What is a City, and is the Organized Political Subdivision Governed?

All things originate from the settlements upon the land, and in America, that means you are born upon the public domain, as per the treaties agreed upon.

According to the 1783 Peace Treaty of Paris, and further, with the adoption of the 1790 Northwest Territorial Ordinance of which allowed Americans to set forth, and settle, claim, and organize their territorial divisions upon the land, the early framework to developing homesteads, farmsteads, townships, to developing cities, to conjoining those subdivisions to become part of Municipalities, we begin to understand the organizational framework of the “City” itself.

In 1804, America purchased a large crop of land from France, to be known today as the Louisiana Purchase, of which that land would be in the future, carved up for future westward expansion, let alone settled, claimed, and developed.
As early as 1830, Americans were beginning to push westward, seek land for homesteading, farming, and to develop townsites, and by 1840, the Congress adopted the 1841 Preemption Act, which was an early Settlement Act.

Under the act, The Preemption Act of 1841 provided that certain states were to be paid 10 percent on net proceeds of sales of public lands while establishing the requirements and procedures for obtaining 160 acres of public lands. Limitations and exceptions: No person was entitled to more than one pre-emptive right, no person who owned 320 acres in any State or Territory, and no person who quit or abandoned his residence on his own land to reside on public land in the same State or Territory could acquire any right of pre-emption under the Act.

Simply said, any such public lands that were not already part of the jurisdiction of any such “Formed State”, let alone territory, could be freely settled, claimed, and purchased, with the right to form a new subdivision, let alone territory, or state.

These newly created granted, or patented territories would be 160 or 320 acres in size, and eventually become homesteads, let alone later on, township sites.

And by 1862, the Homestead Act would later amend the 1841 act, by creating smaller, more affordable territorial sections of land in the sizes of 40, 80, 120, 160, and 320 acres of land, which would make it more feasible for average Americans to claim land, with the goal to settle, claim, build a home, develop a future colony.

Between 1840 and 1870, many previous States and Organizations were forming corporate charters, thus sending out groups of people, or small colonies, to seek land, with the intent to charter local communities to prosper from the land itself.

Here, is where the early settlements within the “Great Bend of the Big Sioux River” come into play, as many groups were fast coming to the area to prosper from the land itself.

A Group of People, known as the Western Town Company out of Dubuque, Iowa, formed a chartered colony of people sending them to Dakota Territory.

Colony - defined as a group of people sent out by a state, to a new territory. The territory in which such colonists live, of which is distant, and under the control of another nation, or in this case, a State.

Under the charter, the Western Town Company settled on, and claimed land along the banks of the Sioux River, above the Falls of the river, to platt out, and form the Village of Sioux Falls, a small 160 acres of land, with the goal of forming a township. These people quickly formed a “polis” or governmental district.

By 1862, another group of colonists had arrived from St. Paul, Minnesota, known as the Dakota Land Company, and would settle, claim, and platt out land south of the first townsite, to be known as Sioux Falls City, and this group would also be a small 160 acres homestead claim, and they two quickly formed a “Polis” as well.

In ancient Greece, the word City is often called "Polis" - which refers to an administrative and religious center.

Administrative relates to the management of a company, institution, or organization.

Religious Center means appropriate to, or in accordance with the principles of religion.

As a group of people, the landowners living upon the land begin to form a township, or a collective territory of which they tend to form an organized territory of a local government unit, of which they create a polis, in order to administrate, and establish a religious center of which the people agree to become part of a citizenhood, by taking an oath to, and by a set of rules, codes, and vows to conduct activity as one group of people in order to best manage the public needs of the "land area".

The "polis" then becomes the administrative, and religious center of operating the organized territory now called a "City".

Many of the people, often referred to as the citizens of the "City" tend to reside in and around the Polis - of which is a collection of public buildings such as a City Hall, Event Hall, Administrative Buildings, Public Places, let alone where the Public Court is located.

The citizens of the "city" often vote to elect an Administrator (or Mayor), and of appoints other cabinet or department heads of state such as Attorney, Finance Officer, Secretary, while the citizens may elect a town council in order to watch over the administration of corporate officers by adopting the rules, codes, and vows of which direct the administration of officers of how to govern over the polis.

