Northern Hills Rest Area

Northern Hills Rest Area. . , South Dakota's rich western heritage has been remembered along the inter-state highway system at safety rest areas and tourist information centers., The eight pillars which thrust skyward here merge in the framework of a tipi, the Plains Indian home. The one-by-one-and-one-half foot concrete lodgepoles rise fifty-six feet in the air and weigh six-and-one-half tons each. The structures were executed in an architectural manner reflecting the spartan lifestyle of the nomadic Lakota (Sioux) Nation., To the south and east of here lie the northern Black Hills. Before the arrival of the Lakota, the Kiowa, Cheyenne, and Crow roamed these foothills. A band of Oglala Sioux first entered the Hills in 1775-76, according to a tribal winter count., White goldseekers were also early arrivals to the Black Hills. The oldest evidence of their presence was written on a small sandstone slab called the Thoen Stone, discovered in 1887 on Lookout Peak, about ten miles (16 kilometers) east of here overlooking Spearfish. It tells of an expedition of seven men who in 1833 and 1834 dug into the Hills, getting "all the gold we could carry" before being killed by Indians. The last member of the party, Ezra Kind, scratched the message while being hunted down., The community of Spearfish was founded on the shirttails of the Black Hills gold rush in May, 1876, by townsite speculators. Even while gold fever was at a high degree, settlers were also moved by the prospect of land and its long term dividends. Black Hills Normal School, now Black Hills State College, was founded at Spearfish in 1887., The Black Hills rise quickly from this point south; within 20 miles, the major peaks reach above 7,000 feet west of Lead and Deadwood. Several scenic canyons and passes provide access into the inner Black Hills, notably Spearfish Canyon, carved by Spearfish Creek in the 19 miles (30 kilometers) from Spearfish to Cheyenne Crossing.