dakota, USD is the flagship uni ...

at Vermillion. In 1895 he was a contractor and driller of deep water, oil, and gas wells. He moved to Redfield, South Dakota in 1900 and added agricultural pursuits. In June 1901 he married Lydia Theresa Anderson and they had three daughters, Nellie, Ruth, and Selma (aka Sally); and one son, Harold.

Personal Affiliations

Norbeck was a

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, and a member of the Grand Lodge of South Dakota. He received the 32° of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction in Yankton, SD on 22 June 1919, and was also a member of Yelduz Shriners in

Aberdeen, South Dakota Aberdeen ( Lakota: ''Ablíla'') is a city in and the county seat of Brown County, South Dakota, United States, located approximately northeast of Pierre. The city population was 28,495 at the 2020 census, making it the third most populous ci ...

. His Blue (Craft) lodge name and number are not known.

Career

On May 9, 1908, Norbeck ran for the

State Senate from Spink County. After being elected to the first of three terms, he joined Coe Crawford's inner circle of

Progressives Progressivism holds that it is possible to improve human societies through political action. As a political movement, progressivism seeks to advance the human condition through social reform based on purported advancements in science, techn ...

. In 1914, Norbeck reluctantly accepted Governor Frank Byrne's invitation to run for

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

on the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

ticket; they ended up winning. In 1916, Norbeck ran for governor and beat Democratic candidate W.T. Rinehart, becoming the ninth

. He served in that office from 1917 to 1921. In 1920, Norbeck was elected United States

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. He won the election with 50% of the vote, running against a Democrat and two fairly strong independent candidates; the Democrat finished third. Norbeck was re-elected to the Senate in 1926 and 1932.

South Dakota tourism and Mount Rushmore

Norbeck made a number of contributions to South Dakota's tourism industry. He worked with sculptor

Gutzon Borglum John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum (March 25, 1867 – March 6, 1941) was an American sculptor best known for his work on Mount Rushmore. He is also associated with various other public works of art across the U.S., including Stone Mountain in Georg ...

to help him create his huge sculpture at

, convinced presidents

Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Born in Vermont, Coolidge was a Republican lawyer from New England who climbed up the ladder of Ma ...

and Franklin D. Roosevelt to support it, and shepherded multiple bills through Congress to provide federal funding for it. He encouraged the development of the Iron Mountain Road in the

Black Hills The Black Hills ( lkt, Ȟe Sápa; chy, Moʼȯhta-voʼhonáaeva; hid, awaxaawi shiibisha) is an isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States. Black ...

. He also pushed for the development of Sylvan Lake, Needles Highway,

Badlands National Park Badlands National Park ( lkt, Makȟóšiča) is an American national park located in southwestern South Dakota. The park protects of sharply eroded buttes and pinnacles, along with the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United Sta ...

Custer State Park Custer State Park is a South Dakota State Park and wildlife reserve in the Black Hills, United States. The park is South Dakota's largest and first state park, named after Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer. The park covers an area of over of ...

Wind Cave National Park Wind Cave National Park is an American national park located north of the town of Hot Springs in western South Dakota. Established on January 3, 1903 by President Theodore Roosevelt, it was the sixth national park in the U.S. and the first c ...

, and the Game Sanctuary in the

. As outgoing

chairman during the last months of the

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gre ...

presidency, Norbeck appointed

Ferdinand Pecora Ferdinand Pecora (January 6, 1882 – December 7, 1971) was an American lawyer and New York State Supreme Court judge who became famous in the 1930s as Chief Counsel to the United States Senate Committee on Banking and Currency during its investi ...

as Chief Counsel to the U.S. Senate's Committee on Banking and Currency. The Committee investigated the

Wall Street Crash of 1929 The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange coll ...

Death and memorials

Norbeck died of cancer in Redfield, South Dakota during his third term as

in 1936. He is interred at Bloomington Church Cemetery,

Platte, South Dakota Platte is a city in Charles Mix County, South Dakota, Charles Mix County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 1,311 at the 2022 United States Census, 2022 census. The community is named after the Platte Creek, a tributary of the Misso ...

. The Peter Norbeck Summer House, in

, is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

References

External links

Entry for Peter Norbeck at the Weekly South Dakotan website
* ttp://www.infoplease.com/biography/us/congress/norbeck-peter.html Entry for Peter Norbeck at Infoplease.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Norbeck, Peter 1870 births 1936 deaths People from Clay County, South Dakota American people of Swedish descent American people of Norwegian descent American Lutherans Republican Party United States senators from South Dakota Republican Party governors of South Dakota Lieutenant Governors of South Dakota Republican Party South Dakota state senators People from Redfield, South Dakota Mount Rushmore