Wanderlust World Wanderlust World The Black Hills of South Dakota are a mountain range covered by coniferous trees that extend from the western part of South Dakota to the state of Wyoming. The Black Hills are primarily composed of granite rock, and get their name from the dark appearance the trees give the mountains, from a distance. The Black Hills are the natural habitat of many birds, such as bald eagles and hawks, as well as many land animals, including beavers, porcupines, coyotes and bobcats. The Black Hills of South Dakota are also the home of the Lakota Native American nation, and they were also inhabited by the Cheyenne, Kiowa, Arapaho, Crow and Pawnee nations. Today, it features the Black Hills National Forest.
The Black Hills have been a sacred site of the Lakota nation for many generations. The land and the burial grounds are considered sacred by the Lakota, and it was frequently visited by other tribes for religious purification and ceremonies. It was also regarded during times of war between Native American nations as neutral territory where truces and treaties were drafted and conflicts were resolved.
The Black Hills have been the site of many controversies for more than 100 years. The area was explored and exploited for its resources by European fur traders and hunters in the mid-1800s. By the 1870s, General George Custer, his army and European settlers moved in to claim their piece of the rumored gold rush, even though this move was in violation of the 1868 treaty recognizing the Black Hills as solely the territory of the Lakota.
As the Lakota sought resolution to the violation of their treaty rights to the Black Hills, both by the chiefs Red Cloud and Spotted Tail from within the reservation, as well as Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, who were not settled on the Sioux reservation, they were faced with opposition from the U.S. Government and its army. Tensions over the rights to the Black Hills eventually led to further aggression, takeovers and wars. In 1876, during the Great Sioux War, the United States forced the Lakota to leave the Black Hills, to live on reservations. This is the way the United States acquired the title to the Black Hills, along with the rights to use its natural resources.
In 1897, President Grover Cleveland titled the Black Hills as the Black Hills Forest Reserve. This was an attempt to preserve its natural landscape from fires and corruption in the lumber industry. Thereafter, lumber was then sold commercially and under regulations. By the early 1900s, the Black Hills were then named the Black Hills National Forest.
Mount Rushmore National Memorial was carved into the Black Hills between 1927 and 1941. Doane Robinson commissioned Gutzon Borglum to carve the images of four U.S. presidents into the mountainside. The project was cut short, because of funding; the sculptor was to have included the upper bodies of the presidents as well. Mount Rushmore is considered as controversial to the Native Americans, because of their sacred regard for the Black Hills and the lives they lost during the forced exit of the land.
The U.S. Supreme Court re-awarded the Lakota Sioux, for the illegal takeover of the Black Hills, over $17 million, as well as the $88 million the original award accrued over time. However, the Lakota people are looking for the return of the Black Hills, and not a monetary compensation for their loss. This money remains in the U.S. Treasury, and they look forward to the day when the Black Hills of South Dakota will be returned to them.