United States takes control of the region as part of the Louisiana Purchase from France
1861
The region becomes part of the Dakota Territory
1889
The Dakota Territory splits into the two present states of the Dakotas, and South Dakota enters the Union as the 40th state
1890
Wounded Knee massacre
Present Day
Sioux Falls, South Dakota’s largest city and a chief port city on the Big Sioux river, is a center for meatpacking.
South Dakota - Facts
South Dakota was part of the Dakota Territory, which also included North Dakota. The Dakota Territory split in 1889 to form these present states
The Pine Ridge and Cheyenne River Indian reservations are some of the largest pieces of land dedicated to Native Americans in the US
Tourism is one of South Dakota’s leading industries. Tourists are attracted to the Black Hills, the highest mountains east of the Rockies. Atttractions such as Mount Rushmore, with the heads of presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln, is a popular attraction; other attractions include the Crazy Horse Monument, Harney Peak, the highest point east of the Rocky Mountains, and the Badlands in Badlands National Park
The country’s oldest gold mine, the Homestake Mine, is still in operation near the town of Lead
Gold was discovered in the Black Hills in the late 1800’s. The US army, led by George Armstrong Custer, fought the native Lakota people of the area for control over the territory. Led by chiefs Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, the Lakota Indians lost to the army. The battles led to the massacre of some 300 Native American men, women, and children at Wounded Knee.
Cattle and sheep herding are the main occupations of the area west of the Missouri river in South Dakota