Foster Children Tragedy

In a small, abandoned cemetery on the outskirts of western Sioux Falls is Bethel Cemetery. Established in 1873 this cemetery is the final resting place for dozens of Dakota Territory pioneers, including 2 children who got lost in a blizzard January 7th of 1873.

Dakota Territory was a land of promise and opportunity where you could work hard on your homestead to earn your American dream in the unsettled West.  Robert and Lillie Foster immigrated from Ireland and stopped a few places along the way in Canada and Wisconsin before settling in Dakota Territory where they would raise their children and spend the rest of their lives. They arrived here in the last few months on 1872, and this American dream would soon turn into a nightmare on January 7th, 1873, when an unseasonably warm winter day would turn into a blizzard. Two of the Foster's children, Robert Jr, and Sarah would leave the home to check fur traps only half a mile away right before the storm hit...