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94 unusual facts about South Dakota


2011 Missouri River Flood

All six major dams along the Missouri River released record amounts of water to prevent overflow which led to flooding threatening several towns and cities along the river from Montana to Missouri; in particular Bismarck, North Dakota; Pierre, South Dakota; Dakota Dunes, South Dakota; South Sioux City, Nebraska, Sioux City, Iowa; Omaha, Nebraska; Kansas City, Missouri; Jefferson City, Missouri, as well as putting countless smaller towns at risk.

A. C. Townley

In the late 1940s, shortly after his wife and foster daughter died, he lived near New Effington, South Dakota, with a faith-healing group.

Alexis LeVan

LeVan graduated from Roosevelt High School in 2004 and is currently attending the University of South Dakota.

This was her first attempt at the title, and she was crowned by outgoing titleholder Jessica Fjerstad of Madison.

Amidon, North Dakota

There are two other unincorporated county seats that are smaller: Mentone, Texas (population 19), the county seat of Loving County, and Gann Valley, South Dakota (population 14), the county seat of Buffalo County, South Dakota.

Anton Marius Andersen

The Andersens remained in Blair until 1922, when they moved to Beresford, South Dakota.

Aurora, South Dakota

However, if it wishes to compete at the district tournament, it must compete against its intra-district 1 opponents, which are Brookings, Aberdeen, Watertown, and Huron.

Be-Shure

Amanda later reaches Claire to tell her that a plane is ready for her flight to Rapid City, South Dakota to see her son Tyler.

Beraunite

It is found as an alteration product of triohylite at the Big Chief and Hesnard mines, Keystone, Pennington County, South Dakota, New Hampshire.

Bill Oddie Back in the USA

While crossing the Great Plains of Nebraska and South Dakota, Bill witnesses one of the great wildlife spectacles - millions of migrating cranes.

Brad Soderberg

Competing as an independent, Lindenwood finished the season with a 26-3 record and was invited to the NCAA's Division II Transitional Tournament in Spearfish, South Dakota.

Brookings County, South Dakota

Medary was the first county seat for eight years from 1871-1879

Brooklyn Township, Lincoln County, South Dakota

Brooklyn Township is a township in Lincoln County, South Dakota, United States, in the Sioux Falls metropolitan area.

Bushnell, South Dakota

In 1881 South Dakota College was founded in nearby Brookings, and Bushnell's economy began to decline as the population shifted to the new college town.

Casey Tibbs

Tibbs was born to John F. Tibbs (1886-1948) and Florence M. Tibbs (1889-1974) in rural Orton northwest of Fort Pierre in Stanley County in central South Dakota.

Charles J. Ross

Ross married actress Ada Towne (known professionally as Mabel Fenton) on June 9, 1887, during a stopover at Deadwood, South Dakota amidst a vaudeville tour of the American West.

Cheyenne River

It is joined by Rapid Creek, passes Wasta and is joined by the Belle Fourche River in eastern Meade County, after which it flows ENE along the southern boundary of the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation.

Clarence Gonstead

Clarence Gonstead was born in Willow Lake, South Dakota on July 23, 1898, the son of Carl and Sarah Gonstead.

Cresbard, South Dakota

The services these businesses represent can now be found in neighboring towns, such as Aberdeen, South Dakota which is 40 miles away.

Daniel Boone May

Daniel Boone May (1852 – 1878), known as Boone May, was an American gunfighter, of the Black Hills of South Dakota.

De Smet

De Smet, South Dakota, a town in Kingsbury County, South Dakota, United States

Debra Alden

Her father, Tony Fedderson, had once operated a clothing store in the town of Beresford, South Dakota.

Deuel County

Deuel County, South Dakota: named for Jacob S. Deuel, a pioneer and sawmill operator in the Dakota Territory

Diane Gaidry

Diane Adair Gaidry (born 11 October 1964 on Ellsworth Air Force Base, in Rapid City, South Dakota, United States) is an American film and theatre actress.

