 Beadle County, named for Brigadier General William Henry Harrison Beadle, was created by the Dakota Territory Legislature in 1879, and was organized in 1880 with the appointment of three county commissioners by Governor Nehemiah G. Ordway.The first town within Beadle County was Cavour, but Huron was named the county seat when the county commissioners first met there in July 1880.The James River flows south-southeastward through the eastern central part of Beadle County.