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South Dakota is a Midwestern state in the United States of America. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota (Sioux) American Indian tribes. South Dakota was admitted to the Union on November 2, 1889. North Dakota was admitted on the same day. It is probably best known as the location of Mount Rushmore.
South Dakota is bordered to the north by North Dakota; to the south by Nebraska; to the east by Iowa and Minnesota; and to the west by Wyoming and Montana. It is one of the six states of the Frontier Strip.
The Missouri River runs through the central part of South Dakota. To the east of the river lie low hills and lakes formed by glaciers. Fertile farm country covers the area. To the west of the river the land consists of deep canyons and rolling plains.
History and Heritage
South Dakota's history reads like an adventure story. It's a tale of Plains Indians, explorers and pioneers. And it features names like Crazy Horse, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Lewis and Clark, and Wild Bill Hickok. When you visit South Dakota, you'll find many opportunities to experience first-hand our rich history and heritage.
Plains Indians
South Dakota is the home of the Dakota, Lakota and Nakota tribes, which make up the Sioux Nation.
From rolling plains to majestic mountains, a diverse landscape decorates South Dakota. These magical lands also hold a diverse population. More than 62,000 American Indians live in South Dakota. Most of them are Dakota, Lakota or Nakota people, also known collectively as Sioux.
This nation traces its roots to the "Oceti Sakowin" or "Seven Council Fires." Each of the allied bands within this nation spoke one of three different dialects. The Santee spoke Dakota; the Yankton, Nakota; and the Teton, Lakota.
Tradition holds the forces of nature as holy and emphasizes the importance of balance among all things in the universe. This balance remains an instrumental piece of life, as to the cardinal virtues of "woksape" (wisdom), "woohitika" (bravery), "wowacintanka" (fortitude) and "wacantognaka" (generosity).
Experience a culture as vast, vibrant and enduring as the land itself.
Lewis and Clark in South Dakota
President Thomas Jefferson became the principal author of one of history's most famous adventures when he sent a hardy crew, led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, up the Missouri River to explore America's newest frontier. The expedition's goals were ambitious, a northwest passage to the Pacific Ocean, trade with American Indians and scientific discovery. Captains Lewis and Clark assembled their crew, and the Corps of Discovery began its more than 8,000 mile trek on May 14, 1804, at the mouth of the Missouri River near St. Louis.
Lewis and Clark spent the late-summer and early fall of 1804 exploring present-day South Dakota. Their return trip, in 1806, led them back through the area. The captains' journal entries for this region described lush vegetation and wildlife, not to mention unusual sights like barking squirrels, burning bluffs and immense herds of buffalo. The journals also tell of first-ever councils with Sioux and Arikara tribes. Follow in the footsteps of the Corps of Discovery along the Missouri River. Walk where they walked, see what they saw and feel what they felt as the sometimes wild and isolated trail is revealed. Now, 200 years later, you too, can experience the same rugged adventure along South Dakota's Lewis and Clark Trail.
The expedition made significant discoveries for the animal kingdom. Here's a look at the "ark" of critters the party collected while in present-day South Dakota. Watch for these animals on our river bluffs and open prairies as you trace the explorers' route.
Places to Go
Mount Rushmore
This epic sculpture features the faces of four exalted American presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. South Dakota's Black Hills provide the backdrop for Mount Rushmore, the world's greatest mountain carving. These 60-foot high faces, 500 feet up, look out over a setting of pine, spruce, birch, and aspen in the clear western air.
Sculptor Gutzon Borglum began drilling into the 5,725-foot mountain in 1927. Creation of the Shrine of Democracy took 14 years and cost a mere $1 million, though it's now deemed priceless.
The Avenue of Flags leads from the Concession Building to the Grandview Terrace. The flags of the 56 states and territories fly below the memorial. Here, the avenue provides direct and easy access to the Grandview Terrace and Presidential Trail, a half-mile walking trail that offers spectacular views of the mountain sculpture.
The memorial offers interpretive programs, exhibits and a film at the Lincoln Borglum Museum. Rangers provide interpretive walks and talks, including the Evening Sculpture Lighting Ceremony. The lighting program takes place at approximately 9 p.m. nightly (May-September) in the park's amphitheater. The amphitheater is fully accessible via the Avenue of Flags to elevators at the museum.
