NHD In South Dakota Theme Topic Explorer

NHD Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History logo of a star in shades of red, coral, yellow, and navy on a navy background
The 2026 NHD® theme is Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History!

Use this interactive list of optional South Dakota Topics to inspire your National History Day Research!

Each topic page includes helpful resources to help you get started on your historical research pursuits. Items marked with a * are resources located within South Dakota.

Calamity Jane holding a gun
Calamity Jane

Calamity Jane was a frontierswoman, scout and all-around unique character in the Wild West, most notably in Deadwood.

Calamity Jane dressed in her regular attire and posing with a rifle.

Calamity Jane Information

Available Resource(s):

Image Citation:

Harris, Colin. “James Butler 'Wild Bill' Hickok Meets 'Calamity Jane' Cannary.” World History Project.

Image of Joseph Gladden Hutton
Joseph Gladden Hutton

Joseph Gladden Hutton was a soil scientist who advocated for improving soil practices and conservation prior to the 1930s Dust Bowl.

Portrait of Joseph Gladden Hutton, ca. 1930.

Joseph Gladden Hutton Information

Available Resource(s):

Image Citation:

J. G. Hutton Photo Collection, 2016:023:033. South Dakota Agricultural Heritage Museum, Brookings.

Korczak Ziolkowski standing by the Crazy Horse Memorial
Korczak Ziolkowski

Korczak Ziolkowski was a Polish-American sculptor who was invited by Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear to create the Crazy Horse Memorial.

Ziolkowski with a model of the monument in front of the hill that would be used.

Korczak Ziolkowski Information

Available Resource(s):

  • Crazy Horse Memorial* - This website gives a brief comprehensive history of Ziolkowski’s life. It is by no means a complete biography, but it is a good starting point.
  • South Dakota Digital Archives* - The South Dakota State Historical Society's online archives contain resources pertaining to Ziolkowski and the Crazy Horse Monument.

Image Citation:

Sulzberger, A. G. “65-Year-Old Monument to Sioux Warrior Still a Work in Progress.” Nation and World, Seattle Times, 17 March 2012

Portrait of Dora DuFran
Dora DuFran

Dora DuFran was a notable madam who ran a number of brothels throughout the Black Hills, starting in the early days of the gold rush.

Dora DuFran Information

Available Resources:

Additional archives can be accessed by contacting the city archivist at 605-578-2082.

Image Citation:

Weiser, Kathy. “The Painted Ladies of Deadwood Gulch.” The Painted Ladies of Deadwood Gulch, Legends of America, Apr. 2017

Picture of Car Pile Up During Black Hills Flood of 1972
The Black Hills Flood of 1972

A flash flood in the summer of 1972 led to devastation throughout Rapid City causing the deaths of over 200 people and billions of dollars in damages.

Cars piled up at East Boulevard after the flood.

The Black Hills Flood of 1972 Information

Available Resource(s):

Image Citation:

Rapid City Journal. “The Black Hills Flood of 1972.” The Black Hills Flood of 1972, National Weather Service, 10 June 1972.

Native American activists during the Wounded Knee Occupation. A sign above the door in the background reads “Independent Oglala Nation Wounded Knee.”
Wounded Knee Occupation

The Wounded Knee Occupation occurred in 1973 when the American Indian Movement seized Wounded Knee, South Dakota and occupied it for 71 days to protest the tribal council president, Richard Wilson.

Native American activists during the Wounded Knee Occupation. Sign above door reads, “Independent Oglala Nation Wounded Knee."

Wounded Knee Occupation Information

Available Resource(s):

Image Citation:

“Siege at Wounded Knee, 1973.” Siege at Wounded Knee, 1973, Libcom.org, 19 Sept. 2006.

Black and white print from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper titled " Scenes and Incidents of the Recent Terrible Blizzard in Dakota". There are 3 scenes on the page. The images are: 1. A Rescue Party at Huron, Bund Together by Ropes Searching For Missing Children. 2. A SchoolMistress Compels a Pupil to Walk All Night to Prevent Freezing. 3. Another Brave Teacher Shelters One of Her Pupils From the Storm. Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper January 28, 1888, page 401
The Children’s Blizzard

An extreme blizzard that led to 170 deaths in South Dakota alone. Many of those who passed away were school children trying to walk home, giving this blizzard its name. This blizzards is also sometimes referred to as the Schoolhouse Blizzard of 1888.

