Stephen Riggs was born in Steubenville, Ohio in 1812. After graduating from Jefferson College he attended Western Theological Seminary. He also obtained his D.D. from Beloit College in Wisconsin.

In 1837 Stephen Riggs married Mary Ann Longley. They were commissioned that same year as missionaries to the Dakotas from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. The Riggs served at Lac qui Parle Mission, Minnesota, from 1837 to 1843. They moved to Traverse des Sioux in 1843 and established another mission, but were called back to Lac qui Parle in 1846. After the Mission there was destroyed by fire in 1854, the Riggs went to Yellow Medicine were a mission named Hazelwood was being established. In 1862 the Sioux Indians, feeling cheated by the Federal Government, retaliated on the community of missionaries in Hazelwood. Stephen Riggs acted as chaplain to the military force sent by the government to subdue the Indians, and to the prisoners they secured.

Stephen Riggs translated the Old and New Testament into the language of the Dakotas, as associated with Rev. Thomas S. Williamson (the first missionary at Lac qui Parle). Dr. Riggs also translated Pilgrim's Progress into the language of the Dakotas. He wrote two books, Gospel Among the Dakotas and Mary and I about his life as a missionary.