Forgotten Brewery Caves - Yankton Dakota Territory - Part One

Sometimes I have enough clues to assemble a "Brewery Caves" article from a place too distant for me to do a boots on the ground investigation.  In putting this out into the wilds of the Internet I would yet again remind all that trespassing is bad, and taking risks in exploring is very, very bad. That having been said it would be marvelous if additional information on these breweries were to appear.
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I lived in South Dakota for three years.  The people there were all very nice, albeit with a bit of an eccentric streak.  That certainly would apply to Charles Rossteuscher, the pioneer brewer of what was then the wild and untamed Dakota Territory.

My first information on Rossteuscher has him in Manitowoc Wisconsin in the early 1850s.  He was in partnership with William Rahr in one of the three breweries existing in that tiny but very thirsty village.  Rahr fired him, as their partnership agreement contained a clause saying the agreement was void if either "violated the laws of the land".  

It seems that Rossteuscher had been involved in a brawl in 1854 that resulted in the death of a certain Jacques Kurzwaelli.  The particulars are a bit obscure, but the indictment drawn up against Rossteuscher was written in very florid prose.  He was described as:

 "...not having the fear of God before his eyes, but being moved and seduced by the instigation of the devil..."

The report went on at some length about the knife used (value one dollar), the wound inflicted, and the opinion of the grand jury that the actions were carried out 

 "..feloniously, willfully, and of his malice aforethought...".

Interestingly the district attorney who drew up the papers also was among those signing for his release on bond, and perhaps it is no surprise that Rossteuscher was promptly acquitted and that the cost of the entire proceedings was $20.79.

Rahr fired him anyway.  Not long afterwards the Rahr brewery burned to the ground under suspicious circumstances and Rossteuscher left town for good.  The Manitowoc newspaper described him thusly: 

"He was always considered a man of mystery by all who knew him, and his emnity greatly feared.  He was a man of good education but inclined to get into all kinds of mischief.  During the early days it was the style with the men to wear military or "Spanish" cloaks, as they were called, and his was of a scarlet hue augmenting greatly his mysterious air and bearing."

His movements for the latter 1850s are unclear but Charles Rossteuscher ended up in Yankton, the rustic capitol of the new Dakota Territory, circa 1860.  He is mentioned as running the first butcher shop in town.  He also served as a private in the local Dakota militia that was mustered in during the troubled time of the Dakota Uprising.

In 1866 he returned to the brewing business bringing equipment to town by steamboat and setting up shop in a wooden building at 2nd and Walnut.

Given his previous difficulties with the law it is a bit surprising that he also held a variety of civic offices including Justice of the Peace, Judge and Mayor!  He also ran the local German language newspaper and on this matter the friendly rival pages of the Daily Press and Dakotian made comment in 1880:

"First butcher and brewer, Charles F. Rossteuscher, who has since degenerated into an editor though he still sticks to the brewery to keep up his reputation."

The City Brewery had a long successful run despite state wide Prohibition in the 90's and and then getting a two year head start on the National dry spell beginning in 1917.

Of course this is supposed to be a "Brewery Caves" post.  The above Sanborn map from the early 1880s shows a "Cellar" on the main property.  This was constructed in 1876 and was said to have "elaborate beer vaults".  This along with plentiful Missouri River ice was probably sufficient.  But in the earlier years of the enterprise there may have been cave storage.

This 1953 article  while primarily about the local Native American citizens does make mention of a cave that was thought to be used by "The City Brewery" in its early years.  The clues are inexact and I can find no more recent information, but it is apparently just west of town and in the river bluffs.  The road that led to it is now partly gone but likely corresponds to Sister Grove Road.  I suspect the cave is at the foot of the bluffs somewhere below the Sacred Heart hospital/monastery complex.

Here's Part Two of the Yankton Brewery Story