South Dakota Trivia & Tidbits - Page 7

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

Indian scout, gunfighter and U.S. marshal Wild Bill Hickok (1837-1876) was killed while playing poker in Deadwood (pop. 1,380) in the Dakota Territory. Shot in the back of the neck by "Broken Nose Jack" McCall, Hickok was holding two black aces and two black eights, now known as the "Dead Man's Hand." His murderer was tried, convicted, hanged and buried in a Yankton cemetery. When McCall's remains were moved years later to a new cemetery, it was found that he had been buried with the noose around his neck.

first appeared: 1/2/2005

Yellowstone Trail, one of the nation’s first transcontinental roads, crosses the state from Big Stone City (pop. 605) to Lemmon (pop. 1,398).

first appeared: 12/19/2004

Dry and used for pasture in the 1930s, Lake Thompson, a national natural landmark near Lake Preston (pop. 737), filled to 20 feet in the 1980s from heavy rain and snowmelt.

first appeared: 12/5/2004

Writer, reformer and physician Charles Alexander Eastman (1858-1939), a Santee Sioux Indian, served as an agency physician at the Pine Ridge and Crow Creek reservations before helping to organize the Society of American Indians in 1911.

first appeared: 11/21/2004

Chief of the Upper Brulé Lakota Sioux Indians, Hollow Horn Bear (1850-1913) served as head of the Indian police at the Rosebud Agency. His image, adorned with full headdress, appeared on the 14-cent U.S. postage stamp issued in 1922.

first appeared: 11/7/2004

The state’s first radio station, WCAT in Rapid City (pop. 59,607), began broadcasting in 1922.

first appeared: 10/24/2004

The state’s geographic center is in Hughes County, eight miles northeast of Pierre (pop. 13,867).

first appeared: 10/10/2004

Legendary Old West sharpshooters James “Wild Bill” Hickok and Martha “Calamity Jane” Canary are buried beside each other at Mount Moriah Cemetery in Deadwood (pop. 1,380).

first appeared: 10/3/2004

Casey Tibbs, born in 1929 near Fort Pierre (pop. 1,991), lassoed the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association’s Saddle Bronc Riding Championship four consecutive years (1951-1954) and six years total.

first appeared: 9/19/2004

The state’s highest temperature of 120 degrees was recorded July 3, 1936, at Gann Valley.

first appeared: 9/12/2004

Built in 1930, the Adams Museum in Deadwood (pop. 1,380) is the oldest history museum in the Black Hills.

first appeared: 9/5/2004

Formed in 1878, Codington County was named after the Rev. G.S. Codington, a legislator and preacher who would often travel up to 90 miles to minister to his parishes.

first appeared: 8/29/2004

Opened in 1937, Reptile Gardens in Rapid City (pop. 59,607) boasts the world’s largest reptile collection and an attraction called Death Row, which features the world’s deadliest snakes.

first appeared: 8/22/2004

Opened in 1949, the Starlite Drive-in in Mitchell (pop. 14,558) continues to show movies under the stars.

first appeared: 8/15/2004

The Alan G. Bates harmonica collection at the National Music Museum in Vermillion (pop. 9,765) hums with 2,500 harmonicas, including several crank-operated harmonicas from the 1930s, which play music on paper rolls.

first appeared: 8/8/2004

Dead canyon trees at the town site inspired the name for Deadwood (pop. 1,380), incorporated in 1876.

first appeared: 8/1/2004

The endangered pallid sturgeon are spawned and raised at Gavins Point National Fish Hatchery and Aquarium on the Missouri River near Yankton (pop. 13,528).

first appeared: 7/25/2004

Sica Hollow State Park near Sisseton (pop. 2,572) was named “sica” or “evil” by American Indians for its glowing tree stumps and gurgling red bogs. Swamp gas causes methane emissions and the glowing phenomenon, and iron deposits turn the water red.

first appeared: 7/18/2004

The state abolished its personal income tax in 1943.

first appeared: 7/11/2004

True to its surroundings, the Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre (pop. 13,876) was built into a Missouri River bluff with native prairie grasses on its roof and sides.

first appeared: 6/27/2004

jump to page: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17

newspaper partner login create account

Recent

Popular

Recipes

Below are the most recent American Profile articles:

Below are the most recent, highest rated American Profile articles:

Below are the most recent, highest rated American Profile recipes:

Relish

Spry

Below are the most recent articles from our Relish sister site. Click on the "Spry" tab above to see the most recent articles from our other sister site.

Below are the most recent articles from our Spry sister site. Click on the "Relish" tab above to see the most recent articles from our other sister site.