The Black Hills, Bear Lodge Mountains, and Devils Tower - Mountains and Plains: The Ecology of Wyoming Landscapes - page 266

Chapter 16 The Black Hills,
Bear Lodge Mountains,
and Devils Tower

the mountains of western South Dakota and northeast-
ern Wyoming, known as the Black Hills and Bear Lodge
Mountains, originated at approximately the same time
as the mountains to the west. 1 the highest point is Har-
ney Peak, at 7,242 feet above sea level. Fifty million years
of erosion have stripped thousands of feet of sedimen-
tary material, exposing the more erosion-resistant gra-
nitic core. erosion occurred largely toward the east, the
direction in which the two major rivers flow, the Belle
Fourche and the cheyenne (fig. 16.1). Devils tower, an
unusual geologic feature, is commonly thought to have
been the neck of a volcano, though there is debate about
its origin (fig. 16.2).
native Americans lived in the Black Hills when the
Vérendrye brothers, two French explorers, traveled
through the region in the mid-1700s. Most likely they
were the first europeans to cross the northern Great
Plains and see the Rocky Mountains . 2 More than a hun-
dred years later, in 1874, Lt. col. George A. custer came
to the Hills from Fort Abraham Lincoln, near Bismarck,
north Dakota. traveling with 1,200 troopers, 1,000
horses, and 110 wagons pulled by mules, plus 300 head
of cattle, his mission was to reconnoiter a route to the
Black Hills and explore their interior. For his journal
entry on July 25, custer wrote:

hands, while the head-gear of the horses was deco-
rated with wreaths of flowers fit to crown a queen of
May. Deeming it a most fitting appellation, i named
this Floral Valley.

Another member of his expedition observed, “every-
body was making bouquets. . . . Some said they would
give a hundred dollars just to have their wives see the
floral richness for even one hour. ” 3
the colorful flowers that custer and his men enjoyed
most likely included anemone, blanketflower, bluebells,
blue-eyed grass, geranium, nodding onion, shooting star,
wild iris, and yellow owl's clover. 4 c uster also had his pic-
ture taken in the Black Hills with a dead grizzly bear. 5
congress designated much of the area as a forest reserve
in 1897, and today, most of the Black Hills and Bear
Lodge Mountains are in the Black Hills national Forest.
the Black Hills have been an important source of
gold over the years, with north America's deepest and
largest underground gold mine located in Lead, South
Dakota. it closed in 2002 after 126 years of operation.
Many tourists toured the mine each summer. Visitors
continue to be attracted to the Hills by Devils tower
national Monument, Jewel cave national Monument,
Mount Rushmore national Memorial, Wind cave
national Park, the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, and
a summer climate that is cooler than that on the sur-
rounding plains. the region also is an important source
of wood, water, and livestock forage.
Botanically, one of the most interesting features
of the area is the assemblage of plants found there

every step of our march that day was amid flowers of
the most exquisite colors and perfume. So luxuriant
in growth were they that men plucked them without
dismounting from the saddle. . . . it was a strange
sight . . . the men with beautiful bouquets in their

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