A history of the Yankton School District can’t really be written apart from that of the Yankton community. A close connection between community and school has been maintained throughout the life of the district. Life in Yankton has always revolved around the Missouri River. Native Americans followed the river’s flow to their destinations centuries ago. They named the land “E-Hank-Ton-Wan” meaning “people of the end village.” Yankton is rich in history and a city of firsts. It was the first capital of the Dakota Territory, which in the 1860s included both Dakotas, Wyoming, and Montana. Our story as a district began on February 2, 1875, with an act of the legislature that created the Yankton Board of Education. Yankton High School became the first high school in Dakota Territory. The first college followed soon after. Yankton is also fortunate to have a leading medical center, which began when the Benedictine sisters of Sacred Heart Monastery arrived in 1887. Besides the monastery, the nuns have given Yankton a stunning chapel, a university, a regional medical center, and an assisted living and senior care complex. As the community has grown, Yankton has become a center for music, art, and theatre. The Missouri River is still the soul of Yankton. Families gather there in every season, for boating, fishing, strolling, picnicking, baseball, concerts, snowmobiling, and ice fishing.