
Early South Dakota Thrived by Being a Divorce Colony - Geekette
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/history-of-divorce
======
seibelj
There used to be many ways to escape and start over. There was no ID, or if
there was it was easy to forge. Debts, crimes, families, all of the good and
bad in your life could be wiped away in a new city with a new name. Sometimes
even free land would be granted just for moving to the middle of nowhere.

It is now impossible to escape your past, and this has both good and bad
parts. Obviously victims of crimes and lenders prefer it, but something has
been lost when there is no place to get a fresh start.

~~~
badrabbit
You can move to african or other 3rd world countries still. If you have cash
to start over,you can get about without using your old ID past the port of
entry. It may not be the western life you're used to but you can buy a
house,have a source of income (business or a job if you forge paperwork) and
even a family.

~~~
opportune
won't you stick out like a sore thumb if you have a different race (one
associated with being very wealthy) and an American accent / inability to
speak the native language? I honestly don't think this is feasible for your
typical white american. At worst maybe you manage to get a shitty no-
questions-asked local job and apartment but you're bound to raise questions
and in any actual low-cost area you are bound to be a perennially prime target
for getting mugged

~~~
turtlecloud
No you just end up being an English teacher which gets you paid upper middle
class wages just because you are white.

------
Tsubasachan
Fascinating. People think America is a Christian conservative country but its
much more complicated than that. It was the first Western country that made
divorce legal decades before Europe and there wasn't a stigma on remarrying.

------
mitchty
The Dollop did a fun episode on this: [http://thedollop.libsyn.com/332-the-
divorce-colony-live-at-s...](http://thedollop.libsyn.com/332-the-divorce-
colony-live-at-sxsw-whoratio-sanz)

As a North Dakotan, it gave me lots of fun things to prod my Southern cousins
with.

------
RickJWagner
Interesting. The original Cataract Hotel (before expansion) still stands, and
houses apartment dwellers.

"There is a bit of salve to soothe the loss of the Cataract Hotel. The
original 1871 building is still being used for apartments on Duluth Avenue,
just six blocks from its original location."

[https://www.argusleader.com/story/life/2014/06/01/looking-
ba...](https://www.argusleader.com/story/life/2014/06/01/looking-back-
cataract-hotel-gone-soon/9735931/)

------
Nevada-Smith
Meh. Reno, Nevada held the title of Divorce Capital of the World for six
decades. [http://renodivorcehistory.org/](http://renodivorcehistory.org/)