Crazy Horse Memorial
"My fellow chiefs and I would like the white man to know the red man has great heroes, too." These are the words Chief Henry Standing Bear wrote to sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski in 1939 urging him to visit the Black Hills and carve a mountain sculpture honoring American Indians. Fifty-five years after Ziolkowski began carving Crazy Horse Memorial, his family continues the dream and work progresses on the world's largest mountain sculpture. When finished, Crazy Horse will stand 641 feet long and 563 feet high.
Black Hills National Forest
Sky-piercing granite peaks and forested mountains dominate the skyline of western South Dakota. America's oldest mountains rose above the surrounding flatlands 60 million years ago, about the time the dinosaurs disappeared, and even after eons of erosion their granite peaks still soar as high as 7,242 feet to the dizzying heights of Harney Peak. The Lakota Sioux named the area Paha Sapa or Black Hills because a thick forest of pine and spruce trees cover the slopes making them appear black from a distance.
Black Hills National Forest stretches for 1.2 million acres, offering outdoor adventure like hiking, biking and camping amidst stunning scenery. Find grassy mountain meadows, towering granite peaks, deep canyons, cascading trout streams and clear, clean lakes.
Badlands National Park
A striking moon-like landscape rises abruptly from South Dakota's western, prairie hills. Chiseled spires, steep canyons, low-slung buttes and jagged ridges were created from millions of years of ruthless ravages by wind and water. When they first encountered these unusual formations, the Lakota aptly called them Mako Sica or bad land. Badlands National Park covers 244,000 acres and contains one of the world's richest deposits of fossils from the Oligocene epoch. The Badlands were once a lush, marshy plain that was home to three-toed horses, giant pigs and saber-tooth cats. Approximately 120,000 acres of the Badlands lie on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Badlands National Park is located off I-90 in southwestern South Dakota.
Black Hills Caves
Of all the caves in the United States, none contain the vast variety of rare formations found in Black Hills caves. These caves display more boxwork than any other in the world. They also form some of the largest concentrations of passageways in the world. Eight Black Hills caves are open to the public. Two are part of the National Park Service: Jewel Cave National Monument and Wind Cave National Park.
Sorry, no tips were foundSouth Dakota is bordered to the north by North Dakota; to the south by Nebraska; to the east by Iowa and Minnesota; and to the west by Wyoming and Montana. It is one of the six states of the Frontier Strip.
The Missouri River runs through the central part of South Dakota. To the east of the river lie low hills and lakes formed by glaciers. Fertile farm country covers the area. To the west of the river the land consists of deep canyons and rolling plains.
History and Heritage
South Dakota's history reads like an adventure story. It's a tale of Plains Indians, explorers and pioneers. And it features names like Crazy Horse, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Lewis and Clark, and Wild Bill Hickok. When you visit South Dakota, you'll find many opportunities to experience first-hand our rich history and heritage.
Plains Indians
South Dakota is the home of the Dakota, Lakota and Nakota tribes, which make up the Sioux Nation.
From rolling plains to majestic mountains, a diverse landscape decorates South Dakota. These magical lands also hold a diverse population. More than 62,000 American Indians live in South Dakota. Most of them are Dakota, Lakota or Nakota people, also known collectively as Sioux.
This nation traces its roots to the "Oceti Sakowin" or "Seven Council Fires." Each of the allied bands within this nation spoke one of three different dialects. The Santee spoke Dakota; the Yankton, Nakota; and the Teton, Lakota.
Tradition holds the forces of nature as holy and emphasizes the importance of balance among all things in the universe. This balance remains an instrumental piece of life, as to the cardinal virtues of "woksape" (wisdom), "woohitika" (bravery), "wowacintanka" (fortitude) and "wacantognaka" (generosity).
Experience a culture as vast, vibrant and enduring as the land itself.
Lewis and Clark in South Dakota
President Thomas Jefferson became the principal author of one of history's most famous adventures when he sent a hardy crew, led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, up the Missouri River to explore America's newest frontier. The expedition's goals were ambitious, a northwest passage to the Pacific Ocean, trade with American Indians and scientific discovery. Captains Lewis and Clark assembled their crew, and the Corps of Discovery began its more than 8,000 mile trek on May 14, 1804, at the mouth of the Missouri River near St. Louis.