The Children’s Blizzard Information

Available Resource(s):

Image Citation:

Scenes and Incidents of the Recent Terrible Blizzard in Dakota, 1987:022:033. South Dakota Agricultural Heritage Museum, Brookings, SD.*

Black and white print from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper titled " Scenes and Incidents of the Recent Terrible Blizzard in Dakota". There are 3 scenes on the page. The images are: 1. A Rescue Party at Huron, Bund Together by Ropes Searching For Missing Children. 2. A SchoolMistress Compels a Pupil to Walk All Night to Prevent Freezing. 3. Another Brave Teacher Shelters One of Her Pupils From the Storm. Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper January 28, 1888, page 401
Image of Union County Courthouse, Courthouse Square, Elk Point, Union County, SD
Elk Point Tragedy

The Farmers’ Holiday Association was an organization consisting of mainly midwestern and Great Plains farmers who organized a farming protest, or "holiday." This group created controversy when it caused the Elk Point Tragedy, where a milk distributor was killed.

Union County Courthouse, Courthouse Square, Elk Point, Union County, SD

Elk Point Tragedy Information

Available Resource(s):

Image Citation:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, Van Sickle and Bill Lackey, Boucher, Jack, photographer. Union County Courthouse, Courthouse Square, Elk Point, Union County, SD. Elk Point South Dakota Union County, 1933. Documentation Compiled After. Photograph.

Postcard showing two men operating a pneumatic drill at the Homestake Mine in Lead, S.D., 1912.
Silicosis Lung Disease in Black Hills Miners

The 1876 Deadwood Gold Rush led to an influx of mines and miners. Poor safety and health practices led to countless diseases, accidents and deaths. One of the most common ailments that plagued miners was known as Silicosis, a lung disease caused by the inhalation of dust contains small pieces of crystalline silica.

Postcard showing two men operating a pneumatic drill at the Homestake Mine in Lead, S.D., 1912.

Silicosis Lung Disease in Black Hills Miners Information

Available Resource(s):

Image Citation:

Penny Postcards from South Dakota.” Penny Postcards from South Dakota, USGenWeb Archives.

Portrait of Wild Bill Hickok
The Murder of Wild Bill Hickok

Famous lawman, James “Wild Bill” Hickok, was shot while gambling at the Saloon #10 in Deadwood, South Dakota. His shooter, Jack McCall, who was able to get away with the shooting by claiming that Hickok had murdered his brother. Eventually, McCall was turned over to a U.S. Marshall in Dakota Territory where he would be re-tried for Hickok's murder.

The Murder of Wild Bill Hickok Information

Available Resource(s):

Image Citation:

“File: Wild Bill Hickok sepia.png” Wikimedia Commons. Accessed June 27, 2018.

Image of Homestake Opera House fire damage.
1984 Homestake Opera House Fire

The Homestake Opera House was built in 1914 by Phoebe Apperson Hearst and Thomas Grier. The theater portion was ruined, and the rest of the building nearly destroyed, when it was consumed by a fire in 1984. Restorations of the building were started in 1995 and continue to this day.

1984 Homestake Opera House Fire Information

Available Resource(s):

Image Citation:

"Tonight marks the anniversary of the 1984 Homestake Opera House fire." Homestake Opera House. Last modified April 2, 2018. Accessed on June 27, 2018.

Image of the opening of the fight at Wounded Knee.
Wounded Knee Massacre

The Wounded Knee Massacre took place Dec. 29, 1890, and was a conflict between the North American Lakota People and representatives of the U.S. government which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Lakota men, women and children.

Wounded Knee Massacre Information

Available Resource(s):

Image Citation:

Remington, Frederic, Artist. The opening of the fight at Wounded Knee. South Dakota Wounded Knee, 1891. Photograph.

A black and white portrait of W.E. Adams.  He has white hair and a white mustache.  He is wearing a dark suit, white shirt, and dark tie.
W.E. Adams

W.E. Adams and his brother moved to Deadwood and started a grocery store. When it was destroyed by a fire, the brothers rebuilt it and became one of the largest wholesalers in the region. He was also elected mayor of Deadwood six times! 

W.E. Adams Information

Available Resource(s): 

Image Citation:

Michak, Jessica. "The Man behind the Museum: W.E. Adams.South Dakota Public Broadcasting.

Portrait of Gladys Pyle
Gladys Pyle

The first woman to be elected to the senate without being previously appointed to the United States Congress. She ​​​was also the first woman to hold a congressional office in South Dakota. Her mother, Mary Isabella "Mamie" Shields Pyle, was very active in the national women’s suffrage movement.

Gladys Pyle Information

Available Resource(s):

Image Citation: 

Gladys Pyle (1890-1989) - Find a grave memorial. (1890, October 4). 

