Richard Franklin Pettigrew (July 23, 1848 - October 5, 1926) was a Delegate from Dakota Territory to the United States House of Representatives and a United States Senator from the state of South Dakota. He was born in Ludlow, Windsor County, Vermont, and moved with his parents to Wisconsin in 1854. He studied law in Iowa, and entered the law department of the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1867.
Pettigrew moved to Dakota in 1869 to work with a United States deputy surveyor. He settled in Sioux Falls, where he practiced law and engaged in surveying and real estate. He was a member of the territorial House of Representatives and served in the Territorial council. He was elected as a Republican to the House, serving from March 4, 1881 - March 3, 1883. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1882, but returned to the territorial council in 1885, serving until the admission of South Dakota as a State into the Union, when he was elected to the United States Senate. He served from November 2, 1889 to March 3, 1901.
He left the Republican party on June 17, 1896 to join the "Silver Republicans". He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1900. He then engaged in the practice of law in New York City, but returned to Sioux Falls and was active in politics and business until his death in that city. He was intered in Woodlawn Cemetery in Sioux Falls.
