South Dakota - The Mount Rushmore State

About South Dakota

South Dakota, officially the State of South Dakota, is a landlocked state in the north-central United States. With approximately 910,000 residents spread across 77,116 square miles, South Dakota ranks as one of the least densely populated states. Pierre serves as the state capital (and is the second-least populous state capital in the nation), while Sioux Falls is the largest city and economic center.

South Dakota is divided by the Missouri River into two distinct regions. East River, comprising the eastern portion, consists of fertile prairies and farmland where most of the population lives. West River includes the Black Hills, Badlands, and vast ranch lands with a more rugged, western character. This geographic and cultural division creates two South Dakotas with different landscapes, economies, and identities united in one state. South Dakota's nickname "Great Faces, Great Places" references both Mount Rushmore's presidential faces and the state's diverse natural beauty.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial

Mount Rushmore, one of America's most iconic monuments, features 60-foot tall faces of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum conceived the monument in 1923 to commemorate American democracy and attract tourism to South Dakota. Work began in 1927 and continued until 1941, just before Borglum's death. Over 400 workers drilled, blasted, and carved the massive presidential portraits using dynamite and detailed hand work.

The monument attracts approximately 2 million visitors annually from around the world. The site includes the Avenue of Flags, representing all 50 states, territories, and commonwealths, the Sculptor's Studio where Borglum's tools and models are displayed, and the Presidential Trail offering closer views of the carving. Evening lighting ceremonies during summer feature ranger talks and the national anthem, creating patriotic moments that resonate with visitors. Mount Rushmore symbolizes American ideals, though it remains controversial—carved on sacred Lakota land promised to the tribe in treaties but taken after gold discovery.

The monument's location in the Black Hills, particularly the Six Grandfathers (as the Lakota called the mountain), holds deep spiritual significance for Native Americans. The Black Hills are the center of the Lakota universe, and placing presidential faces on sacred land represents cultural violation to many Native people. The proximity of Crazy Horse Memorial, discussed below, provides a Native American perspective on monumentalizing Black Hills granite.

Crazy Horse Memorial

Crazy Horse Memorial, located 17 miles from Mount Rushmore, is a mountain carving in progress honoring Crazy Horse, the Oglala Lakota warrior who fought at the Battle of Little Bighorn and resisted U.S. expansion into Lakota territory. Sculptor Korczak Zio\u0142kowski began carving in 1948 after being invited by Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear, who wanted a Native American monument to show "the white man that the red man has great heroes too." The memorial, when completed, will be the world's largest mountain carving—641 feet long and 563 feet high, dwarfing Mount Rushmore.

The monument depicts Crazy Horse on horseback pointing forward, responding to a taunter who asked "Where are your lands now?" with "My lands are where my dead lie buried." Only Crazy Horse's face (87 feet high) has been completed after 75 years of work. The project continues entirely through private funding, refusing federal or state money to maintain independence, relying on visitor admissions and donations. The memorial complex includes the Indian Museum of North America, cultural exhibits, and educational programs.

Crazy Horse Memorial remains controversial within Native American communities. Some tribal members oppose carving any part of the sacred Black Hills, regardless of subject. Crazy Horse never allowed his photograph to be taken, and some question whether sculpting his image contradicts his values. His descendants have not endorsed the project. Despite controversy, the memorial creates Native American employment, preserves Lakota history, and provides a counternarrative to Mount Rushmore, making it culturally significant though unfinished and debated.

Badlands National Park

Badlands National Park preserves 244,000 acres of dramatically eroded buttes, pinnacles, and spires rising from prairie grasslands. The Lakota called this area "mako sica" (bad lands) for the extreme temperatures, lack of water, and rugged terrain that made travel difficult. French trappers called it "les mauvaises terres à traverser" (bad lands to travel across). Despite the inhospitable name, the Badlands contain extraordinary beauty, rich fossil beds, and important paleontological sites.

The park protects one of the world's richest fossil beds from the Oligocene Epoch (23-35 million years ago), when saber-toothed cats, three-toed horses, and ancient rhinos roamed. The colorful layered formations expose millions of years of deposition, creating striped cliffs of red, tan, and white. Badlands Loop Road (Highway 240) provides spectacular scenic driving with pullouts for photography. The park also protects the largest protected mixed grass prairie in the United States, with 64,000 acres of wilderness.

