No name is more associated with Yankton and its history than that of Gurney. The family has played a pivotal role on almost every stage of the city's story -- economic, community and political.

Deloss Butler Gurney is the patriarchal center of this tale, and as such ranks as one of the city's most influential individuals in the first half of the 20th Century.

His story begins in Iowa, where he was born to Charles Walter and Eliza Gurney. Charles Gurney was a Civil War veteran who chose to pursue his interest in the seed and nursery business. The family moved to Nebraska and established Hesperian Nurseries in Dixon County, Neb. There, the elder Gurney began the work of perfecting his "model orchards." Charles then decided to send his son, known by now as D.B., up to the river town of Yankton in 1892 to sow the seeds, so to speak, of Hesperian Nurseries.

D.B. acquired a house for storage at First and Pine streets, then set up a greenhouse, a flower shop, a confectionery store and restaurant. The business, which became known as C.W. Gurney and Son, enjoyed early success, but drought soon threatened the venture. So too did an 1895 fire that destroyed the storage house. But the business hung on, and when C.W. began to pull back from the day-to-day operation, it became known as the Gurney Seed & Nursery Company in 1906.

After his father's death in 1913, D.B. took firm control and it soon prospered.

In the 1920s, the Gurney firm began to expand its interests. At the urging of D.B.'s son, Chan -- the future U.S. senator -- Gurney purchased Radio Station WNAX and turned it into one of the most powerful media outlets in the Midwest. The station became known as "The Voice of the House of Gurney," thus promoting and fortifying the seed and nursery empire. Gurney also engineered a virtual mall in the huge Gurney's building -- a concept far ahead of its time. The company also dabbled in fuel and, later, it was active in the home front war effort during World War II.

But Gurney is also remembered for his civic contributions -- most notably, the one that sits on the south edge of the city.

Yanktonians had long dreamed of a permanent bridge to cross the rampaging and unpredictable Missouri River. In 1919, the city formed the Meridian Highway Bridge Company, charged with the expressed purpose of raising funds for a permanent structure. Gurney was named the company's president.

Gurney turned his part-time duty into a full-time effort. He prepared pledge quotas from prominent city businesses. At one meeting, when some of the businessmen squawked over the funds being asked of them, Gurney pulled out a pair of boxing gloves and offered to settle any arguments in rather physical fashion. The businessmen relented, and the $155,000 in start-up money was raised.

For the next four years, Gurney spearheaded the struggle to keep the contributions coming in. Enough money was finally raised to begin steel and erection work in 1922.

On Oct. 11, 1924, the $1.3 million toll bridge was finally opened for public use. About 125,000 people were on hand for the grand event, including the governors of South Dakota and Nebraska. Gurney, as president of the Meridian Bridge Highway Company and the motivating spirit behind the project, dedicated the bridge. He continued to serve as president until 1939.

Gurney died Nov. 24, 1943 -- 10 years before Yankton would celebrate the retirement of the Meridian Bridge debt. He didn't live to see that toll lifted, but he did live to see the river conquered.