Fort Yates in Sioux County, North Dakota — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)
Standing Rock Monument
Inyan Bosdata/Inyan Wostat Han
Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, July 20, 2025
1. Standing Rock Monument Marker
Captions: (sidebar on left) (Map of Standing Rock Sioux Reservation); The Standing Rock Native American Scenic Byway offers access to authentic history and culture of the Lakota /Dakota people, along with casino entertainment, great food and lodging, and uncrowded outdoor recreation. Grand vistas present the Missouri River along the same routes traveled by Lewis and Clark, Sakakawea, and Sitting Bull.; (bottom center) D.F. Barry photograph of the dedication ceremony held on November 6, 1886. Sitting Bull is to the left, Major McLaughlin and is translator, Louie Prime, art to the right. The original stone pedestal was replaced with the brick monument prior to 1890.; (middle right) Fire Cloud; He prayed that this peace might last forever.
Inscription.
Standing Rock Monument. Inyan Bosdata/Inyan Wostat Han. The Standing Rock is a stone held sacred by the Dakota/Lakota people. There are may stories about the stone, but all speak of it as a woman or woman with child who turned to stone. It was thought to be Wakan - holy or sacred and was revered by the people. Waking on Shell Woman (Amanda Grass) stated, "The people prayed there. It was holy. There were red and blue blankets by that stone. There was cloth there and food to eat. If a Wiceyelo was sick he prayed to get well. If he got well he tied some tobacco in a bag and hung it there on a stick." Andrew Iron Road stated that the people "placed many presents around it - blankets, beads, and things to eat, and grass and cloth on sticks which had been peeled of bark.: , , The earliest reference to the stone is in the John K. Bear Winter Count for the year 1740; "A woman pouted and turned to stone." In the 1870's the stone was north of Fort Yates. In 1886 at the urging of Agent James McLaufhlin, the stone was placed on a monument in front of the old agency buildings. Prior to the dedication, the leading men of the tribe, including Sitting Bull, held a council. During the long deliberations the stories about the rock were discussed. Since the stone had been carried from place to place for generations, it was a serious matter to have it set where it could no longer be moved. The council also selected Fire Cloud to conduct the dedication ceremony. He was a man about 60 years old who was a spiritual leader noted for his purity and for his powerful prayers. He was also a "hostile," one of those who refused to return to the reservation in 1876, and was originally a member of the Blackfoot band. During the ceremony he thanked the Great Spirit and the rock on behalf of his entire nation for the cessation of warfare., (Sidebar on left:) ,
Standing Rock Native American Scenic Byway . On the east side of Fort Yates overlooking Oahe Reservoir, is the Standing Rock Monument from which the Standing Road Agency derived its name. According to legend, the stone is a fortification of the Arikara wife of a Dakota man with her child on her back.
The Standing Rock is a stone held sacred by the Dakota/Lakota people. There are may stories about the stone, but all speak of it as a woman or woman with child who turned to stone. It was thought to be Wakan - holy or sacred and was revered by the people. Waking on Shell Woman (Amanda Grass) stated, "The people prayed there. It was holy. There were red and blue blankets by that stone. There was cloth there and food to eat. If a Wiceyelo was sick he prayed to get well. If he got well he tied some tobacco in a bag and hung it there on a stick." Andrew Iron Road stated that the people "placed many presents around it - blankets, beads, and things to eat, and grass and cloth on sticks which had been peeled of bark.:
The earliest reference to the stone is in the John K. Bear Winter Count for the year 1740; "A woman pouted and turned to stone." In the 1870's the stone was north of Fort Yates. In 1886 at the urging of Agent James McLaufhlin, the stone was placed on a monument in front of the old agency buildings. Prior to the dedication, the leading men of the tribe, including Sitting Bull, held a council. During the long deliberations the stories about the rock were discussed. Since the stone had been carried from place to place for generations, it was a serious matter to have it set where it could no longer be moved. The council
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also selected Fire Cloud to conduct the dedication ceremony. He was a man about 60 years old who was a spiritual leader noted for his purity and for his powerful prayers. He was also a "hostile," one of those who refused to return to the reservation in 1876, and was originally a member of the Blackfoot band. During the ceremony he thanked the Great Spirit and the rock on behalf of his entire nation for the cessation of warfare.
(Sidebar on left:)
Standing Rock Native American Scenic Byway
On the east side of Fort Yates overlooking Oahe Reservoir, is the Standing Rock Monument from which the Standing Road Agency derived its name. According to legend, the stone is a fortification of the Arikara wife of a Dakota man with her child on her back.
Location. 46° 5.604′ N, 100° 37.62′ W. Marker is in Fort Yates, North Dakota, in Sioux County. It is at the intersection of Standing Rock Avenue and Fort Street, on the left when traveling south on Standing Rock Avenue. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Fort Yates ND 58538, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker and monument is on North Dakota’s Missouri Plateau. It is also in the American Lewis & Clark Corridor, on the prairies, and on the Northern Plains. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once Ruperts Land and also the Louisiana Purchase.
Another marker is no longer nearby. Sitting Bull (was approx. 0.4 miles away but has been permanently removed).
Also see . . . The Legend of Standing Rock -- The First Scout. In one version of the story, a Dakota man took an Arikara woman for a wife, and together they had a child. Sometime later he took a second wife, as was a custom of Plains Indian men.
The first wife took offense at the attentions her husband gave the second wife, and she grew resentful and jealous. At this time, the Yanktonai Dakota were camping along what today is called Stone Idol Creek, a tributary of the Cannonball River. When the time came to break camp, the angry woman refused to move from her place on the lodge floor. The lodge was taken down around her, and still she refused to move and there she sat on the ground with her baby on her back and remained there as the camp and her husband moved on. (Submitted on October 5, 2025, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.)
Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, July 20, 2025
3. Standing Rock Monument
Credits. This page was last revised on October 5, 2025. It was originally submitted on October 5, 2025, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 92 times since then and 48 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on October 5, 2025, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.
