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South Dakota Trails to the Past |
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South Dakota Trails to the Past |
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South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. South Dakota was carved out of the southern half of the Dakota Territory and admitted to the Union on November 2, 1889. Courtesy of the Wikipedia
State Motto: Under God, The People Rule
State Nickname: The Mount Rushmore State
State Slogan: Great Faces. Great Places
State Bird: Ring-Necked Pheasant
State Flower: American Pasque Flower
State Tree: Black Hills Spruce
State Animal: Coyote
State Fish: Walleye
State Insect: Western Honey Bee
State Grass: Western Wheat Grass
State Fossil: Triceratops
State Mineral: Rose Quartz
State Gemstone: Fairburn Agate
State Soil: Houdek Loam
State Drink: Milk
State Sport: Rodeo
State Dessert: Kuchen
State Song: Hail, South Dakota!
State Bread: Fry Bread
State Jewelry: Black Hills Gold
South Dakota is bisected by the Missouri River, dividing the state into two socioeconomically distinct halves, known to residents as "West River" and "East River". Fertile soil in the eastern part of the state is used to grow a variety of crops, while ranching is the predominant agricultural activity in the west. The Black Hills, a group of low pine-covered mountains, is located in the southwest part of the state. The area is of great religious importance to local American Indian tribes. Mount Rushmore is a major state tourist destination in the Black Hills.Courtesy of the Wikipedia
In 1803, the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory, an area that included most of South Dakota, from Napoleon Bonaparte, and President Thomas Jefferson organized a group commonly referred to as the "Lewis and Clark Expedition" to explore the newly acquired region. In 1817, an American fur trading post was set up at present-day Fort Pierre, beginning continuous American settlement of the area. In 1855, the U.S. Army bought Fort Pierre but abandoned it the following year in favor of Fort Randall to the south. Settlement by Americans and Europeans was by this time increasing rapidly, and in 1858 the Yankton Sioux signed the 1858 Treaty, ceding most of present-day eastern South Dakota to the United States.Courtesy of the Wikipedia
In 1861, the Dakota Territory was established by the United States government (this initially included North Dakota, South Dakota, and parts of Montana and Wyoming). Settlement of the area, mostly by people from the eastern United States as well as western and northern Europe, increased rapidly, especially after the completion of an eastern railway link to Yankton in 1873 and the discovery of gold in the Black Hills in 1874 during a military expedition led by George A. Custer. This expedition took place despite the fact that the western half of present day South Dakota had been granted to the Sioux in 1868 by the Treaty of Laramie as part of the Great Sioux Reservation. The Sioux declined to grant mining rights or land in the Black Hills, and war broke out after the U.S. failed to stop white miners and settlers from entering the region. The Sioux were eventually defeated and settled on reservations within South Dakota and North Dakota.Courtesy of the Wikipedia
An increasing population caused the Dakota Territory to be divided in half and a bill for statehood for both Dakotas titled the Enabling Act of 1889 was passed on February 22, 1889 during the Administration of Grover Cleveland. His successor, Benjamin Harrison, signed proclamations formally admitting both states on November 2, 1889. Harrison had the papers shuffled to obscure from him which he was signing first and the actual order went unrecorded.Courtesy of the Wikipedia
Pony Express, Post Roads and Stage Lines
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This page last updated 1 Dec 2011
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