Yellow Medicine County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

in the southwestern part of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. Its eastern border is formed by the

Minnesota River The Minnesota River () is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles (534 km) long, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It drains a watershed of in Minnesota and about in South Dakota and Iowa. It rises in southwestern ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,528. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

is Granite Falls. The Upper Sioux Indian Reservation, related to the historical Yellow Medicine Agency that was here, is entirely within the county. It was established under the

Treaty of Traverse des Sioux The Treaty of Traverse des Sioux () was signed on July 23, 1851, at Traverse des Sioux in Minnesota Territory between the United States government and the Dakota people, Upper Dakota Sioux bands. In this land cession treaty, the Sisseton and Wahpe ...

in 1851, by which the Dakota ceded much territory in the region to the United States.

History

The county was established by the Minnesota legislature on March 6, 1871, with Granite Falls as the county seat. Its name comes from Yellow Medicine River, which runs through the eastern part of the county to the Minnesota. The river's name derives from the moonseed plant, ''

Menispermum canadense ''Menispermum canadense'', the Canadian moonseed, common moonseed, or yellow parilla, is a flowering plant in the family Menispermaceae, native to eastern North America, from southern Canada south to northern Florida, and from the Atlantic coast ...

'', whose yellow root the native

Dakota people The Dakota (pronounced , or ) are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe (Native American), tribe and First Nations in Canada, First Nations band government in North America. They compose two of the three main subcultur ...

used for medicinal purposes. It was proposed in 1878 to create a new county, taken from the western portions of Yellow Medicine, Lincoln, and Lac qui Parle counties. The state legislature approved the petition (subject to local voter approval), and Governor Pillsbury signed the act on February 27, 1879, but the proposal failed to garner a combined majority of votes in the three counties, and the proposed Canby County did not come into being.

Geography

Yellow Medicine County lies on the west side of Minnesota. Its west border abuts 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 ...

. The

flows east-southeast along the county's northeast side on its way to discharge into the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

. The Yellow Medicine River flows northeast through the eastern part of the county, discharging into the Minnesota near the midpoint of the county's eastern border. The Stony Run Creek flows east through the northeast part of the county; the Florida Creek flows northeast through the west end of the county, and the Lac qui Parle River also flows northeast through the west central part of the county. The county terrain consists of rolling hills, carved by drainages. The area is devoted to agriculture.''Yellow Medicine County MN'' Google Maps (accessed March 13, 2019
/ref> The terrain slopes to the east and slightly to the north; its highest point is on the west border, near its SW corner, at ASL. The county has an area of , of which is land and (0.5%) is water.

Lakes

* Burton Lake * Culver Lake (part) * Curtis Lake * Highbank Lake * Kvistid Lake * Lake Louie * Lone Tree Lake * Miedd Lake * Miller Lake * Mud Lake * Spellman Lake * Timm Lake * Tyson Lake * Wood Lake

Rivers and drainages

* Florida Creek * Lac qui Parle River *

Spring Creek A spring creek is a type of free flowing river whose name derives from its origin: an underground Spring (hydrology), spring or set of springs which produces sufficient water to consistently feed a unique river. The water flowing in a spring cree ...

* Stony Run Creek * Yellow Medicine River

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 59 * U.S. Highway 75 * U.S. Highway 212 *

Minnesota State Highway 23 Minnesota State Highway 23 (MN 23) is a state highway that stretches from southwestern to northeastern Minnesota. At in length, it is the second longest state route in Minnesota, after MN 1. This route, signed east–west, runs roug ...

* Minnesota State Highway 67 * Minnesota State Highway 68 * Minnesota State Highway 167 * Minnesota State Highway 274 (decommissioned in 2022)

Adjacent counties

* Lac qui Parle County - north * Chippewa County - northeast * Renville County - east * Redwood County - southeast * Lyon County - south * Lincoln County - southwest * Deuel County, South Dakota - west

Protected areas

* Bigrock State Wildlife Management Area * Christopherson State Wildlife Management Area * Clawson State Wildlife Management Area * Flinks State Wildlife Management Area * Miller-Richter State Wildlife Management Area * Mound Springs Prairie Scientific and Natural Area * Omro State Wildlife Management Area * Oshkosh State Wildlife Management Area * Penthole State Wildlife Management Area * Posen State Wildlife Management Area * Saint Leo State Wildlife Management Area * Sioux Nation State Wildlife Management Area * Stokke State Wildlife Management Area * Stony Run State Wildlife Management Area * Swedes Forest Scientific and Natural Area (part) * Upper Sioux Agency State Park

Demographics

2020 Census

2000 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 11,080 people, 4,439 households, and 2,974 families in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 4,873 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 96.09%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.11%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 2.04% Native American, 0.17% Asian, 0.01%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.92% from other races, and 0.66% from two or more races. 1.76% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. 36.5% were of Norwegian and 34.6%

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

ancestry. There were 4,439 households, out of which 30.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.60% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 5.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.00% were non-families. 29.30% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 3.01. The county population contained 25.80% under the age of 18, 7.40% from 18 to 24, 24.20% from 25 to 44, 22.20% from 45 to 64, and 20.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 98.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.90 males. The median income for a household in the county was $34,393, and the median income for a family was $42,002. Males had a median income of $27,770 versus $20,870 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the county was $17,120. About 7.10% of families and 10.40% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 10.40% of those under age 18 and 10.60% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

* Canby * Clarkfield *

Echo In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the lis ...

* Granite Falls (county seat; partly in Chippewa County) * Hanley Falls * Hazel Run *

Porter Porter may refer to: Companies * Porter Airlines, Canadian airline based in Toronto * Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets * Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer * H.K. Porter, Inc., a locom ...

* St. Leo * Wood Lake

Unincorporated communities

* Burr (original name Stanley) * Lorne * Normania *

Townships

* Burton Township * Echo Township * Florida Township * Fortier Township * Friendship Township * Hammer Township * Hazel Run Township * Lisbon Township * Minnesota Falls Township * Norman Township * Normania Township * Omro Township * Oshkosh Township * Posen Township * Sandnes Township * Sioux Agency Township * Stony Run Township * Swede Prairie Township * Tyro Township * Wergeland Township * Wood Lake Township

Government and politics

Yellow Medicine County has recently been a swing county in national elections. Since 1980, the county has selected the Republican Party candidate in 56% of national elections (as of 2020). The county gave a majority to

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

in 2008, but has trended more Republican in recent cycles.

References

External links

Yellow Medicine County. GovOffice.com

Yellow Medicine County. RootsWeb.com
{{Coord, 44.72, -95.86, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-MN_source:UScensus1990 Minnesota counties 1871 establishments in Minnesota Populated places established in 1871 Minnesota placenames of Native American origin