A black and white photo of Gladys Pyle.  She has short, dark, and wavy hair and is wearing a white button up blouse with a dark jacket.
A black and white photo of George Crook.  He has dark hair and a dark beard.  He is wearing a dark colored military uniform.
The Forgotten General

Often forgotten because of General Custer, Crook spared the lives of many Native Americans as he marched his men out of Montana after the Battle of the Little Bighorn. He arrived in today's Harding County where there is a monument to those who lost their lives in the Battle of Slim Buttes. 

two native americans with upside down american flag
American Indian Movement (AIM)

This movement began in the 1960s and formed after the African-American Civil Rights Movement. Native Americans used the phrase, “Red Power.” In South Dakota, Native Americans occupied Wounded Knee and Mount Rushmore and even swarmed the Bureau of Indian Affairs office in Washington, D.C.

AIM Information

Available Resource(s):

Photo Credit:

Siege at Wounded Knee, 1973. (n.d.). libcom.org

A black and white photo of multiple activists at Wounded Knee.  There is a large group standing on the ground in front of a building and another large group sitting on the roof of the building.
A black and white photo of Julia Stockton standing in front of her claim shanty outside of Aberdeen, SD.  She is wearing a white dress and a wide-brimmed hat.
Women Homesteaders

The Homestead Act of 1862 opened South Dakota to Americans, explicitly allowing women to own their own land. This opportunity was hard to pass up for some women, they packed up everything they could and moved to the Great Plains to try to “prove up,” their land.

Women Homesteaders Information

Available Resource(s):

Image Citation:

Migration and Post, S. T. D. (2007, April 5). Pioneer women. The Denver Post.

a woman in front of her sod home
Mining equipment
Mining Breakthroughs in the Homestake Mine

At the Homestake Mine in Lead, scientists experiment in areas like, biology, engineering and geology. They work in underground facilities that were once used to mine gold.

Homestake Mine Information

Resources:

Image Citation:

Former South Dakota mining town revitalized by underground science lab. (2017, October 17). CBS News

A man in a protective suit conducting experiments in a mine.
Poster for REA
Rural Electrification Association (REA)

Part of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal,” this granted electricity to nearly every farm in the United States. It provided federal funding at low interest rates to cooperatives, power districts, and other public programs. From this, new agricultural advances ensued.

REA Information

Available Resource(s): 

Image Citation: 

File: A Rural Electrification Administration cooperative lineman at work in Hayti, Missouri.jpg - Wikimedia Commons. (1942, July 1)

A black and white photo of a man working on installing power lines.  He is dressed in white and wearing a hard hat.
William Jennings Bryan speaking
The Populist Party

The Populist Party, otherwise known as the People’s Party was a grass-roots political party that focused on the small farmer. This brought different ethnicities and religions together, but it was not a party of “have-nots.” Farmers who owned physical property were more likely to join the movement. It also coincides with the Farmers Alliance movement.

Lewis and Clark Expedition painting
Lewis and Clark Expedition

Once the United States had secured the Louisiana Purchase, President Thomas Jefferson wanted to explore the new land. He chose Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to lead the expedition. They came right through South Dakota and had multiple meetings with the Sioux tribes.

Lewis and Clark Expedition Information
photograph of Harvey Dunn
Harvey Dunn

Harvey Dunn is the most well-known South Dakota painter. He was born near Manchester, South Dakota in a 9 by 7 foot shack. He went to South Dakota State University to study art. From there, we went to study under Howard Pyle in Delaware. He became a famous illustrator for magazines like, Harper’s Weekly, American Legion Monthly, and The Saturday Evening Post. Towards the end of this life, he taught art in New York.

Harvey Dunn Information

Available Resource(s):

Image Citation:

Harvey Dunn: Imagining Others. (2019, August 13). South Dakota State University. 

Photograph of 1868 Fort Laramie meeting
Ft. Laramie Treaty (1868)

The second of the Fort Laramie treaties, this treaty was supposed to bring peace to the neighboring Sioux tribes, as well as, with the settling Americans. With this treaty, the United States recognized the Black Hills as part of the Great Sioux Reservation. This allowed only authorized people to enter the Black Hills and any land within the reservation. To this day, the ownership of the Black Hills remains a legal dispute between the United States and the Sioux Nations. 

women holding signs that say votes for women
Women's Suffrage in South Dakota

Women in South Dakota earned the right to vote in 1918, a year before it became federal law. Settlers had tried to get women’s suffrage in the state constitution, but it did not get ratified in time. A specific example of this was Emma Smith DeVoe who was originally born in Illinois, where she was influenced by Susan B. Anthony at a young age. In South Dakota, she began as an assistant state organizer for the South Dakota Equal Suffrage Association (SDESA) in 1889. In South Dakota, DeVoe worked closely with Susan B. Anthony.

