Center Building at Saint Elizabeths circa 1901-1932

The U.S. government already operated an insane asylum, popularly called St. Elizabeths, in Washington, D.C. Its superintendent, W.W. Godding, suggested that any insane Indians be sent there for treatment.

However, South Dakota’s senator, Richard F. Pettigrew, saw a chance to grab both money and jobs for his constituency. He vigorously backed Indian agent Peter Couchman’s suggestion. Politics won out. Congress approved funds for the facility—which just so happened to land in South Dakota.

In the meantime, Pettigrew had drawn in another influential South Dakotan to help with the scheme. Oscar S. Gifford, the former mayor of Canton, was brought on board to handle the legal paperwork involved in buying 100 acres of land (at $30/acre) for the government’s new asylum. The site of the facility just happened to be near…Canton, South Dakota. Gifford, and practically the whole town, expected him to get the plum job of running the asylum after it was built.