The Black Hills of South Dakota

The Black Hills from Harney Peak. Photo courtesy Navin75 & Wikimedia Commons.

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Black Hills National Forest. Photo courtesy Visit Rapid City.

From the four faces carved on Mount Rushmore and the Cathedral Spires of Custer State Park, from the otherworldly Badlands in the east to Devils Tower in the west – the Black Hills of South Dakota are home to many truly monumental places.

With over five million acres of forest and mountain lands, the Black Hills offer rich western history, abundant natural beauty and exciting adventure.

The Black Hills rise from the Great Plains in western South Dakota and extend into Wyoming. Black Elk Peak (formerly known as Harney Peak), which rises to 7,244 feet, is the range’s highest summit and is the highest point in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains.

The Black Hills encompass the Black Hills National Forest. The name “Black Hills” is a translation of the Lakota Pahá Sápa. The hills were so-called because of their dark appearance from a distance, as they were covered in trees.

Gold and the Black Hills War

Native Americans have a long history in the Black Hills. After conquering the Cheyenne in 1776, the Lakota took the territory of the Black Hills, which became central to their culture. In 1868, the U.S. government signed the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, establishing the Great Sioux Reservation west of the Missouri River, and exempting the Black Hills from all white settlement forever.

However, when settlers discovered gold in 1874, as a result of George Armstrong Custer’s Black Hills Expedition, miners swept into the area in a gold rush.

The U.S. government took back the Black Hills and in 1889 reassigned the Lakota, against their wishes, to five smaller reservations in western South Dakota, selling off 9 million acres of their former land. Unlike most of South Dakota, the Black Hills were settled by European Americans primarily from population centers to the west and south of the region, as miners flocked there from earlier gold boom locations in Colorado and Montana.

Bison in Custer State Park. Photo courtesy Visit Rapid City.

The U.S. government took back the Black Hills and in 1889 reassigned the Lakota, against their wishes, to five smaller reservations in western South Dakota, selling off 9 million acres of their former land. Unlike most of South Dakota, the Black Hills were settled by European Americans primarily from population centers to the west and south of the region, as miners flocked there from earlier gold boom locations in Colorado and Montana.

The conflict over control of the region sparked the Black Hills War (1876), also known as the Great Sioux War, the last major Indian War on the Great Plains.

Following the defeat of the Lakota and their Cheyenne and Arapaho allies in 1876, the United States took control of the Black Hills. The Lakota never accepted the validity of the U.S. appropriation because, according to the Lakota, the U.S. government broke every single treaty prior to the takeover.

The Lakota have continued to try to reclaim the prop

Downtown Rapid City, South Dakota. Photos courtesy Visit Rapid City.

erty for sacred purposes and filed a suit against the federal government. Many Lakota believe the government still has yet to uphold their bargain of the broken treaties.

Illegal Takeover

On July 23, 1980, in United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians, the Supreme Court ruled that the Black Hills were illegally taken by the federal government and ordered remuneration of the initial offering price plus interest, nearly $106 million. The Lakota refused the settlement, as they wanted the Black Hills returned to them. The money remains in an interest-bearing account, which, as of 2015, amounts to over $1.2 billion, but the Lakota still refuse to take the money. They believe that accepting the settlement would allow the U.S. government to justify taking ownership of the Black Hills.

The money remains in an interest-bearing account, which, as of 2015, amounts to over $1.2 billion, but the Lakota still refuse to take the money. They believe that accepting the settlement would allow the U.S. government to justify taking ownership of the Black Hills.

Growth of Tourism

As the economy of the Black Hills has shifted from natural resources (mining and timber) since the late 20th century, the hospitality and tourism industries have grown to take its place. Locals tend to divide the Black Hills into two areas: “The Southern Hills” and “The

Hiking in the Black Hills.

Northern Hills”. The Southern Hills is home to Mount Rushmore, Wind Cave National Park, Jewel Cave National Monument, Black Elk Peak (the highest point in the United States east of the Rockies, formerly and still more commonly known as Harney Peak), Custer State Park (the largest state park in South Dakota), the Crazy Horse Memorial, and the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, the world’s largest mammoth research facility.

Attractions in the Northern Hills include Spearfish Canyon, historic Deadwood, and the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, held each August. The first Rally was held on August 14, 1938 and the 80th Rally will be held this year. The event attacks more than 1 million bikers to the Black Hills. Devils Tower National Monument, located in the Wyoming Black Hills, is an important nearby attraction and was the United States first national monument.

Deemed “impossible” to construct by its critics, Needles Highway—a National Scenic Byway—was completed in 1922 and includes 14 miles of sharp turns, low tunnels and impressive granite spires. The road lies within the 73,000 acre Custer State Park, just 30 miles south of Rapid City.

Consisting of Iron Mountain Road and the Needles Highway, the Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway was created by Governor Norbeck to showcase the scenery without destroying the land or wildlife.

Today, the major city in the Black Hills is Rapid City, with an incorporated population of almost 70,000 and a metropolitan population of 125,000. It serves a market area covering much of five states: North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Montana.

In addition to tourism and mining (including coal, specialty minerals, and the now declining gold mining), the Black Hills economy includes ranching (sheep and cattle, primarily, with bison becoming more common), timber, Ellsworth Air Force Base, and some manufacturing, including Black Hills gold jewelry, cement, electronics, cabinetry, guns and ammunition.

For more information, visit: https://www.blackhillsbadlands.com https://www.visitrapidcity.com The Needles

Needles Highway