Bear Butte
Bear Butte | |
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| Location | Meade County, South Dakota |
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| Nearest city | Sturgis, South Dakota |
| Coordinates | 44°28′33″N 103°25′37″W / 44.47583°N 103.42694°W |
| NRHP reference No. | 73001746 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | June 19, 1973 |
| Designated NHL | December 21, 1981[1] |
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| Southwestern South Dakota |
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| Sculptures |
| Geologic and natural history |
| Mountains |
| Caves |
| Forests and wildernesses |
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| Lakes |
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| Historic sites |
Bear Butte is a
The mountain is sacred to many indigenous peoples, who make pilgrimages to leave prayer cloths and tobacco bundles tied to the branches of the trees along the mountain's flanks. Other offerings are often left at the top of the mountain. The site is associated with various religious ceremonies throughout the year. The mountain is a place of prayer, meditation, and peace.
The park includes a campsite west of
Geological history
Bear Butte is not strictly a butte (created primarily by erosion of sedimentary strata), but a
It is possible that when the intrusion was emplaced, some magma may have breached the surface, forming a volcano; however, it would have eroded away long ago.The peak rises 1,253.5 feet (382.1 m) above the surrounding plain and measures 4,426 feet (1,349 m) above sea level.
Modern history
Human artifacts have been found on or near Bear Butte that date back 10,000 years, indicating a long and continuous interest in the mountain.[7] The Cheyenne and Lakota people have maintained a spiritual interest in Bear Butte from their earliest recorded history.
Notable visitors like Red Cloud, Crazy Horse, and Sitting Bull made pilgrimages to the site. In 1857, a council of many Indian nations gathered at Bear Butte to discuss the growing presence of white settlers in the Black Hills.
Violating a treaty of 1868, George Armstrong Custer led an expedition to the Black Hills region in 1874, and according to custom he camped near Bear Butte. Custer verified the rumors of gold in the Black Hills, and Bear Butte then served as an easily identifiable landmark for the rush of invading prospectors and settlers into the region. Indian reaction to the illegal movements of whites into the area was intense and hostile. Ultimately the government reneged on its treaty obligations regarding the Black Hills and instead embarked on a program to confine all northern Plains tribes to reservations.
Ezra Bovee homesteaded on the southern slopes of the mountain, and by the time of World War II, he and his family were the legal owners of the site. In the spring of 1945, the Northern Cheyenne received permission from Bovee to hold a ceremony at Bear Butte to pray for the end of World War II. The Cheyenne found that the Bovee family welcomed their interest in the mountain, and over the years the Bovees continued to encourage native religious ceremonies.
By the mid-1950s Ezra Bovee was attempting to stir up interest in making Bear Butte a national park. After his death, his family continued the effort. When federal interest in the project waned, the state government in Pierre took action, and Bear Butte became a state park in 1961 and was registered as a National Historic Landmark in 1981.
Frank Fools Crow was the plaintiff in one of the most prominent attempts by Native Americans to gain access to sacred lands under the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978. The case, Fools Crow v. Gullett, related to the introduction in 1982 of limits on when and for how long Lakota and Cheyenne religious ceremonies could take place on the Bluff. The Indian Americans argued that both the American Indian Religious Freedom Act and the First Amendment protected their right to unlimited access to the Bluff. They also wanted the Bluff to remain untouched as it was sacred. The plaintiffs lost their case on both the District and Appellate level and were denied a hearing by the Supreme Court.[8]
In 2011, the National Trust for Historic Preservation included Bear Butte on its list of the 11 Most Endangered Places.[9] Between 2016 and 2018, Native American tribes such as the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribe of Oklahoma, the Northern Cheyenne Tribe of Montana and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe of South Dakota acquired land around the butte due to the cultural significance.[10][4][5]
See also
- List of National Historic Landmarks in South Dakota
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Meade County, South Dakota
- List of South Dakota state parks
Notes
- ^ "Bear Butte". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on June 14, 2009. Retrieved June 26, 2008.
- ^ Elementary Bilingual Dictionary (1976) University of Colorado
- ^ English-Cheyenne Student Dictionary (1976) Northern Cheyenne Bilingual Education Program
- ^ a b Holland, Jim (November 22, 2018). "1,020 acres near Bear Butte sells to tribes for $2.3 million". Rapid City Journal. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
- ^ a b Griffith, Tom (November 1, 2016). "Tribes buy Bear Butte land for $1.1M". Rapid City Journal. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
- ISBN 0878423389.
- ^ Schilling, Vincent (April 7, 2009). "Bear Butte Mountain: A beautiful, sacred site in South Dakota". Indian Country Today. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
- . Retrieved December 1, 2015.
- ^ "America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places 2011: Bear Butte". Archived from the original on July 12, 2011. Retrieved July 23, 2011.
- ^ Griffith, Tom (November 8, 2017). "Tribes buy Bear Butte land for $1.1M". Rapid City Journal Media Group. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
References
Oehlerking, Jerry. The Dick Williams Story: If Bear Butte Would Speak, South Dakota Conservation Digest, March/April 1977, pp. 22–25.
External links
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