This large portrait of South Dakota’s Secretary of Agriculture, Lewis N. Crill is in storage at the South Dakota Historical Society’s Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre, South Dakota. They allowed us to photograph it and granted us permission to display it here. No one really knows why it is in storage. Perhaps because it does have water damage. Frank Ashford painted eight South Dakota leaders (usually governors or justices) and six are on display in the Capitol’s portrait gallery on the first floor. The media and Crill’s headstone all refer to his name as “Louis” so it’s not known why the name plate here is incorrect. This portrait is about 36 inches tall and 32 inches wide. It is signed, F.C. Ashford. The exact year it was painted is not known but given the style of his signature, it could be around 1928. Mr. Crill died in 1929.