The Black Hills is a small isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming. Set off from the main body of the Rocky Mountains, the region is somewhat of a geographic anomaly. The region is considered sacred by the Native Americans of the plains. After the discovery of gold in the 1870s, the conflict over control of the region sparked the last major Indian Wars on the Great Plains.
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Following the defeat of the Sioux and their allies in 1876, the United States purchased the region. In 1877-1878 thousands of miners went there, and in 1880 there had already sprung into existence three towns, Deadwood, Central City, and Leadville. Around these lay also groups of smaller towns and villages. From 1880 the gold mines yielded about $4,000,000 annually, and the silver mines about $3,000,000 annually. The region is also rich in copper, lead, iron and mica. The soil is fertile and the hills have abundant facilities for the grazing of cattle. Thrifty farmers have settled there, and many of them have good farms and fine improvements. Good schoolhouses have also been built in different settlements.
The geology of the Black Hills is complex. A Tertiary mountain building episode is responsible for the uplift and current topography of the Black Hills region. This uplift was marked by volcanic activity in the northern Black Hills. The southern Black Hills are characterized by Precambrian granite, pegmatite and metamorphic rocks that comprise the core of the entire Black Hills uplift. This core is rimmed by Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic sedimentary rocks.
The region is home to Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Wind Cave National Park, Jewel Cave National Monument and Harney Peak (highest point in South Dakota).
Source: The Americana