Frank M. Ziebach

Frank M. Ziebach (also known by his full name of Francis Marion Ziebach) was a noted political figure in the Dakota Territory during the territorial period from 1861 to 1889. He was a pioneer newspaperman, founding a number of newspapers in the Iowa and Dakota Territories, including the Yankton "Weekly Dakotan" (also referred to as the "Weekly Dakotian") in 1861, which is still published today as the Yankton "Press and Dakotan". He was known as the "squatter governor" of the Dakota Territory. Ziebach County, South Dakota was created in 1911, and is named for him.

Frank M. Ziebach was born in 1830 in Pennsylvania, and died in 1929 in Yankton, South Dakota at the age of 98. His life spanned the period from the presidency of Andrew Jackson to that of Herbert Hoover.

Frank M. Ziebach was born On November 23, 1830 in Union County, Pennsylvania, near Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. When a boy he entered the printer's trade. In 1853 he went to Madison, Wisconsin, but in 1855 returned home and founded the "Lewisburg Argus".

He married Elizabeth Fisher, of Danville, Pa, and over the course of their married life they had four sons and two daughters.

Frank M. Ziebach moved from Pennsylvania to Iowa and in August 1856 he began publication of the "Western Independent" with J. N. Cummings in Sargeants Bluff, eight miles south of Sioux City, Iowa. In 1858 Frank bought out his partner, and moved the equipment to Sioux City, where he commenced publication on July 22, 1858 as the weekly "Sioux City Register". The "Register" declared itself to be a "Democratic" newspaper. In 1859, Frank sold an interest to William Freney and the "Register" was consolidated with the "Sioux City Eagle". The partnership of Ziebach and Freney continued to publish the "Register" until 1862, but in 1861 Frank transferred his interests to Yankton, South Dakota.

In 1861, Frank M. Ziebach freighted his printing outfit from Sioux City, Iowa to Yankton by team and wagon. He and his partner from Sioux City, William Freney, formed the Dakotian Printing Company in Yankton, and printed the first edition of the "Weekly Dakotian" at Yankton on June 6, 1861. Frank Ziebach was the editor and did a good portion of the practical work besides. He was a master printer and a good journalist.

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