Jim Peterson

Jim Peterson is a native of Ponca, Nebraska. (Six generations of his family are buried in the Ponca Cemetery.) He served in the U.S. Army Air Force in WWII. He graduated from the University Of South Dakota School Of Law in 1951 and was admitted to practice in South Dakota and Nebraska. (He is now inactive in both bar associations.) He married Jeanne Wallace in 1952. A daughter, Kim, and a son, James S., were born to this union. Kim died at the age of three years and six months. James S. resides in Vermillion. After working in private business for seven years, Peterson was called by the University of South Dakota to fill the position of Professor of Business Law at the university’s School of Business. During the thirty-odd years he taught at USD he taught both undergraduate and graduate courses. He was elected by the faculty four times to serve as Chairman of the University Senate, and was chosen by the USD Student Association as a “Teacher of The Year.” Peterson joined the Foundation in 1986 and was elected to the Board Of Directors in 1993. He served as President of the Foundation for the 1997-1998 term and has remained active as an ex-officio member of the board. He is also a member of the Sergeant Floyd Tri-State Chapter of the LCTHF. (“Last Chance To Have Fun’!) During his term as president, the first full-time executive director was employed to run the Great Falls office. (Thanks to Dick Williams and the National Park Service.) A problem arose relating to whether the Fort or the City of Leavenworth was to sponsor the 2000 meeting of the Foundation. The Fort had agreed to sponsor the 2000 meeting at our 1995 meeting at Charlottesville meeting, but reneged on its promise. The LCTHF withdrew its offer to hold its 2000 meeting at the Fort. Bismarck, on relatively short notice, agreed to host that meeting. (Thanks to David Borlaug.) Peterson is continuing a lengthy association with the Missouri River. He has traveled the Missouri by boat from Three Forks to the Mississippi and has served on a variety of federal,

state, and local river-related groups. During his years as a member and officer of the Foundation he assisted Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan in the filming of much of the Missouri River footage used in their Lewis and Clark Expedition documentary. He also assisted the BBC in a documentary about famous expeditions. He continues to present “slide shows” of the relatively wild reaches of the Missouri in his home area, including Lewis and Clark sites and the problems they had in their struggle to cope with the relentless river. By Jim Peterson, July 15, 2011