The Sioux (or Dakota) Indians who lived originally lived in the territory which is now South Dakota included three main tribes, the Teton Dakota, the Yankton Dakota, and the Santee Dakota, These tribes migrated to South Dakota from Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin in the early 1700's in order to escape pressure from enemy tribes, and to find more fertile farmland. In the 1740's French fur trappers claimed the region for the King of France. It was not until after the American purchase of the Louisiana Territory in 1803 however, that any serious exploration of the land took place. Lewis and Clark held a counsel with Teton Sioux Indians near the site of present-day Pierre and visited three Arikara villages near Mobridge in 1804, before they paddled their boats up the Missouri to North Dakota where they spent the winter of 1804 and 1805. On their return, Lewis and Clark noted the abundant beaver of the country, and their reports ushered in nearly four decades profitable trapping and trading. The four-decade fur boom saw American trappers paddling up the Missouri River, while pelts were shipped back down the Missouri River to St. Louis, the capital of American trapping activities.
More serious exploration of the region followed with adventure of Jebediah Strong Smith in 1823. While wandering through the Badlands, two of his men became so dehydrated that Smith had to bury them up to their necks in moist sand to keep them from dying of thirst. As his party pushed west of what is now Wind Cave National Park, Smith was attacked by a grizzly bear, and his scalp was half torn off. While his frightened companions feared they would have to leave him to die, Jeb Smith instructed them to sew his scalp back in place. They did such a rough job that Smith wore his hair long for the est of his life in order to conceal the frightful scars. While Smith's adventures were real, they engendered many unrealistic legends and tall tales, spurring the St. Louis Press, for example, to claim that tree branches in South Dakota's petrified forest held small birds that were also turned to stone.
Until the 1850's, the only permanent white inhabitants of South Dakota were fur trappers and soldiers of the heartiest stock. After the demand for furs waned, trappers left the area, but permanent settlements were established at Sioux Falls, Yankton, and Vermillion. In 1861 when the Civil War began, the Dakota Territory was organized. It included present-day North and South Dakota and much of Wyoming and Montana. The territorial capital was Yankton. Immigrants from cold Northern European countries like Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Czechoslovakia swarmed into new territory via newly established stagecoach roads.
The Homestead Act of 1862 allowed settlers to freely claim plots up to 160 acres in South Dakota, and thousands of Americans and European immigrants took advantage of the opportunity. The development of the railroads brought even more homesteaders to the region during what was known as the "Great Dakota Boom." In 1874, Colonel George Custer discovered gold in the Black Hills of South Dakota, and by the 1880's the population of the Dakotas had increased by 278 percent. In 1875, the federal government had tried to convince the Sioux Indians, who had once before been forced to move, to sell their land there. When the Indians refused to do so, the government ordered all of the Native Americans living outside the reservation to return by January 1876 or else they would be sent back by force. Among the Indians who refused to follow the government order were two tribes led by Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull. When Custer marched against them on June 25, 1876, they killed him and his entire command of more than 200 men at the Battle of Little Big Horn in Montana Territory. The majority of the Indians who took part in the famous battle were Sioux Warriors from present-day South Dakota.
Just as population and industry began to blossom in the region, a grasshopper plague of biblical proportions struck the plains of eastern South Dakota and Nebraska. The grasshoppers tormented the cattle and horses and ate the leaves off vegetables and the wood off pitchforks, rakes, and hoes. They flew in swarms so thick that they could choke even the ablest pioneer. Local lore tells that a Catholic priest named Father Pierre Boucher decided to appeal to a higher authority to help save the crops and erected giant crosses in each field, and the grasshoppers disappeared that very same day. Population in the state continued to climb despite the setback, and in 1889 both North and South Dakota were admitted to the Union.
The stateΓÇÖs Native Americans had been placed on reservations, but many of their leaders, including Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, refused to recognize the treaties. On December 29, 1890 the last major armed conflict between the Native Americans and the whites took place at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. But this was not to be the whites' last encounter with angry Native Americans. In 1973, 200 armed Sioux Indians took over Wounded Knee as a protest against the government, demanding more rights for the American Indians.
