Farmer’s Rally Against Foreclosure in Minnesota, 1933, courtesy Minnesota Historical Society

The Great Depression affected all regions of the country, so it’s understandable that townspeople in Canton would fight to keep open any institution that gave employment to its citizens. (See last post.) Townspeople and civic leaders had a history of supporting and encouraging all their local businesses, and some were surprisingly successful even through the dire economic times of the Depression.

In 1912, entrepreneurs erected a scaffold and ski jump east of Canton, which allowed skiers to zoom down a peak for an eighth of a mile at 100 miles per hour. The site was used to host ski tournaments every couple of years (except during the Great War), and became very popular. Canton saw 5,000 attendees in 1925, 10,000 in 1927, and between 15 and 20,000 attendees in 1932–even after the bottom had dropped out of the economy. Most people would not likely spend a lot of money attending these tournaments, but businesses which could provide anything attendees needed would benefit financially from the sheer mass of customers.

Souvenir Spoon from the Canton Asylum

A 1929 advertisement urging travelers to “Stop at Canton So. Dak.” featured the Sioux Valley Ski Tournament held in Canton and extolled the attractions of South Dakota in general and Canton in particular. Along with a photo of “The World’s Finest Ski Hill” were two photos of the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians, “The Only Institution of its Kind in the World.”

Souvenir Plate of the Canton Asylum

Though the asylum certainly was not a pleasure spot, it was a tourist attraction. People visiting relatives in Canton or passing through often visited the asylum, which was open to interested sightseers. Again, revenue from these visitors probably didn’t have a great impact on the town, but various merchants sold postcards and souvenirs of the asylum to tourists.