Custer State Park

(Custer State Park, Custer, SD: 17 July 2010) Custer State Park is absolutely gorgeous. We were thrilled to see buffalo, big horned elk, white tailed deer, prairie dogs, and mules as we drove through the park. Named after George Armstrong Custer, the park encompasses some of the area explored by a Custer led Army expedition in 1874. The US had signed a treaty with the Sioux Nation in 1872 agreeing to not try to take the Black Hills, an area long held sacred by the Sioux and other tribes. Though authorized by the Army, Custer's expedition itself was probably a violation of the treaty. What made matters worse, one of Custer's men found gold in French Creek (picture at very top). That kind of news can't be kept secret. Soon the Black Hills were swarming with miners trying to make it rich. It was only a matter of time before the Army was sent to protect the miners from the Indians. The US broke the treaty and the Indians eventually lost their lands. Custer would die at the Battle of Little Big Horn, in Montana, about 150 miles west of here in 1876. He was killed by the same Indians whose lands had been turned into mining camps in these Black Hills.