Doland

Doland, South Dakota, a city in Spink County, South Dakota, United States

Fairmount and Veblen Railway

The line was extended southward the following year, from Veblen to Roslyn, and then eastward to Grenville.

The railroad was established in 1913 with the help and financial backing of Julius Rosholt, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and that year constructed trackage from Fairmount, North Dakota southward into South Dakota to Rosholt, then westward to Claire City and Veblen.

Fort Pierre

One of two trading post forts with this name that were located in what is now South Dakota.

Francis Joseph Galbraith

He was born on December 9, 1913 in Timber Lake, Dewey County, South Dakota and worked as cowboy and rodeo rider on his father's ranch near the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation until he attended the University of Puget Sound receiving a B.A. in History in 1939 and a B.A. in librarianship from the University of Washington in 1940.

Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

The FLDS Church is estimated to have 6,000 - 10,000 members residing in the sister cities of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona; Eldorado, Texas; Westcliffe, Colorado; Mancos, Colorado; Creston and Bountiful, British Columbia; and Pringle, South Dakota.

Gene Roth

Born in Redfield, South Dakota, Roth was born Eugene Oliver Edgar Stutenroth.

Harold K. Schneider

Harold K. (Hal) Schneider (1925–1987), a seminal figure in economic anthropology, was born in 1925, in Aberdeen, South Dakota.

Hazel Forbes

Hazel Forbes (November 26, 1910 – November 19, 1980) was an American dancer and actress from Gettysburg, South Dakota.

Hecla, South Dakota

Liberty Township is located to west of the City of Hecla and includes a portion of South Dakota political township-128-N by range-61-W west of the James River in addition to township-128-N by range-62-W.

Herreid

Herreid, South Dakota, a city in Campbell County, South Dakota, United States

Hillsboro, North Dakota

The city was then renamed "Hillsboro" in 1881 after it was discovered that there was already a "Hill City" in South Dakota.

Irene Bedard

Her first role was as Mary Crow Dog in the television production Lakota Woman: Siege at Wounded Knee, which depicted the 1970s standoff between police and Native Americans at Wounded Knee, South Dakota.

Iron Nation

It differed from the others signed there in that it set up a reservation 20 miles long and 10 back from the river between White River and Fort Lookout.

Iron Shell

Thirteen years later, at Fort Pierre, under Little Thunder, Iron Shell was made a sub-chief of the Brules.

J. Franklin Bell

Although the regiment participated in the battle of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, Bell was on personal leave and did not participate.

J. Irving Burns

Then he became Manager of the Knickerbocker Subscription Agency, and President of the Spring Creek and Rockerville Water and Mining Company of South Dakota.

Jack Towers

live in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and, when Burris learned Ellington would be in Fargo in 1940, he asked the William Morris Agency, Ellington's agent, for permission to record the session.

James Abourezk

Abourezk was born in Wood, South Dakota, the son of Lena (née Mickel), a homemaker, and Charles Abourezk, an owner of two general stores.

James Edward Zimmerman

James Edward Zimmerman (February 19, 1923 – August 4, 1999) was born in Lantry, South Dakota.

Jean Pierre Chouteau

Pierre Cadet Chouteau (1789–1865), founder of posts in Upper Missouri River, including Fort Pierre, South Dakota; and in Chouteau County, Montana

John A. Kirkwood

In 1920, Kirkwood returned to Slim Buttes, near present-day Reva, South Dakota, and helped place a monument commemorating the battle.

John J. Kleiner

He engaged in the real estate business and stock raising at Pierre, South Dakota, in 1887.

John Tautges

Tautges started his career in Rapid City, South Dakota at a small radio station and was the public address announcer for the Detroit Red Wings.

Jonathan May

Jonathan would learn to play the cello at a young age, and after the family moved, he would spend his formative years in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Kelsey, Alberta

In 1902, Mr. and Mrs. Moses Kelsey and their son Earl, arrived in the area from Milbank, South Dakota, and filed on the S.E. 4-45-18.

