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| Trip Planning | History of South Dakota | Interesting Facts | Parks & Monuments | Photos |
Trip Planning
We had a great three day stay and saw wild turkey, deer, Tule Elk and lots of birds! And especially interesting, the park with the fence that split and jumped almost 20 feet from the 1906 earthquake. The North American Plate is stationery but the Pacific Plate moved up to 20 feet north, pushing against the North American Plate as it moved north!
Virginia and I wanted to do a road trip again and perhaps go to Colorado or Utah, as there is so much to see and do.
We are also thinking of planning what to do if we go to South Dakota to see the parks and monuments like Mount Rushmore.
We always think about driving on a road trip but if we do go someday, we may have to fly and rent a car as it would be a very long drive from San Francisco!
This all depends on the situation as to traveling with the COVID-19 pandemic when flying or cruising on a ship.
The territory that would become South Dakota was added to the United States in 1803 as part of the Louisiana Purchase.The first permanent American settlement was established at Fort Pierre by the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1804.White settlement of the territory in the 1800sled to clashes with
the Sioux, as some of the land had been granted to the tribe by an earlier treaty.
Nevertheless, the territory was incorporated into the union on November 2, 1889, along with North Dakota. Due to a controversy over which state would be admitted to the union first, President Benjamin Harrison shuffled the bills and signed one at random, with the order going unrecorded, though North Dakota is traditionally listed first.
Today, a major part of South Dakota’s economy is fueled by tourism–visitors flock to the state to see Mt. Rushmore, which features 60-foot-tall sculptures of the faces of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln. Famous South Dakotans include newscaster Tom Brokaw, senator and vice president Hubert Humphrey and model-actress Cheryl Ladd.
In 1874, a military expedition into the Lakota-owned Black Hills led by General George Armstrong Custer confirmed the existence of gold. Although the mission violated the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie, which had guaranteed the Sioux rights to their sacred territory and established the Great Sioux Reservation, the area was flooded by thousands of miners, triggering the Black Hills War of 1876.
The original design for Mount Rushmore National Memorial included Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt from head to waist, but Sculptor Gutzon Borglum, who had begun work on the monument in 1927, died before the work was completed, in 1941, and Congress cut off funding as the nation became faced with World War II.
A memorial to the Lakota leader Crazy Horse in South Dakota’s Black Hills is designed to be the largest statue in the world when it is completed. Dedicated by sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski and Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear on June 3, 1948, the mountain carving will extend 563 feet high and 641 feet long. In June 1998, Crazy Horse’s 87-foot head was completed.
On February 27, 1973, members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) occupied a trading post at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, in protest over corruption within the Oglala Lakota’s Tribal Council and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). The Siege at Wounded Knee, as it became known, lasted 71 days and resulted in the deaths of two Indians following the daily gunfire between AIM members and federal officers.
Agriculture is South Dakota’s top industry, generating one-third of the state’s overall economic activity. Although its main crops are corn, soybeans, wheat and hay, South Dakota leads the nation in the production of bison and pheasants.
Badlands National Park covers 244,000 acres and contains one of the world’s richest fossil beds.
Standing proudly as the gateway to the American West, the state of South Dakota is filled with history, adventure, and a wide range of astounding landscapes. From the glacial lakes and prairies in the
northeast to the Black Hills and Badlands in the west, South Dakota proudly displays these scenic areas through a vast system of state and national parks.
Whatever kind of outdoor experience you're looking for, whether it's exploring underground at Wind Cave National Park, or learning about native cultures at Good Earth State Park, every experience is always backdropped by a rugged beauty unique to the state of South Dakota.
For ideas on the best places to visit for your next outdoor adventure, see our list of the top national and state parks in South Dakota.
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Day 3
Chuck's View from his Apartment!
The photo on the left was taken on our first road trip in June of 2020 to visit Virginia's sister's Black Heron Inn located near the town of Point Reyes Station north of San Francisco.
Maps and History of South Dakota
Interesting Facts about South Dakota
Interesting Facts about South Dakota
National Parks in South Dakota
National Parks in South Dakota
South Dakota Roads
Roadways around South Dakota
South Dakota Verbiage
Over View of the Day
South Dakota Verbiage
Over View of the Day
South Dakota Verbiage
Over View of the Day
Back to San Francisco
Over View of the Day
Created on: 2020.06.20
Updated on: 2020.06.22