Czech South Dakotans are residents of the state of
South Dakota
South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...
who are of
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus
*Czech (surnam ...
ancestry. The
Czech language
Czech ( ; ), historically known as Bohemian ( ; ), is a West Slavic language of the Czech–Slovak group, written in Latin script. Spoken by over 12 million people including second language speakers, it serves as the official language of the ...
is the seventh most common language spoken in South Dakota, with 645 speakers.
History
The first Czech immigrants started arriving in
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 ...
in 1868, and settled west of
Yankton. These poor people from
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...
came to America with hope of improving their living conditions and attaining a better future. The majority of Czechs settled around
Tabor
Tabor may refer to:
Places
Czech Republic
* Tábor, a town in the South Bohemian Region
** Tábor District, the surrounding district
* Tábor, a village and part of Velké Heraltice in the Moravian-Silesian Region
Israel
* Mount Tabor, Galilee, ...
. Being mostly of the
Catholic faith
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international instituti ...
, their first concern was to organize a religious community. Church services first started taking place in 1871 at the log home of Vaclav Janda, one mile south of Tabor. The town site of Tabor was purchased from Johanna Kocer on April 14, 1872. In that same year, work began at the north end of the site for the first church of the St. Wenceslaus parish. The church was completed in 1874, and was constructed of chalk rock cut near the Missouri River south of Tabor. The chalk rock church was quickly outgrown, and a new 42 X 132 red brick church was built in 1898. The brick church still serves as the House of the Lord for today's parishioners. Since
St. Wenceslaus Church is the only church in a town of 400 people, parish activities and functions are social highlights for the community.
Although the Czech population in the state was small, their high concentration in certain regions had a profound impact on the cultural history of South Dakota. The Czech population of the state was concentrated in five southeastern counties:
Bon Homme,
Brule County,
Charles Mix,
Gregory County, and
Yankton. In 1910, 90% of Czechs in South Dakota lived in these five counties and 60% lived in the two counties of Bon Homme and Yankton. By 1930, Czech-Americans only comprised 1.5% of the population of South Dakota.
References
External links
Tabor Czech DaysTabor: A Little Czech Town on the American Prairie
{{Czech Americans by location