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Wednesday February 22, 2012
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Guide and Directory for North Dakota & South Dakota |
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The Black Hills are a small, isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, USA. Set off from the main body of the Rocky Mountains, the region is something of a geological anomaly—accurately described as an "island of trees in a sea of grass". The Black Hills encompass the Black Hills National Forest and are home to the tallest peaks of continental North America east of the Rockies.
The Black Hills of South Dakota is home to Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Monument, and famous western towns like Spearfish, Sturgis, and Deadwood South Dakota. Natural wonders abound, including Badlands National Park, Wind Cave National Park, and Cathedral Spires. Custer State Park and the Black Hills National Forest provide year-round recreation for residents and visitors alike!
The name "Black Hills" is a translation of the Lakota Pahá Sápa. The hills were so-called because of their appearance from a distance, covered in trees.
Native Americans have a long history in the Black Hills. When gold was discovered in 1874, a gold rush swept the area prompting the US government to re-assign the local Native Americans
to other reservations in western South Dakota. Unlike the rest of the Dakotas, the Black Hills
were settled primarily from population centers to the west and south of the region, as miners
flocked there from earlier gold boom locations in Colorado and Montana. |
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