Larry D. Shippy

Shippy was born to Orris D. and Ruby M. Shippy in Burke, the seat of rural Gregory County, in southern South Dakota.

Lela Cole Kitson

Lela Margaret Cole Kitson (May 25, 1891 in Hill City, South Dakota – November 25, 1970 in El Paso, Texas) was a freelance writer of primarily western romances from 1920 to 1955.

Liberty Township, Brown County, South Dakota

Liberty Township is a civil township in Brown County, South Dakota, United States.

LoneStarCon 1

In a three-way race, Austin (393 votes) easily bested Detroit, Michigan (132 votes) and Columbus, Ohio (69 votes) as well as a single write-in vote for Highmore, South Dakota.

Longstanton

Churches modelled after its architecture have been built as far away as Philadelphia (see Church of St. James the Less) and South Dakota.

Lowell Lundstrom

He began his work as a minister on April 7, 1957 at Sisseton, South Dakota and married Connie seven days later.

Madame Moustache

Moving from place to place, she was reported to work in Bodie, California; Deadwood, South Dakota; Fort Benton, Montana; Pioche, Nevada; Tombstone, Arizona; and San Francisco, California, among other places.

Meadow, South Dakota

Along with Glad Valley, South Dakota, Meadow is one of the nearest communities to that point.

Minnesota State Highway 117

Minnesota State Highway 117 is a short highway in west central Minnesota, which runs from Roberts County Road 19 at the South Dakota state line and continues east to its eastern terminus at its intersection with State Highway 27 near Wheaton.

Mission Ridge

Mission Ridge, South Dakota, an unincorporated community in South Dakota, United States

Moreau River

It rises in two forks in northwestern South Dakota, in the Badlands of Harding County.

Moses K. Armstrong

Armstrong later moved to Yankton, then a small Native American village, in Dakota Territory, when Minnesota Territory was admitted as a State.

North Dakota Highway 1804

Highway 1804 begins at the border between North Dakota and South Dakota near Pollock, South Dakota, and continues uninterrupted along the north east side of the Missouri River through Emmons, Burleigh, McLean, Mountrail, and Williams counties.

Northwestern Bell

In 1976, Northwestern Bell sold access lines in the Midland, Philip, Martin, White River, Milesville, and Hayes exchanges to Golden West Telephone, a small telephone cooperative in South Dakota.

Norwegian Dakotan

The towns of Roslyn and Pierpont were originally almost 100 percent Norwegian, but these are very small cities.

Pat Conway

Among the episodes are "Gunslinger from Galeville" (the series premiere), "A Bullet for an Editor", "Guns of Silver", "Postmarked for Death", "The Epitaph", "Geronimo", "The Outcasts" (about a religious sect), "The Lady Gambler", "The Black Marshal from Deadwood", and "Doc Holliday in Durango".

Riley Gardner

Gardner was born in Ree Heights, South Dakota, and was the son of Hugh Gardner and Ruth Speicher Gardner.

Robert and Marjorie Rawlins

He spent some time working for the local highway department, before studying physics at the University of South Dakota (USD), Vermillion.

Robert was the son of Robert E. Rawlins of Pierre, South Dakota, schools superintendent (after whom the town's Rawlins Municipal Library is named).

Rockerville, South Dakota

This severe local economic damage today is sometimes referred to in South Dakota as "Rockerville Syndrome" and has had a significant bearing in construction of new bypasses and highway improvements as recently as 1998 and 2001, in and around such small towns as Hill City and Corson.

Ron Beitelspacher

Ron Beitelspacher (born January 25, 1945, in Hoven, South Dakota) is a former Democratic Idaho state senator.

Rosemond Tuve

She was born November 29, 1903, in Canton, South Dakota, the daughter of Anthony G. Tuve, the president of Augustana College, and Ida Larsen Tuve, instructor of music there.

Rowland Crawford

He was born October 28, 1902 in Deadwood, South Dakota and attended the University of Southern California from 1920 to 1923, where he was a member of the first architecture class.

