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.
[2][5] In 1861, Frank M. Ziebach freighted his printing outfit from Sioux City, Iowa to Yankton by team and wagon.
However, after the elections brought the Republicans to power in the territorial legislature in the fall of 1861, the newspaper switched sides.
[8] These political machinations had their reward, and during the second session of the territorial legislature Ziebach and Kingsbury retained the position of "Public Printer".
[9] The paper passed through a number of different ownership entities,[7] and in the following decades other area newspapers become consolidated with the Dakotian so that it eventually became known as the Press and Dakotan and is still published under that name today in Yankton, South Dakota.
On March 2, 1861, Congress passed the Organic Act that brought the Dakota Territory into being, with Yankton as its capitol.
[13][14] Frank M. Ziebach became known by the tongue in cheek title of Commander in Chief of the Army at Fort Yankton.
Frank M. Ziebach attended the Democratic Party Territorial Convention in 1874, and in 1882, serving each time on the influential "Committee on Resolutions".
[19] Though not chosen as the Democratic candidate for territorial delegate to the U.S. Congress, in each convention he was nominated for the position and received a substantial number of votes.
[21] The mock legislature sessions continued sporadically in later years, and Frank M. Ziebach was often called to preside.
In 1884 Grover Cleveland, a Democrat was elected President of the United States, and in 1886, it fell to him to appoint a governor for the Dakota Territory.
Frank M. Ziebach was the overwhelming choice of 90% of the rank and file Democrats in the territory, and extensive petitions were prepared and sent to the President.
Frank M. Ziebach went to Washington, and met all the right people, and the Democratic faithful and the candidate confidently expected that he would be appointed governor.
In 1919 he was elected a "Life Member" of the South Dakota State Historical Society because, "His long residence in the State... (and) his activities on behalf of the growth and development of South Dakota, from earliest territorial days to the present time make him one of the marked figures on the list of our most prominent citizens.
"[23] Frank M. Ziebach died at Wessington Springs, South Dakota on September 20, 1929, at almost 99 years of age.
However, in 1861 the prospect of secession by southern states after the 1860 presidential election removed this obstacle to political change.
Lame duck Democrats in Congress and defeated president James Buchanan claimed a final legacy by extending legal authority to create territorial governments.