The South Unit of the park is co-managed with the Oglala Sioux Tribe and includes part of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The White River Visitor Center, operated by the tribe, tells Lakota history and culture. The Badlands region played a tragic role in Native American history—Wounded Knee, site of the 1890 massacre where U.S. troops killed over 250 Lakota men, women, and children, lies just south of the park on the Pine Ridge Reservation, marking the end of the Indian Wars.

Black Hills & Deadwood

The Black Hills, rising abruptly from surrounding plains to elevations over 7,000 feet, appear black from a distance due to dense ponderosa pine forests covering the mountains. This ancient mountain range (1.8 billion years old) is sacred to the Lakota, Cheyenne, and other Plains tribes. The 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie guaranteed the Black Hills to the Sioux "for as long as the grass shall grow," but when George Armstrong Custer's 1874 expedition discovered gold, fortune seekers flooded in, violating the treaty. The U.S. government took the Black Hills illegally, a grievance unresolved to this day.

Deadwood, founded during the 1876 gold rush, is one of America's most famous frontier towns. Wild Bill Hickok was shot and killed in Deadwood while playing poker (holding "dead man's hand"—black aces and eights). Calamity Jane, Seth Bullock, and other legendary figures lived in Deadwood during its lawless heyday when gold fever drew thousands. The entire town is a National Historic Landmark, preserving Victorian architecture and frontier character while offering legal gambling, attracting tourists, and serving as a filming location for the HBO series "Deadwood."

The Black Hills offer year-round outdoor recreation including hiking, mountain biking, skiing, rock climbing, and cave exploration. Custer State Park, South Dakota's first and largest state park, protects 71,000 acres and one of the world's largest publicly owned bison herds (approximately 1,300 animals). Wind Cave National Park and Jewel Cave National Monument preserve extensive cave systems. The Black Hills Needles Highway, with its granite spires and narrow tunnels, is one of America's most scenic drives.

Native American Heritage & Reservations

South Dakota has nine Native American reservations, home to Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota peoples (collectively called Sioux). The state has the third-highest Native American population by percentage (approximately 9%), and Native heritage profoundly influences South Dakota's history, culture, and present. The Great Sioux Reservation, established by the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie, originally encompassed all of present-day South Dakota west of the Missouri River plus parts of Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, and North Dakota.

The U.S. systematically violated treaties, taking land through agreements made under duress or without proper tribal consent. The illegal seizure of the Black Hills after gold discovery remains unresolved. In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in *United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians* that the taking violated the Fifth Amendment, awarding $105 million (now over $1 billion with interest). The Sioux tribes have refused the money, maintaining "The Black Hills are not for sale." This stands as the longest-running legal dispute in American history.

Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, home to the Oglala Lakota, is the eighth-largest reservation in the United States and one of the poorest communities in America, with unemployment over 80% and life expectancy among the lowest in the Western Hemisphere. Poverty, health disparities, and historical trauma affect many South Dakota reservations. However, tribes maintain rich cultural traditions through pow wows, language preservation, arts, and sovereignty exercises. The 1973 Wounded Knee occupation by the American Indian Movement (AIM) drew national attention to treaty rights and federal policy, marking a crucial moment in Native American activism.

Sturgis Motorcycle Rally

The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, held annually in August in the small Black Hills town of Sturgis, is the world's largest motorcycle rally. Founded in 1938 by Clarence "Pappy" Hoel and the Jackpine Gypsies motorcycle club, the rally began with 19 riders racing on a half-mile track. Today, the rally attracts over 500,000 motorcyclists (sometimes up to 750,000) from around the world—transforming Sturgis (normal population 7,000) into a temporary city with massive economic impact.

The 10-day rally features motorcycle races, stunt shows, concerts, bike shows, vendors, and social gatherings. Participants cruise scenic Black Hills roads, including the Needles Highway and Iron Mountain Road with its pigtail bridges and tunnels framing Mount Rushmore. The rally generates hundreds of millions of dollars for South Dakota's economy, making it a significant tourism event. Motorcyclists display an incredible variety of bikes from Harley-Davidsons to custom choppers, vintage bikes, and high-performance machines.

The rally epitomizes motorcycle culture—freedom of the open road, camaraderie, and American individualism. It attracts diverse participants from leather-clad bikers to families, celebrities, and professionals who ride for pleasure. The rally's economic importance to South Dakota creates unusual alliances—conservative, rural communities welcoming counter-culture bikers because of tourism dollars. Despite occasional controversies over noise, accidents, and public behavior, the Sturgis Rally remains a cultural institution celebrating motorcycles, the Black Hills, and open roads.

Major Cities

Counties

South Dakota has 66 counties. Major counties include:

Interesting Facts

Neighboring States