Samuel Medary

One of the first townsites in Dakota Territory is named after Medary.

Seth Bullock

In August 1876, he and Star decided an untapped market for hardware existed in the gold rush town of Deadwood, South Dakota.

Shane Drury

Drury was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and was reared with his two brothers, Chad and Jesse, in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Sheridan Lake

Sheridan Lake is accessible via U.S. Route 385 north from Hill City, South Dakota and Three Forks or south from Lead and Deadwood, or a scenic route via Sheridan Lake Drive (a paved county highway) from Rapid City.

Sid Grauman

He formed the Black Hills Exploration Corporation in a gold mining effort near Deadwood, South Dakota.

Sigurd Anderson

In order to secure funds to continue his education, he worked as a farm hand and taught rural school in Kingsbury County, South Dakota.

He twice served as Day County state's attorney and as an assistant attorney general in the state capital, Pierre.

Sioux Falls Spitfire

The team played its home games at McEneaney Field on the grounds of O’Gorman High School in the city of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

South Dakota v. Opperman

Opperman's car was found illegally parked on a street in Vermillion, South Dakota, in the early morning hours of December 10, 1973.

Spencer, South Dakota

It began as a large, dust-cloaked tornado NW of Farmer, South Dakota in Hanson County, concurrent with the demise of the "Fulton" tornado.

Stays in Mexico

The song features a man named Steve, who was an insurance salesman from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and a woman named Gina, who was a first-grade school teacher from Phoenix, Arizona.

The Ultimate Fighter 3

Noah Inhofer decides to quit the show and return to Yankton, South Dakota after receiving a letter informing him that his girlfriend back home believes he has cheated on her.

These Happy Golden Years

These Happy Golden Years, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, was published in 1943 and is the eighth of nine books written in her Little House series, also known as The Laura Years. This book is based on Laura's adolescence near De Smet, South Dakota, in the late 19th century, and focuses on Laura's short time as a teacher and her courtship with her future husband, Almanzo Wilder.

Todd Worrell

He currently owns and operates Firesteel Creek Hunting Lodge in Plankinton, South Dakota.

Trial by Fire: Greatest and Latest

The song "The House of the Rising Sun" on this album came about originally because BTO played at an outdoor concert in Sturgis, South Dakota for a biker event with Eric Burdon of The Animals also on the bill.

U.S. Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches

Mennonite Brethren were among the migration of Mennonites from Russia to North America between 1874 and 1880, settling mainly in Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, and South Dakota.

United States Senate election in South Dakota, 2008

Recent examples include $248,000 for the Dahl Arts Center in Rapid City, $11 million for Ellsworth Air Base, $400,000 for Rosebud Sioux Reservation, and $37 million for Mni Wiconi Rural Water System.

Vince Lloyd

Lloyd was born in Beresford, South Dakota and after graduating from Yankton College in 1940 started his career with a number of local radio stations around the Midwest.

Volga, South Dakota

Three communities are included in the Sioux Valley school system: Bruce, Sinai, and Volga.

Wecota, South Dakota

Wecota was founded in 1907 as a station stop on a branch line of the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway built that year between Conde and LeBeau, South Dakota.

Yankton Sioux Tribe

The tribe owns and operates the Fort Randall Casino and Hotel in Pickstown, South Dakota, as well as Lucky Lounge and Four Directions Restaurant.


2009–10 Great West Conference men's basketball season

The league's coaches voted South Dakota the inaugural preaseason #1 and South Dakota senior forward Tyler Cain the preseason player of the year.

Arctic shrew

Arctic shrews are native to North America, ranging from the Arctic Circle in the north and as far south as the northern United States, into North and South Dakota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota.

Astor Expedition

The party traveled west with relative ease through South Dakota and Wyoming, and accumulated 6,000 pounds of dried buffalo meat northwest of present-day Pinedale.

