States of North and South Dakota Presented by Whisky trail tours
Whisky trail tours want to guide the people. "Dakota" in the
language of the Sioux Indians means "friend, ally." North and South
Dakota are twin sisters not only with common names, but also with a common
history. They were separated from the single western territory of Dakota and
simultaneously became the 39th and 40th US states on November 2, 1889. Both
states are predominantly agricultural.
South Dakota borders North
Dakota in the north, Minnesota and Iowa in the east, Nebraska in the south, and
Wyoming and Montana in the west. North Dakota lies on the US state border with
Canada, Minnesota is to the east of it, and Montana is to the west. The states
have an almost equal territory: the area of South Dakota is 196 723 square
kilometers, the area of North - 183 100 square kilometers. Historically, the
development of the Dakota territory began from its southern part.
The administrative center of
South Dakota is the town of Pierre, in which only 13 thousand inhabitants live.
The population of the largest city in Sioux Falls is barely more than 100
thousand people. The second largest settlement, Rapid City, has 55 thousand
inhabitants. South Dakota is in 45th place in the United States in terms of
population: only about 740 thousand people live on its territory. At the same
time, South Dakota is one of the least urbanized states: the shares of the
rural and urban population in it are approximately equal. The vast majority of
residents are concentrated in the northeastern regions of the state. 92 percent
of the population is white, but the number of local Indians (mainly descendants
of the Sioux tribe) is relatively large - 7.3 percent.
The main river in both
Dakotas is the Missouri. Flowing through South Dakota, it divides it into two
parts. East of Missouri is the state's main agricultural area. Reservoirs are
arranged along the river, which not only supply settlements and provide water
for irrigating fields, but also make it possible to combat floods in Missouri.
West of Missouri, a mountain plateau begins. In the southwestern part of the
state, the Black Mountains rise, the slopes of which are covered with forests.
In other areas of the state, there are practically no forests. The climate of
South Dakota is sharply continental, with colder and wetter weather in the
Black Mountains. Farmers in the state grow sorghum, corn, sunflowers, oats and
wheat, but are mainly involved in raising cattle. The Dakota lands are by
nature intended for grazing animals - once upon a time there were huge herds of
bison, behind which Indian tribes migrated in search of prey. Developed
agriculture has led to the emergence of local food and light industries, mainly
flour mills and factories producing dairy and meat products, canned food. At
the same time, South Dakota is a leader in the production of computers, medical
equipment and gold mining, although its mining operations are small.
In recent decades, tourism
and gambling business has been intensively developing in the state. The Black
Mountains with their picturesque heaps of fancifully weathered rocks remain the
main attraction. In the Black Mountains are the Cave of Jewels, whose walls are
lined with sparkling crystals of lime spar, and the Cave of the Wind, where
bizarre statues have been carved by wind and water for millennia. Giant
portraits of four American presidents - George Washington, Thomas Dasefferson,
Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt - are carved into the granite cliffs of
Mount Rushmore. The author of the project and the head of the work on Mount
Rushmore was the American sculptor Gatzon Borglum, who created this unusual
memorial in 1927-1941. After the death of his father, Lincoln Borglum headed the
work.
North Dakota is also a
predominantly agricultural state. Only Texas is ahead of it in wheat yields.
The state also grows oats, corn, soybeans, beef and dairy cattle. The main area
of agriculture is the east of the state, lying on the Central Plains, At the
same time, North Dakota is the leader in the production of coal-lignite, since
1929 natural gas has been produced in the state, and in 1951 oil production
began, in which the state is ranked 9th place in the USA. In the southwest of
the state, small quantities of uranium ore are mined. All major mineral
deposits are located in the western, mountainous part of the state.
For tourists visiting both
Dakotas, everything related to the life of the Indians and the history of the
growth of the United States in the western direction is of constant interest.
The first European to visit
North Dakota was probably the French fur trader Pierre la Verendri - traces of
his expedition from the late 1730s were discovered in 1913. The pioneers of
South Dakota were the Spaniards, who appeared on its lands in the 1740s, but
the French laid claim to this territory. Only in 1762, France was forced to
cede this territory, like all of Louisiana, to Spain. Apparently, the first
European permanent resident of the Dakota Territory in the 1780s was the French
mechanic Pierre Dorian, who settled here after marrying a Sioux Indian. In the
future, the lands of both Dakotas shared the fate of the whole of Louisiana; in
1803 they finally turned out to be the property of the United States.
The Sioux Indians, who
dominated the territory of the Dakota, were friendly to the European settlers
in everything related to the struggle with other Indian tribes, but they
themselves did not want to give up their estates to the pale-faced. A serious
clash between whites and Indians took place in 1854 - After winning the
victory, the Americans forced the Indians to sell them their land (about 4.5
million hectares) and retreat to the reservation, the area of which was only
174 hectares.
The Indians categorically
did not want to let the whites into the western mountainous regions of the
state, beyond the Missouri, where the Americans were attracted by the hope of
finding gold. Indifferent to the yellow metal, the Indians feared that the whites
would disturb the herds of bison grazing in these parts. The army of General
George Armstrong Custer (1839-1876) was sent to fight the Indians in 1874. It
was his people who discovered gold in Dakota. After that, the flow of
immigrants could not be stopped, although the Indians continued to pose a
serious threat to them. In 1876, the Sioux, under the command of the leaders of
the Sitting Bull and Mad Horse, completely defeated Caster's cavalry at the
Little Bighorn River. All the Americans, including their commander, were killed
in the battle, more than 250 people.
Nevertheless, by the
mid-1870s, about 25,000 whites had settled in the Black Mountains. Thanks to
the construction of railways by 1880, South Dakota already had about 82
thousand settlers, and in 1890 their number increased to 348 600 people. Under
the onslaught of the Americans, Sitting Bull was forced to flee to Canada, but
in 1883 he returned to his tribe, which lived on the reservation. Fearing that
the old chief would once again incite the Sioux to fight the aliens, local
authorities ordered the arrest of Sitting Bull along with his most influential
supporters. They were all killed on December 15, 1890. The shooting of the
Sitting Bull sparked violent Indian unrest. However, the army, having a
multiple numerical superiority, in the general battle at the Wounded Knee River
destroyed about 370 Sioux soldiers, after which the others were forced to
return to the reservation and submit to their fate. Nevertheless, fighting for
their rights, the Sioux Indians managed to achieve more than representatives of
other Indian tribes. For read more click on Whisky trail tours.
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