SCOUTING YESTERDAY | Clinton’s historic stop precedes $20M spending boost to Pine Ridge

This week in South Dakota history: July 5-11

President Bill Clinton visits Pine Ridge Reservation. Photo: Argus Leader

President Bill Clinton became the second sitting president to visit the Pine Ridge Reservation 25 years ago.

The Arkansas Democrats July 8, 1999, stop in western South Dakota made him the first president to visit Pine Ridge since Calvin Coolidge.

But unlike Coolidge, who was passing through on vacation when he was here in 1927, Clinton’s visit was an official trip.

Declaring the reservation an empowerment zone, Pine Ridge joined 81 cities and 35 rural areas included in Clinton’s attempt to address systemic poverty and bolster economic development in economically depressed communities.

Pine Ridge’s application for the program cited 63 percent of residents living in poverty, that nearly 75 percent of Shannon county residents were unemployed and school dropout rates exceeding 20 percent. The application also noted scarce housing and abundant health problems.

NEWS: Agreement between feds and state could keep more tribal officers close to home