While the Landowners agree to develop their land, conduct commerce, and to perform such activity within their organized territory, of which citizens may reside on the very land owned by the landowners, the "government" therefore operates in order to govern over the commercial activity of which transpires within that organized territory, of which collects 'taxes from such activity in order to manage, maintain, and operate all public things, roads, pay for any such water, sewer, electricity, and service provided to those who reside within it's corporate borders.

The landowners tend to adopt a "Charter" which creates the set of rules of which the administration must abide by, whereas the governing body elected by the residents then enacts a code of commercial rules of which to govern the activity within the territory, of which the public courts are established to settle disputes, controversies, and conflicts between each resident, or groups of residents as they conduct business within the organized territory.

Therefore, a "CITY" is nothing more than a group of people agreeing to live within a public commune, on land of which a group of landowners agreed to organize an administrative, religious center of where a the people take vows to each other, to settle, congregate, and perform commercial activities, of which they agree to raise revenues from such activity to pay for, and to pool their assets together to provide for Public Buildings, Roads, Parks, Water, Sewer, Electricity, and Other Services to Each Other.

The Polis therefore becomes the City Hall, Town Hall Forum, Administrative Offices, the Public Courts at its epicenter.

The early townsites often referred to as the Village of Sioux Falls and Sioux Falls City were nestled along the banks of the Big Sioux River south of the Falls. The Village of Sioux Falls was located south of 3rd Street, but north of 7th Street, while Sioux Falls City was located south of 7th Street, but north of 11th Street.

These two organized townsites quickly adopted rules, vows, and ordinances, and were managed by a President, Treasurer, Secretary, and Local Officers.

By 1879, they had united to establish the Town of Sioux Falls which quickly restructured itself, resettled an area that now is to be located south of 6th Street, but north of 14th Street, while the northern half would become the commercial district, and the southern half would become the residential district, while near the middle, its epicenter, they would build their Town Hall Auditorium, Public Court Buildings, other Public Buildings used for Park Maintenance, Utilities, etc.

As the Town of Sioux Falls began to grow, other settlements, colonies of people quickly came to the area as well, soon, by 1940, you would have East Sioux Falls, South Sioux Falls, West Sioux Falls, let alone, we would see smaller homesteads such as the Tuttle Family, the Phillips Family, the Lyon’s Family, the Axtel Family, and the Van Eps Family all come to the area to quickly settle, claim, and lay natural ties to the land as well, we also would soon see the Federal Air Force Base quickly claim acres of land in North Sioux Falls, which would encompass land between West Sioux Falls, and the western edge of the Town of Sioux Falls.

Over the years, other Townships quickly sprung up in the name of Split Rock, Mapleton, Delapre, Wayne, along the prairie, along with smaller towns such as Brandon, Tea, Harrisburg, Renner, Ellis, Crooks, and Hartford in the far west.

As the Town of Sioux Falls quickly began to merge with the likes of West Sioux, East Sioux Falls, South Sioux, let alone the former Airbase ceded parts of their land to Sioux Falls, and while the family homesteads quickly were annexing their properties into the Town of Sioux Falls - soon, a new “organized district” was fast developing.

As these communities quickly came together, they began to organize themselves further into a “Municipality”, which is defined as several subdivisions merging together to form one large organizational, administrative, center of self government.

The Towns of Sioux Falls, West Sioux, East Sioux, South Sioux, and the many neighboring homestead claims quickly became one large organized municipality.

And by the year 1995, these communities adopted a new form of government, a new charter, making themselves best known today as the City of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, of which together, they would govern themselves today as one community.

From the Village of Sioux Falls (1857 to 1866), Sioux Falls City (1862 to 1866), East Sioux Falls (1880 to 1940), West Sioux Falls (1910 to 1940), to South Sioux Falls (1930 to 1960), to all of, or parts of Split Rock Township, Wayne, and the smaller Homesteads of the Tuttles, Van Eps, Lyons, Axtells, and Phillips - the City of Sioux Falls has taken full shape, and have adopted the following vow, today:

We the people of Sioux Falls, in order to establish a more representative and effective city government, do adopt this Charter in accordance with the Home Rule power granted in Article IX of the Constitution of South Dakota.

“Home Rule” simply means, the ability of the People to Self Govern their Homestead, within the State of South Dakota as they wish, under the Constitution of the State, and under the laws of the State, and where there is no such law written, the people shall have the free right to exercise their full natural rights anytime.