South Dakota Trivia & Tidbits - Page 14

Looking for South Dakota trivia? Try our list South Dakota little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

Eastern South Dakota has 947,652 wetlands—including pothole lakes, reservoirs, and natural lakes—that occupy 2.1 million acres, or 9.8 percent of that portion of the state.

first appeared: 3/10/2002

The first rail line in South Dakota was the Dakota Southern Railroad, which began operations Oct. 1, 1872, between Vermillion (pop. 9,765) and Sioux City, Iowa.

first appeared: 3/3/2002

In the state’s first boys high school basketball championship game in 1912, Redfield beat Lake Preston 33-25.

first appeared: 2/24/2002

With more than 125 miles surveyed, Jewel Cave near Custer (pop. 1,860) is recognized as the third longest cave in the world, and airflow within its passages indicates a vast area yet to be explored.

first appeared: 2/17/2002

The state seal, which bears the motto “Under God the People Rule,” was adopted in 1885, four years before South Dakota was admitted to the Union.

first appeared: 2/10/2002

In 1997, 147 oil wells and 58 gas wells were in production statewide. Oil was first discovered in Harding County in 1954.

first appeared: 2/3/2002

A dozen state parks and recreation areas have cross-country ski trails, many of which begin and end near heated warming shelters, which have wood-burning stoves and accommodate as many as 30 people.

first appeared: 1/27/2002

The state issues motor vehicle license plates for six American Indian tribes, but the Oglala Sioux issues its own plates. They give the tribe’s name on top and read “Pine Ridge Indian Country” across the bottom.

first appeared: 1/20/2002

In 1923, state historian Doane Robinson conceived the idea of carving colossal statues of Western heroes in the Black Hills. When Mount Rushmore was unveiled in 1941, it featured the faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.

first appeared: 1/13/2002

Between 1872 and 2000, 76 earthquakes were recorded with epicenters in South Dakota. The first recorded quake was 25 miles north of Pierre in February 1872. The most recent, which measured 3.1 on the Richter scale, occurred in Mellette County in July 1998.

first appeared: 1/6/2002

Called the Stratobowl, a natural amphitheater about a dozen miles southwest of Rapid City has served as a launch site for high-altitude research balloons since the 1930s.

first appeared: 12/30/2001

A former stop on the Texas Cattle Trail, Murdo (pop. 612) was named after Murdo McKenzie, a cattle baron whose ranch handled nearly 20,000 head of cattle each year during the late 19th century.

first appeared: 12/23/2001

The Otis elevator in the Historic Franklin Hotel in Deadwood (pop. 1,380) is hand-operated by a hotel employee and is one of only five of its type left in the nation.

first appeared: 12/16/2001

Geologists estimate the Sioux quartzite in the rocky spires and cliffs of Palisades State Park near Garretson (pop. 1,165) are 1.2 billion years old.

first appeared: 12/9/2001

In 1989, the fiddle became the official instrument of South Dakota.

first appeared: 12/2/2001

In 1935, pharmacist Ted Hustead of Wall (pop. 818) advertised free ice water for travelers. Now his Wall Drug is one of South Dakota’s largest tourist attractions, drawing up to 20,000 visitors on some summer days.

first appeared: 11/25/2001

Surrounded by potato farms, Clark (pop. 1,285) bills itself as South Dakota’s Potato Capital.

first appeared: 11/18/2001

The state’s first school was erected in Bon Homme County in 1860. Today, about 750 students attend schools in the county’s three towns of Springfield (pop. 792), Tabor (pop. 417), and Tyndall (pop. 1,239).

first appeared: 11/11/2001

People have viewed the state’s rugged region of eroded buttes, pinnacles, and spires as badlands for centuries. The Lakota Indians knew the place as mako sica and early French trappers called the area les mauvaises terres a traverser. Both mean “bad lands.”

first appeared: 11/4/2001

South Dakota has 1,030 windmills generating electricity, trailing only Texas and Kansas in that category.

first appeared: 10/28/2001

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