During the Depression, South Dakota experienced a serious drought which had a crushing effect on the state's agricultural economy. Defense installations helped the economy to recover during the World Wars however, and the Black Hills began to provide the state with rich mineral resources such as silver, gold, uranium, mica, and feldspar. Today South Dakota ranks only 45th in terms of population, even though it is the 16th largest state in the country.
Visiting the State
Aberdeen, known as Storybook Land, features a fairy-tale land of castles and knights in armor.
The Badlands National Monument, near Wall in southwest South Dakota, is a scenic region of rugged beauty. The multi-colored layers of this terrain represent 65 million years of geologic history. Approximately 500 buffalo roam the Sage Creek Wilderness Area of the Badlands National Park.
The Black Hills, named for the dark pines that appear black from afar, cover nearly 1.25 million acres and feature Wind Cave National Park, Jewel Cave (the fourth longest cave in the world), Custer State Park, Mount Rushmore, and two national forests. Its highest peak is Harvey Peak (7,242 ft.)
Fort Sisseton, built in 1864, is one of the best-preserved cavalry outposts in the country.
Indian Graveyard, at the Wounded Knee Battlefield.
Lemmon features 100 pyramids made from petrified wood, a castle, a museum, and a grotto.
Mitchell features the Corn Palace and the Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village which dates from the 10th century.
Mount Moriah Cemetery, in the quintessential Wild West town of Deadwood, features the remains of Wild Bill Hickok.
Mount Rushmore National Memorial, near Rapid City in the Black Hills, features the carved busts of U.S. Presidents Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Theodore Roosevelt.
Rapid City's internationally acclaimed Museum of Geology houses fossil skeletons of giant prehistoric marine reptiles and Badlands fossils. Bones are still being dug up in the state, including the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton ever found.
Natural sites: in total, South Dakota features six national wildlife refuges, two sanctuaries specifically established for more than 1700 mustangs, three national grasslands, and 41 state parks and recreation areas.
Pierre, the capital, is located in the center of the state on the Missouri River; site of the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Building, the capitol, the Cultural Heritage Center, and nearby Farm Island State Park.
Sioux Falls, the largest city, was originally settled in 1857, abandoned after Sioux Indian attacks, then resettled as a military post in 1865.
In the town of Sturgis, thousands of Harley Davidson riders gather for a week of festivities and fun every August.
Famous South Dakotans
Tom Brokaw NBC Nightly News Anchorman. Born in South Dakota.
Crazy Horse (d. 1877) Indian chief of the Oglala Sioux who defeated General George Crook at the Rosebud River, South Dakota, and assisted Chief Sitting Bull in the massacre of Custer's forces at the Little Big Horn.
Mary Hart, co-host of television's "Entertainment Tonight."
"Wild Bill" Hickok (b. James Butler Hickok, Ill., 1837-1876) Famed marksman, stagecoach driver, and sharpshooter who toured the country with Buffalo Bill.
Was murered while playing poker in a saloon in Deadwood, South Carolina.
George McGovern (b. 1922) U.S. senator, U.S. representative from South Dakota, and Democratic Presidential Candidate who ran and lost against the Republican incumbent, Richard Nixon, in 1972.
Billy Mills Native American Olympic gold medal winner for the 10,000 meter run. Born in South Dakota.
Fascinating Fact
Mount Rushmore was started in 1925 by 56-year-old sculptor Gutzon Borglum, the son of Danish immigrants and a student of Auguste Rodin. It took 14 years for Borglum to complete his granite-sculpted masterpiece which is visible for a distance of 60 miles. Granite is said to be so hard that it does not weather more than one inch every 5,000 years.
State Flag Of South Dakota
South Dakota adopted a state flag in 1963. Its design features the state seal against a sunburst.
