SCOUTING YESTERDAY | Panic, closures follow Sioux Falls National Bank shuttering operations

This week in South Dakota history: Jan. 17-23

Midwest bank run, ca. 1930. (National Archives)

A banking crisis struck South Dakota a century ago this month.

According to the Rapid City Journal, the Sioux Falls National Bank closed Jan. 11, 1924, a decision made by the National Bank Examiner that oversaw financial institutions in the region.

Opened in 1882, the Sioux Falls bank had listed deposits totaling over $2,500,000. And while the regulators were tight-lipped on the details, one examiner told reporters at the time the bank was closed “because conditions warranted it.”

SCOUTING YESTERDAY | South Dakota wants feds to let U.S. mines back into global gold market

With low commodity prices following World War I, South Dakota banks were stressed. Several institutions had already closed, either as a result of inspection or voluntarily handing over control to regulators, according to the Argus Leader. Sioux Falls Trust & Savings bank along with four others followed Sioux Falls National Bank in shuttering.

During the January crisis, H.J. Caulfield, the former president of the Citizens State Bank in Parker, was arrested and charged with forgery, embezzlement and conspiracy related to its closure Dec. 31. Caulfield was extradited from Iowa where authorities were seeking others thought to be involved in the alleged crimes.