Black Hills National Forest

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Black Hills National Forest
A Brief History

For many people, from early Native Americans to today's visitors, the Black Hills has been a special place to come for physical and spiritual renewal.  In August 1874, A.B. Donaldson, one of several newspaper correspondents with General George A. Custer's historic Black Hills Expedition, wrote the following:

The lover of nature could here find his soul's delight; the invalid regain his health; the old, be rejuvenated; the weary find sweet repose and invigoration; and all who could come and spend the heated season here would find it the pleasantest summer home in America.

Millions of visitors who come to the Black Hills each year still find it a pleasant place during any season.

The name "Black Hills" comes from the Lakota words Paha Sapa, which mean "hills that are black."  Seen from a distance, these pine-covered hills, rising several thousand feet above the surrounding prairie, appear black. 

Listen to ForestNet Audiocast Topic: “Paha Sapa” – American Indian Use of the Black Hills with Donovin Sprague, Director of Learning at Crazy Horse Memorial and Executive Director of First Nations Heritage Association.

(Click to Play Mp3 or right click and Save Target As) Transcript

Watch Video (WMP)

The Black Hills are in western South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming, covering an area 125 miles long and 65 miles wide.  They encompass rugged rock formations, canyons and gulches, open grassland parks, tumbling streams, deep blue lakes, and unique caves.

The Black Hills area has a rich, diverse cultural heritage.  Archaeological evidence suggests the earliest known use of the area occurred about 10,000 years ago.  Later Native Americans, such as the Arapaho, Cheyenne, Kiowa, and Lakota, came to the Black Hills to seek visions and to purify themselves.  The Black Hills was also a sanctuary where tribes at war could meet in peace.

Exploration of the Black Hills by fur traders and trappers occurred in the 1840s.  In 1874, General George A. Custer led an Army exploration into the area and discovered gold.  Settlement of the Black Hills rapidly followed the discovery of gold.  The need for wood to build mines, railroads, towns and for use as a fuel increased demand for timber.  As settlement continued, agriculture and livestock grazing added to the area's economic diversity.

A series of large forest fires in 1893 focused attention on the need to protect the timber resource.  On February 22, 1897, President Grover Cleveland established the Black Hills Forest Reserve.  This land was protected against fires, wasteful lumbering practices, and timber fraud.  In 1898, the first commercial timber sale on Federal forested land in the United States was authorized in the area of Jim and Estes Creeks (near the town of Nemo).  Cutting began around Christmas 1899.  In 1905, the Black Hills Forest Reserve was transferred to the Forest Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  Two years later it was renamed the Black Hills National Forest.

The Black Hills National Forest Visitor Center at Pactola Reservoir includes exhibits on Black Hills natural history and a self-guiding nature trail.  The Visitor Center is open daily from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

Congress established the Norbeck Wildlife Preserve in 1920 for the "protection of game animals and birds and to be recognized as a breeding place therefore."  The preserve covers about 35,000 acres, 25,000 of which are managed by the Forest Service.  Most of the rest of Norbeck is part of Custer State Park.  Norbeck is home to a variety of wildlife, including elk, deer, bighorn sheep, and mountain goats.  It also contains rugged granite formations, small lakes, scenic drives, and hiking trails.

Black Elk Wilderness is in the center of the Norbeck Wildlife Preserve.  The 13,605-acre wilderness was named for Black Elk, an Oglala Lakota holy man.  Congress established the wilderness on December 22, 1980; legislation in 2002 increased its size by 3,774 acres.

Harney Peak, at 7,242 feet above sea level, is the highest point in the United States east of the Rockies.  From a historic lookout tower on the summit, one has a panoramic view of parts of South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Montana, as well as the granite formations and cliffs of the Black Elk Wilderness.

US Forest Service, Black Hills National Forest
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Last modified October 23, 2007