Photograph of Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse

Crazy Horse was born in the 1840's along Rapid Creek east of the Black Hills. He was a fearless Lakota leader who was committed to protecting his people and their land. He is best known for leading the Sioux in their fight against the U.S. government while trying to protect their land at the Battle of Little Bighorn against Lt. Colonel George Custer.

Crazy Horse Information

Available Resource(s):

Image Citation:

Native History: Crazy Horse Killed by U.S. Soldier While in Custody” IndianCountryToday.com

Photograph of Crazy Horse
This image of Crazy Horse was allegedly taken just before his death in 1877, but it’s authenticity has been disputed since for most of his life he refused to be photographed.
Photograph of Peter Norbeck
Peter Norbeck

Peter Norbeck was South Dakota’s first native-born governor. He was born in 1870 in Clay County, South Dakota in his parents’ dugout on their homestead. He entered politics in 1908 and promoted state-owned enterprises, state hail insurance, the women’s suffrage movement and the prohibition of alcohol. After two terms as governor, Norbeck was elected the United State Senate in 1920 where he advocated for the carving of Mount Rushmore.

Peter Norbeck Information

Available Resource(s):

Image Citation:

Norbeck, Peter - Biographical Information

Photograph of Gertrude Simmons Bonnin
Gertrude Simmons Bonnin

Gertrude Bonnin, born on the Yankton Sioux Reservation in 1876, was a Native American activist during the early 20th century. In 1926, Gertrude founded the National Council of American Indians which brought up issues regarding land and resource issues Indian people faced. She wrote stories that were critical of boarding schools that many of her people were forced to attend and the assimilation enacted upon them. Until her death in 1928, Gertrude worked for improvements in education, culture preservation, health care, and legal issues among Native Americans.

Zitkala-Ša, having grown her hair back out after her stay at the missionary school, and her violin.

Gertrude Simmons Bonnin Information

Available Resource(s):

Image Citation:

Kasebier, Gertrude. Zitkala-Ša" Zitkala-Ša (Red Bird / Gertrude Simmons Bonnin), National Park Service, 1898.

Photograph of Benjamin Reifel
Benjamin Reifel

Born to a Sioux mother and a German American father, Benjamin Reifel was the first congressman from the Sioux nation. After graduating from South Dakota State, Reifel worked for the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs where he helped tribes set up their government. In 1960, Reifel was the first American Indian from South Dakota to serve in Congress. Throughout his career, Benjamin worked to better schools and hospitals on Indian reservations, also advocated for reservation and county schools be merged as one so that Native and non-Native children would be educated together.

Benjamin Reifel Information

Additional Resource(s):

Image Citation

 “The Life of Ben Reifel” South Dakota State University.

The Grand Army of the Republic reunion in Lead on Mill Street, 1900
Civil War Veterans

Many of the early arrivals in Deadwood, including Wild Bill Hickok, were Civil War veterans. Deadwood’s Mount Moriah Cemetery has a section devoted to them. The Civil War was instrumental in motivating people to move west in the years leading up to and following the Black Hills gold rush.

Civil War Veterans Information

Available Resource(s):

  • Deadwood History, Inc.: Deadwood History, Inc. has photographs of Black Hills Civil War Veterans and soldier reunions, Diaries and Grand Army of the Republic Records and artifacts. For access to these and more archival materials, email archivist Tia Stenson or call 605-722-4800.

Image Citation:

The Grand Army of the Republic reunion in Lead on Mill Street, 1900. Adams Museum Collection.

You Bet committee members on the balcony of the Franklin Hotel.
Deadwood You Bet Committee

The Deadwood, You Bet Committee was instrumental in bringing legalized gaming to Deadwood as a way to stimulate the economy and restore and preserve the historic city. You Bet committee members on the balcony of the Franklin Hotel.

Deadwood You Bet Committee Information

Available Resource(s):

Deadwood History, Inc.*: Deadwood History, Inc. has photographs of the committee and the Syndicate Building Fire, committee records and advertisements, as well as memorabilia related to the legalization of gambling. For access to these and more archival materials, email archivist Tia Stenson or call 605-722-4800. Image Courtesy of Deadwood History, Inc. Adams Museum Collection. 

Image Citation:

Image Courtesy of Deadwood History, Inc. Adams Museum Collection.