Lewis and Clark spent the late-summer and early fall of 1804 exploring present-day South Dakota. Their return trip, in 1806, led them back through the area. The captains' journal entries for this region described lush vegetation and wildlife, not to mention unusual sights like barking squirrels, burning bluffs and immense herds of buffalo. The journals also tell of first-ever councils with Sioux and Arikara tribes. Follow in the footsteps of the Corps of Discovery along the Missouri River. Walk where they walked, see what they saw and feel what they felt as the sometimes wild and isolated trail is revealed. Now, 200 years later, you too, can experience the same rugged adventure along South Dakota's Lewis and Clark Trail.
The expedition made significant discoveries for the animal kingdom. Here's a look at the "ark" of critters the party collected while in present-day South Dakota. Watch for these animals on our river bluffs and open prairies as you trace the explorers' route.
Places to Go
Mount Rushmore
This epic sculpture features the faces of four exalted American presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. South Dakota's Black Hills provide the backdrop for Mount Rushmore, the world's greatest mountain carving. These 60-foot high faces, 500 feet up, look out over a setting of pine, spruce, birch, and aspen in the clear western air.
Sculptor Gutzon Borglum began drilling into the 5,725-foot mountain in 1927. Creation of the Shrine of Democracy took 14 years and cost a mere $1 million, though it's now deemed priceless.
The Avenue of Flags leads from the Concession Building to the Grandview Terrace. The flags of the 56 states and territories fly below the memorial. Here, the avenue provides direct and easy access to the Grandview Terrace and Presidential Trail, a half-mile walking trail that offers spectacular views of the mountain sculpture.
The memorial offers interpretive programs, exhibits and a film at the Lincoln Borglum Museum. Rangers provide interpretive walks and talks, including the Evening Sculpture Lighting Ceremony. The lighting program takes place at approximately 9 p.m. nightly (May-September) in the park's amphitheater. The amphitheater is fully accessible via the Avenue of Flags to elevators at the museum.
Crazy Horse Memorial
"My fellow chiefs and I would like the white man to know the red man has great heroes, too." These are the words Chief Henry Standing Bear wrote to sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski in 1939 urging him to visit the Black Hills and carve a mountain sculpture honoring American Indians. Fifty-five years after Ziolkowski began carving Crazy Horse Memorial, his family continues the dream and work progresses on the world's largest mountain sculpture. When finished, Crazy Horse will stand 641 feet long and 563 feet high.
Black Hills National Forest
Sky-piercing granite peaks and forested mountains dominate the skyline of western South Dakota. America's oldest mountains rose above the surrounding flatlands 60 million years ago, about the time the dinosaurs disappeared, and even after eons of erosion their granite peaks still soar as high as 7,242 feet to the dizzying heights of Harney Peak. The Lakota Sioux named the area Paha Sapa or Black Hills because a thick forest of pine and spruce trees cover the slopes making them appear black from a distance.
Black Hills National Forest stretches for 1.2 million acres, offering outdoor adventure like hiking, biking and camping amidst stunning scenery. Find grassy mountain meadows, towering granite peaks, deep canyons, cascading trout streams and clear, clean lakes.
Badlands National Park
A striking moon-like landscape rises abruptly from South Dakota's western, prairie hills. Chiseled spires, steep canyons, low-slung buttes and jagged ridges were created from millions of years of ruthless ravages by wind and water. When they first encountered these unusual formations, the Lakota aptly called them Mako Sica or bad land. Badlands National Park covers 244,000 acres and contains one of the world's richest deposits of fossils from the Oligocene epoch. The Badlands were once a lush, marshy plain that was home to three-toed horses, giant pigs and saber-tooth cats. Approximately 120,000 acres of the Badlands lie on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Badlands National Park is located off I-90 in southwestern South Dakota.
Black Hills Caves
Of all the caves in the United States, none contain the vast variety of rare formations found in Black Hills caves. These caves display more boxwork than any other in the world. They also form some of the largest concentrations of passageways in the world. Eight Black Hills caves are open to the public. Two are part of the National Park Service: Jewel Cave National Monument and Wind Cave National Park.
Last edited by Anna (2:36, 20 August 2006)
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