Black Hills

This article is about the region in South Dakota. For other places, see Black Hills (disambiguation).
Black Hills
The Needles, Black Hills
Highest point
PeakBlack Elk Peak
Elevation7,244 ft (2,208 m) NAVD 88[1][2]
ListingIsolated summits of the United States
Coordinates43°51′57″N 103°31′57″W / 43.865847725°N 103.532431997°W / 43.865847725; -103.532431997[1]
Dimensions
Area5,000 sq mi (13,000 km2)
Naming
Native name
Geography
Map of the USA highlighting the Black Hills in South Dakota
Map of the USA highlighting the Black Hills in South Dakota
Black Hills
CountryUnited States
StateSouth Dakota and Wyoming
Geology
OrogeniesTrans-Hudson and Laramide
Rock age(s)Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic and Tertiary
Rock type(s)Shale, sandstone, limestone, slate, quartzite and granite
Black Hills Badlands National Park
Southwestern South Dakota
Sculptures
Geologic and natural history
Mountains
Caves
Forests and wildernesses
Lakes
Scenic byways
Historic sites

The Black Hills is an isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States.[3] Black Elk Peak, which rises to 7,242 feet (2,207 m), is the range's highest summit.[4] The name of the range in Lakota is Pahá Sápa.[5] It encompasses the Black Hills National Forest. It formed as a result of an upwarping of ancient rock, after which the removal of the higher portions of the mountain mass by stream erosion produced the present-day topography. The hills are so called because of their dark appearance from a distance, as they are covered in evergreen trees.[6][7][8]

American Indian tribes have a long history in the Black Hills and consider it a sacred site.[9] After conquering the Cheyenne in 1776, the Lakota took the territory of the Black Hills, which became central to their culture. In 1868, the federal US 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 non-indigenous settlement “forever”; however, when American settlers discovered gold here as a result of George Armstrong Custer's Black Hills Expedition in 1874, a gold rush swept in miners. The US government conquered the Black Hills and forcibly relocated the Lakota, following the Great Sioux War of 1876, to five smaller reservations in western South Dakota, selling off 9 million acres (36,000 km2) of their former land. Unlike most of South Dakota, the Black Hills were settled primarily by European Americans from population centers to the west and south of the region, as miners flocked there from earlier gold boom locations in Colorado and Montana.[10]

As the economy of the Black Hills has shifted away 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 Northern Hills." The Southern Hills is home to Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Wind Cave National Park, Jewel Cave National Monument, Black Elk Peak (the highest point in the United States east of the Rockies), 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 75th Rally in 2015 saw more than one million bikers visit 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.[11]

  1. ^ a b "Harney". NGS Data Sheet. National Geodetic Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, United States Department of Commerce. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  2. ^ "Topographic map of Black Elk Peak". opentopomap.org. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  3. ^ "Black Hills". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  4. ^ "Black Elk". NGS Data Sheet. National Geodetic Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, United States Department of Commerce. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
  5. ^ Clavin, Tom; Drury, Bob (2013). The Heart of Everything That Is: The Untold Story of Red Cloud, An American Legend. Simon & Schuster. p. 4. ISBN 9781451654684. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  6. ^ "Black Hills National Forest — Frequently Asked Questions". United States Forest Service.
  7. ^ "Black Hills | South Dakota, Wyoming, Map, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 2024-04-29. Retrieved 2024-05-28.
  8. ^ "Geography and Geology of the Black Hills". Moon Travel Guides. 2023-04-20. Retrieved 2024-05-28.
  9. ^ "Black Hills – Stories of the Sacred". Colorado College. Archived from the original on 28 November 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  10. ^ "Black Hills – Stories of the Sacred". Indigenous Religious Traditions. 2012-11-18. Archived from the original on 2020-05-17. Retrieved 2020-04-26.
  11. ^ Mattison, Ray H. (1955). "The First Fifty Years". National Park Service. Retrieved January 19, 2012.