You Bet committee members on the balcony of the Franklin Hotel.
Left to right: Mike Trucano, Tom Blair, Bill Walsh and Dave Larson. Front row, left to right: Melodee Nelson, Mary Dunne and Linda Blair.
Ray Davis
Ray Davis

Ray Davis, Jr. earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Yale in 1942. He conducted ground-breaking research on neutrinos, particles that are created in the sun’s and the earth’s interior and have no weight or charge. Davis performed experiments in the Homestake Gold Mine in the 1960s and in 2002 won a Nobel Prize in Physics for his work with neutrinos.

Ray Davis, 1968. Homestake Mining Company Collection

Ray Davis Information

Available Resource(s):

United States Forest Service/Homestake Timber Contracts
United States Forest Service
Homestake Timber Contracts

For the Homestake Mining Company (HMC), timber production was a vital component of the success of the mine as well as the lasting endurance of the National Forest in the area. In 1897, a plan for timber harvest was created and presented to the HMC by Gifford Pinchot, an agent of the Department of the Interior. The plan was approved in 1899, creating Timber Case No. 1, which constituted the first regulated timber harvest and sale from Federal Forest Reserves.

The original building and site of the first sawmill of the Homestake Timber Division where logs were processed from the first harvest of U.S. Forest Service Case No. 1.

United States Forest Service Information

Available Resource(s):

Image Courtesy:

Image Courtesy of Deadwood History, Inc. Homestake Mining Company Collection.

George Catlin
George Catlin

Born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania in 1792, George Catlin was an accomplished American author and painter who is highly regarded for his renderings of Native Americans in the 19th-Century American West from North Dakota through Oklahoma. In 1841, Catlin published his paintings in a collection entitled "Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indian." With this collection, Catlin traveled Europe, Central America and South America to share his paintings and stories of Native Americans. George Catlin is remembered for his authenticity and transparency as an artist.

George Catlin Information

Available Resource(s):

Image Citation:

Mutual Art

Charles Badger Clark
Charles Badger Clark

South Dakota’s first Poet Laureate, Charles Badger Clark, was born in Albia, Iowa in 1883. Traveling to South Dakota to attend Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, Clark quickly fell in love with moving westward. Throughout his travels, he worked as a cowboy on Arizona and South Dakota ranches, where he began to write poetry about his life and experiences as a working cowboy in the last days of the open range. While living near Custer, Gov. Leslie Jensen named Charles Badger Clark as South Dakota’s first Poet Laureate in 1937. He died at the age of 74 in 1957 and is remembered for such poems as, “A Cowboy’s Prayer,” “Spanish is the Loving Tongue” and “Ridin’.”

Charles Badger Clark Information

Available Resources:

Image Citation:

South Dakota Hall of Fame

Casey Tibbs
Casey Tibbs

Born in Ft. Pierre in 1929, Casey Tibbs was a rodeo cowboy, businessman and actor. Starting his career at age 12, Tibbs would go on to win nine world championship titles across bareback riding, saddle bronc riding and all-around cowboy disciplines. While serving on the Professional Rodeo Cowboys’ Association (PRCA) board of directors, he advocated for a season-ending championship event, which would grow to become the National Finals Rodeo (NFR.) The PRCA hosted the first National Finals Rodeo in Dallas, Texas in 1959, where Tibbs competed for the final time. He died at the age of 60 in 1990. Today, the Casey Tibbs South Dakota Rodeo Center in Ft. Pierre, South Dakota carries on the legacy of Casey and other notable South Dakota cowboys.

James "Tama Jim" Wilson
James "Tama Jim" Wilson

James “Tama Jim” Wilson was a Scottish-American politician who served as United States Secretary of Agriculture for 16 years during three presidencies, from 1897 to 1913. Born in Ayrshire, Scotland, in 1835, “Tama Jim” grew up in a farming community near the birthplace of famous poet Robert Burns. Upon immigrating to the United States, Wilson served as a professor of agriculture at Iowa State University, was a member of the Iowa and United States House of Representatives and served as Secretary of Agriculture for William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt and William Taft. During this time, he worked closely with land grant universities (including SDSU) and professors, sending N.E. Hansen on multiple trips through the years. William McKinley once noted had it not been for Wilson’s birth in Scotland, he would have undoubtedly been elected president of the United States. James Wilson died at the age of 85 in 1920, and still holds the record as the longest-serving United States Cabinet member.


Contributors

This project was a collaboration between The South Dakota Agricultural Heritage Museum and National History Day in South Dakota. The museum would also like to add an additional thank you to South Dakota State University History majors Paige Barthel, Clara Burns, Austin Kuchel, Lauren Pierce and Megan Stiefvater. They served as National History Day in South Dakota student interns, researching and compiling resources for this project.

South Dakota Agricultural Heritage Museum logo with South Dakota State University written beneath it; SDSU logo; National History Day in South Dakota logo with Mount Rushmore