Carex inops

It can be a dominant species in Rocky Mountain meadows, woodlands in Nebraska, the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming, and the plains of Saskatchewan.

Custer, South Dakota

Custer is home to the Bedrock City campground, which attracts visitors to its construction of the fictional town of Bedrock from the animated television series The Flintstones.

Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad

In April 2004, DM&E was awarded the power of eminent domain in South Dakota by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in Pierre, South Dakota.

Dewey–Stassen debate

He then connected the Communist Party of the United States directly to Moscow, and used this to defend his support of the Nixon-Mundt Bill, introduced to the Senate by Senators Karl Earl Mundt of South Dakota and Richard Nixon of California, which he believed would effectively outlaw the Communist Party.

Ellery Valdimir Wilcox

After studying at the Illinois College of Photography at Effingham, Illinois, and working across a large portion of the central United States roughly bounded by South Dakota, Missouri, and Ohio, he settled in 1912 in Scotland, South Dakota, where he maintained a studio until 1947.

Faith, South Dakota

Faith is located in the West River region of South Dakota, that part of the state located west of the Missouri River, and in the Northern Great Plains, on a ridge dividing the Cheyenne River to the south and the Grand River and its major tributary, the Moreau River to the north (both are tributaries of the Missouri).

Hannibal Hamlin

Hamlin County, South Dakota, is named in his honor, as are Hamlin, Kansas Hamlin, New York, Hamlin, West Virginia, and both Hamlin Township and Hamlin Lake, Mason County, Michigan.

Jack Sepkoski

His Ph.D. was on the field geology and paleontology of the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Karl E. Mundt

In 1936, Mundt was the Republican candidate for the House of Representatives in South Dakota's 1st congressional district, losing in a Democratic year to Fred H. Hildebrandt.

Lake Harney

There are several landmarks that are named after him in his honor; such as Harney Peak in South Dakota as well as Camp Harney in Zapata, Texas.

Loaf 'N Jug

As of 2008, there were 175 Loaf 'N Jug stores, primarily in Colorado and Wyoming with additional stores in Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Yorkton, Saskatchewan.

Mitch Krebs

From February 2007 to November 2008 Krebs served as press secretary for South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds.

Robert H. Johnson

In 1972, he was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Miami Beach, Florida, which nominated the U.S. Senator George S. McGovern of South Dakota for the U.S. presidency.

Ruse of war

The use of the American flag flown on the RMS Lusitania while crossing through the Irish Sea to avoid attack by German submarines during the First World War was criticized in debate in the United States House of Representatives by Republican Eben Martin of South Dakota, who stated that "the United States cannot be made a party to a ruse of war where the national colors are involved".

Salix serissima

These include four in the Black Hills of South Dakota (two on the Black Hills National Forest); one in the Sherman Mountains of Albany County, Wyoming (on the Medicine Bow National Forest); seven in north-central Colorado (one on the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest); and one in southwestern Colorado (potentially on the San Juan National Forest).

Sheila Sondergard

Sheila Sondergard (born April 24, 1980) is a singer-songwriter, born in Seoul, South Korea and raised in Maui, Hawaii, the Black Hills of South Dakota, and Central America.

Silver carp

By August 2009, they had become abundant in the Mississippi River watershed from Louisiana to South Dakota and Illinois, and had grown close to invading the Great Lakes via the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.

Statewide opinion polling for the Republican Party presidential primaries, 2012

Haley Barbour of Mississippi, Jeb Bush of Florida, Chris Christie of New Jersey, Jim DeMint of South Carolina, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and John Thune of South Dakota all succeeded in leading polls in their home states at some point in 2011, although only Pawlenty actually launched a campaign.

The Caribou Show

The show also lampooned local political figures, including Dave Munson and Vernon Brown.

United States presidential election in South Dakota, 2004

SD is allocated 3 electors because it has 1 congressional districts and 2 senators.

Western Regional Examining Board

Other states that are currently accepting successful completion results of the WREB exam are, California Dental Hygiene Only, Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin.