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Bert John Popowski was born on February 15, 1904, in Grafton, North Dakota, where he spent his childhood and completed his elementary and high school education. He attended South Dakota State College in Brookings, graduating in 1926 with a Bachelor of Science degree in printing. In 1930, he married Harriet Seymour of Aberdeen, South Dakota, and they had two sons, John Seymour and Jerome Bert.

Throughout his life, Popowski lived in various parts of the United States and held a range of positions, including high school principal and associate editor for Look magazine. From 1951 until his death in 1982, he worked as a freelance writer, author, and contributing editor for numerous outdoor and sporting publications. Over a prolific career spanning fifty years, he authored more than 2,300 articles. His first feature story appeared in Outdoor Life in 1931. He later served as a contributing editor for The American Rifleman, where he wrote the “Dope Bag” column, and contributed regular columns to other magazines, including “Hunting” for The Outdoorsman, “Guns and Ammunition” for Hunting & Fishing, and “The Shot Tower” for Guns and Hunting.

Popowski gained national recognition for his book Hunting Pronghorn Antelope, along with several other major works, some of which were translated into Spanish and Japanese. An accomplished photographer, he often illustrated his own articles and books. In his early years, he became known as an expert varmint hunter, and his writings helped popularize this form of hunting. In 1932, he built a log cabin near the Narrows on French Creek in Custer State Park, where he weathered the Great Depression and devoted himself to writing. In 1949, he won the National Crow Shooting Championship, using crow calls of his own design to defeat 51 competitors. His lifelong interests extended beyond hunting to natural history and wildlife management.

In 1979, Popowski donated his books, manuscripts, and photographs to South Dakota State University. He was honored the same year at the Outdoor Writers Association of America convention in Rapid City, where the State of South Dakota recognized him as the “Dean of South Dakota Outdoor Writers.” In his later years, he faced health challenges, including cancer and a stroke, and passed away on February 14, 1982. His legacy endures as a prolific writer, photographer, and advocate for wildlife and outdoor pursuits.

Ben Reifel (1906–1990) was the first Lakota Sioux elected to the U.S. Congress. He was born September 19, 1906, in a log cabin on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, the son of a German American father and a full-blooded Lakota Sioux mother. An enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, he was given the Lakota name Lone Feather. Reifel grew up bilingual and attended both a reservation boarding school and a local county school, completing the eighth grade at age sixteen. After working on his parents’ farm, he studied at the School of Agriculture in Brookings, South Dakota, and later enrolled at South Dakota State College, graduating in 1932 with a degree in agriculture. He financed his education through one of the first federal loans available to Native American students and was elected president of the Students’ Association in his senior year. In 1933, he married Alice Janet Johnson, and they had one daughter, Loyce Nadine.

Reifel began his career with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in 1933 as a farm agent on the Pine Ridge Reservation and was soon promoted to field agent, where he helped implement the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. His work advancing agricultural programs and economic development earned him recognition across South Dakota reservations. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army, rising to Lieutenant Colonel and distinguishing himself in the European theater. Following the war, he returned to the BIA, serving as Tribal Relations Officer and later as Superintendent of the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota. In 1949, he entered Harvard University, earning a master’s degree in 1950 and a doctorate in public administration in 1952. He then returned to the BIA as Area Director of the Aberdeen Area Office, overseeing federal Indian programs in South Dakota, North Dakota, and Nebraska.

In 1960, Reifel resigned from the BIA to run for Congress. He was elected as a Republican to represent South Dakota’s First District and served five terms. In Congress, he focused on agriculture, Native American education, and civil rights. He advocated desegregation in Indian schools, was instrumental in bringing the Earth Resources Observation Systems (EROS) center to South Dakota, and supported the creation of the National Endowment for the Humanities. As a member of the House Agriculture Committee and later the Appropriations Committee, he defended farm subsidies and advanced irrigation projects critical to the regional economy. He chose not to seek re-election in 1970.

After leaving Congress, Reifel continued public service as chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission, Special Assistant for Indian Programs to the Director of the National Park Service, and Interim Commissioner of Indian Affairs under President Gerald Ford. He was active in civic organizations, particularly the Boy Scouts of America, receiving the Silver Antelope, Silver Beaver, Silver Buffalo, and Gray Wolf awards. He also served on the National Council of the Protestant Episcopal Church and as trustee and board president of the South Dakota Art Museum, where he established its first Native American collection.

Reifel received numerous honors, including the Department of the Interior’s Distinguished Service Award and honorary doctorates from South Dakota State University, the University of South Dakota, and Northern State College. After the death of his first wife, Alice, in 1972, he married Frances U. Colby. He continued his advocacy for Native American rights and education until his death from cancer on January 2, 1990. His legacy endures in his contributions to Native American policy, public service, and South Dakota’s cultural and political life.