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Over 11,000 years of
human history have been recorded in southwestern
South
Dakota's
Badlands
National Park. Consisting of more than 244,000 acres of sharply
eroded buttes, pinnacles and spires blended with the largest,
protected mixed grass prairie in the United States,
South
Dakota's
Badlands
are filled with legends,
Indian
Wars, gold mining, and
ghost
towns.
For centuries the
Badlands
have been met with a mix of dread and fascination, beginning with
nomadic tribes who migrated into the area more than 10,000 years ago.
Using the area as their hunting grounds, the first known inhabitants
were the paleo
Indians, the mammoth hunters who were present at the end of the
ice age. These were followed by the
Arikara
(or Ree)
Indians in about 1500. The
Cheyenne,
Kiowa,
Pawnee,
Crow and
Sioux (or
Lakota)
migrated to the area around the 1700’s. Following the
buffalo that roamed the grasslands of the great plains, they
survived the occasional harsh weather and difficult terrain by relying
on the
bison for their almost every need. About a century and a
half ago, the Great
Sioux
Nation had displaced the other tribes from the northern prairie,
commanding more than 80 million acres, the center of which is
present-day
South
Dakota .
The
Lakota
called the place "mako sica," and early French trappers called it "les
mauvaises terres a traverser," both meaning "bad lands." Those very
same French trappers would be the first of many Europeans who would,
in time, supplant the
Sioux, as
the they were soon followed by soldiers, miners, cattle farmers and
homesteaders.
At the close of the
18th century, the dominant
Sioux were
at the height of their power, with numerous interrelated bands,
comprised of three major tribes – the Yankton, Santee and Teton. Exceptional horsemen, the
Sioux were
also skilled hunters and superior warriors. When, in the 1700’s,
French-Canadian explorers began to come to the area, they were first
met with friendliness as the native tribes traded with the Europeans.
When
Lewis and
Clark made their trek in 1803, they too, met with little
resistance when they passed through
South
Dakota .
However, as more and more pioneers began
to encroach upon these lands, skirmishes began to occur between the
Indians and the new white settlers. Into this midst came
homesteaders, building farms and small towns, as well as some of Wild
West's most rough-and-ready characters, such as Jebediah Smith, Jim
Bridger, Hugh Glass and Thomas Fitzpatrick.
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Establishing the Great
Sioux
Reservations, the treaty forever ceded all lands from the Missouri River
west to the Bighorn Mountains of western Wyoming to the tribes.
Additional provisions also called for agencies who would distribute food,
clothing and money to the
Sioux. The
treaty prohibited settlers or miners from entering the Hills without
authorization. In return, the
Lakota agreed to cease hostilities against pioneers and people
building the railroads. However, like most treaties made with the
American
Indians, it too, would soon be broken.
By 1870 stories began to
circulate in Eastern
South Dakota about gold and other wealth to be had in the
Black Hills.
Though the citizens of Yankton,
South Dakota pressed for an expedition, the Army and the Department of
the Interior refused, trying to discourage any entry into the Hills. However, settlers continued to enter the
Lakota reservation and renewed
Indian raids on nearby settlements caused
General Phillip Sheridan to propose an expedition to investigate the
possibility of establishing a fort in the
Black Hills
in 1874. Led by
Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, it would be the first
official white expedition into the
Black Hills
ostensibly to survey the uncharted region. Though the purpose was to
find a suitable location for the fort, for unexplained reasons, a
geologist and miners were included in the party. While the soldiers
searched for a location for the fort, the miners occupied their time
searching for gold and on June 30, 1874, the precious metal was
discovered.
As the presence of gold
leaked out, a flood of prospectors swarmed into the region, while federal
troops futilely attempted to cordon off the Hills to protect tribal
property boundaries. Negotiators in Washington, fearing war, encouraged
the Sioux to
sell the land, but repeated offers and talks failed.
Afterwards, in 1875, the
federal government ordered all tribal members to return to their
reservations. Though harsh winter weather delayed delivery of the message
to many natives, the government designated those who did not comply with
the order as "hostile." In the spring, U.S. Army troops were assembled to
round up all hostiles and return them to their reservations by force, if
necessary.
In response, Hunkpapa
Sioux leader and medicine man
Sitting Bull summoned 10 tribes of the
Sioux, plus the Arapaho and Northern
Cheyenne,
to his camp in
Montana Territory to discuss their options. By this time, the
gold rush was full blown and it was estimated that approximately 10,000
white settlers populated the Hills. Mining camps were established
near
Custer, Hill City and
Deadwood. As old claims played out, new ones were found and towns died
or were born almost overnight.
On June 25, 1876, in the
valley of the
Little
Bighorn River,
Sitting Bull and his 4,000 warriors were encamped when
Custer and his troops came upon them. In an infamous decision,
Custer elected to divide his command and mount an attack. Hopelessly outnumbered,
Custer and his entire force of more than 200 soldiers were killed in
less than twenty minutes. Congress reacted quickly and began
punishing even the peaceful
Sioux. Rations of food and clothing were cut dramatically and
eventually a new treaty was exacted which ceded tribal land in the
Black Hills
to the federal government.
By the 1880’s,
homesteaders were busy farming, gold was being harvested from the
Black Hills,
riverboats ran up and down the rivers, and railroad tracks were being
built to the many new settlements. By 1889, the population of
South Dakota
was large enough to warrant statehood.
The winter of 1890 found
the once proud
Sioux, stripped of much of their lands, living on reservations and
participating in the
Ghost Dance, a spiritual movement that came about in the late 1880s
when
Native Americans needed something to give them hope. However,
Bureau of Indian Affairs agents were becoming alarmed, claiming that the
Lakota had developed a militaristic approach to the dance and began
making "ghost shirts" they thought would protect them from bullets. The
BIA agent in charge of the
Lakotas eventually sent the tribal police to arrest
Sitting Bull, a leader respected among the
Lakotas, to force him to stop the dance. In the struggle that
followed,
Sitting Bull was killed, along with a number of policemen.
Following the killing of
Sitting Bull, the United States sent the Seventh Cavalry to "disarm
the
Lakota and take control." During the events that followed, now known
as the Wounded Knee Massacre on December 29, 1890, 457 U.S. soldiers
opened fire upon the
Sioux, killing more than 200 of them, including their leader, Chief
Big Foot. The massacre at Wounded Knee was the last major clash between
American
Indians and the U.S. military during the days of the Old West.
Wounded Knee is not
within the boundaries of
Badlands
National Park, but dislocated approximately 45 miles south of the park
on Pine Ridge Reservation.
In 1939, the
Badlands
National Monument was established to protect its fossil resources and
its stunning geological scenery. The area was redesignated as a
National Park in 1978. In addition to its rich human history and
spectacular scenic views, the park today provides numerous hiking trails,
ranger programs, a paleontological dig active in the summer, an abundance
of wildlife, campgrounds, and two visitor’s centers.
The Stronghold Unit,
comprised of lands on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, is owned by the
Oglala Sioux
and managed by the National Park Service under an agreement with the
Tribe. This area includes sites of the 1890’s
Ghost Dances
as well as a Gunnery Range utilized by the United States Air Force during
gunnery range during World War II.
The
Badlands
National Park is located about one hour east of Rapid City on I-90 at
exits 110 and 131.
Contact Information:
Badlands National Park
P.O. Box 6
25216 Ben Reifel Road
Interior,
South Dakota
57750
605-433-5361
Kathy Weiser/Legends
of America, © May, 2006 |
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