South Dakota
The Mount Rushmore State, plains, badlands, and Black Hills
South Dakota is split in two by its great river. The Missouri runs north to south through the middle, dividing the state into the wetter, farmed "East River" plains and the drier, ranch-and-range "West River" country. The east is rolling glaciated prairie and cropland — the west is open grassland that breaks into the eerie, eroded spires of the Badlands and rises, at its far edge, into the dark forested dome of the Black Hills, an island of mountains on the plains.
The Black Hills are the scenic and spiritual core of the state — sacred to the Lakota, sculpted into the presidential faces of Mount Rushmore, and topped by Black Elk Peak at 7,242 feet (2,207 m), the highest point in the United States east of the Rockies. The Badlands nearby are a moonscape of banded buttes and fossil beds carved from the soft plains. Sioux Falls in the east is the largest city. Thinly settled, South Dakota balances grain and cattle with a tourism economy drawn to its singular western landscapes.
Economy
South Dakota's economy rests on agriculture - cattle, corn, and soybeans - and on tourism drawn to Mount Rushmore, the Black Hills, and the Badlands. Permissive financial laws made Sioux Falls a hub for credit-card and trust operations, and the state levies no personal or corporate income tax.
Politics
South Dakota carries 3 electoral votes and votes reliably Republican in presidential elections. Its small, rural, and agricultural population gives it a consistently conservative political character.
Cities
Notable people
- Sitting Bull (1831–1890)Lakota leader — born in Grand River, South Dakota
- Tom Brokaw (b. 1940)Television news anchor — born in Webster, South Dakota
- Sparky Anderson (1934–2010)Hall of Fame baseball manager — born in Bridgewater, South Dakota
- Mary Hart (b. 1950)Television host — born in Madison, South Dakota
Related
- IowaThe Hawkeye State, heart of the Corn Belt
- MinnesotaThe Land of 10,000 Lakes, headwaters of the Mississippi
- MontanaBig Sky Country, where the plains meet the Rockies
- NebraskaThe Cornhusker State, gateway to the Great Plains
- North DakotaThe Peace Garden State, northern plains and badlands
- WyomingThe least populous state, high plains and the Rockies
- Dakota TerritoryThe territory that became North and South Dakota
- Geographic Center of the United StatesThe middle of all fifty states, in South Dakota
- Mount RushmoreThe 60-foot presidential faces carved into the Black Hills
- The Corn PalaceA South Dakota arena decorated in corn
- Wall DrugThe billboard empire on the edge of the Badlands