South Dakota Quick Facts: Capital City: Pierre City Guides: South Dakota City Guides Location: 44.372N, 100.322W Admission to Statehood: November 2, 1889 Ancestry and Genealogy: South Dakota State Database Free name history Area: 77121 sq.mi, 17th Land 75898 sq. mi., 16th Water 1224 sq.mi., 30th Area Code: 605 Border States: Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Wyoming Constitution: 40th State County Profile: 66 Counties Courts: Judicial System Geographic Center: Hughes, 8 miles northeast of Pierre Highest Point: Harney Peak; 7,242 feet,15th Largest Cities: Sioux Falls, Rapid City, Aberdeen, Watertown, Brookings, Mitchell, Pierre, Yankton, Huron, Vermillion Lowest Point: Big Stone lake; 962 feet, 46th Motto: Under God the people rule State Symbols: Flower - American pasqueflower (1903) Grass – Western Wheat Grass Soil – Houdek Tree – Black Hills Spruce Bird – Ring-Necked Pheasant Insect – Honeybee Animal – Coyote Mineral Stone – Rose Quartz Gemstone – Fairburn Agate Colors – Blue and Gold Song – “Hail! South Dakota ” Fish – Walleye Musical Instrument – Fiddle Dessert - Kuchen Famous South Dakotans: Sparky Anderson baseball manager, Bridgewater Tom Brokaw TV newscaster, Webster John James Exon senator, Geddes Myron Floren accordionist, Roslyn Joe Foss governor, 1st Commissioner of the American Football League, Sioux Falls Joseph Hansen author, Aberdeen Crazy Horse Oglala chief Oscar Howe Sioux artist, Joe Creek Hubert H. Humphrey senator and vice president, Wallace David C. Jones U.S. Air Force general, Aberdeen Roy Braxton Justus cartoonist, Avon Cheryl Ladd actress, Huron Ward L. Lambert basketball, Deadwood Ernest Orlando Lawrence physicist, Canton Russell Means American Indian activist, Pine Ridge George McGovern politician, Avon Dorothy Provine actress, Deadwood Rain-in-the-Face Hunkpapa Sioux chief Red Cloud Oglala Sioux chief Sitting Bull Hunkpappa Sioux chief Jess Thomas opera singer, Hot Springs Norm Van Brocklin football player, Parade Mamie Van Doren actress, Rowena South Dakota Tidbits: 1. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum began drilling into the 6,200-foot Mount Rushmore in 1927. Creation of the Shrine to Democracy took 14 years and cost a mere $1 million, though it's now deemed priceless. 2. The faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln are sculpted into Mount Rushmore the world's greatest mountain carving. 3. Jack McCall was tried, convicted and hanged two miles north of Yankton in 1877 for the shooting of Wild Bill Hickok. He is buried in an unmarked grave in the Yankton cemetery. 4. The site of a rich gold strike in 1875, Deadwood retains its mining town atmosphere. While Deadwood is one of the most highly publicized mining towns of the trans-Mississippi West, much of its fame rests on the famous or infamous characters that passed through. 5. Belle Fourche is the geographical center of the United States of America, designated in 1959 and noted by an official marker and sheepherder's monument called a "Stone Johnnie". 6. Jewel Cave is the third-longest cave in the world. More than 120 miles of passages have been surveyed. Calcite crystals that glitter when illuminated give the cave its name. 7. The Crazy Horse mountain carving now in progress will be the world’s largest sculpture (563' high, 641' long, carved in the round). It is the focal point of an educational and cultural memorial to and for the North American Indian. 8. Badlands National Park consists of nearly 244,000 acres of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles and spires blended with the largest, protected mixed grass prairie in the United States. 9. Harney Peak, at 7242 above sea level, is the highest point in the United States east of the Rockies. 10. Sturgis is home of the annual Black Hills Classic Motorcycle Rally. 11. The Mammoth Site of Hot Springs contains the largest concentration of Columbian and woolly mammoth bones discovered in their primary context in the world. 12. Mitchell is the home of the world's only Corn Palace. 13. The Flaming Fountain on South Dakota State Capitol Lake is fed by an artesian well with natural gas content so high that it can be lit. The fountain glows perpetually as a memorial to all veterans. 14. Black Hills National Cemetery "The Arlington of the West" is a final resting place of our nation's veterans. 15. Rivers were the highways in settling the western territory. Lewis and Clark named American Creek when they passed through the Chamberlain - Oacoma area while exploring the territory for President Jefferson in 1804. 16. The first & oldest Dakota daily newspaper, published in 1861 is the Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan. 17. The Meridian Bridge built in 1924 was the first structure built across the Missouri River in South Dakota. 18. The Prairie Rattlesnake is the only venomous snake native to South Dakota. The color of the Prairie Rattlesnake varies from light brown to green, with a yellowish belly. Dark oval blotches with light colored borders run along the center of its back. 19. The U.S.S. South Dakota was the most decorated battleship during World War II. 20. The Missouri River divides the state in half running north to south 21. South Dakota ranks 16th in size among the 50 states 22. Only at Wall Drug can you see a Jackalope, a rare Western animal that is part rabbit, part antelope and all fantasy. 23. A herd of 1,500 bison roams freely throughout Custer State Park, often stopping traffic along the 18-mile Wildlife Loop Road. The herd is one of the largest in the world. 24. The Washington Pavilion of Arts and Science in Sioux Falls is one of the only facilities in the country to house a visual arts center, a hands on science center, and a performing arts center. 25. On November 1, 1989, limited stakes gaming came into Deadwood with a bang. In fact, Deadwood was the third city in the nation to have legalized gaming, after the state of Nevada and Atlantic City, NJ. 26. With more than 82 miles of mapped passages, Wind Cave contains the world’s largest display of a rare formation called boxwork |