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Last time we did North Dakota and now we are on to its opposite… South Dakota! The state is found in the midwestern region of the US and is bordered with North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming and Montana. The state capital is Pierre and the largest city is Sioux Falls. It has a larger population and is more densely populated than North Dakota, but it is still the fifth smallest population and fifth least densely populated out of the other US states, most of its population is focused in the East.
The state is cut in half by the Missouri River, dividing the state into areas called East River and West River. Much of South Dakota is made up of Grasslands, excluding the Black Hills found in the southwest of the state. Most of the Western two-thirds of South Dakota are the Great Plains. Plateaus and buttes as well as prairies can be found in the state and there are also hilly areas elsewhere.
Agriculture and the Service industry as well as the Government make up a large part of South Dakota’s economy and tourism is also an important part as well. The world-famous Mt. Rushmore is also found in South Dakota, the national memorial has the heads of George Washington (1st US President), Thomas Jefferson (3rd US President), Theodore Roosevelt (26th US President) and Abraham Lincoln (16th US President) carved into the mountain-side.
Just like North Dakota and many other parts of the US, South Dakota has a long history with the Native Americans, with the Sioux tribes once dominating the area before European settlers arrived and eventually terrible wars begun between the two sides and the resulting dark event of the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890 when several hundred Lakota Indians, almost half being woman and children, were massacred by the United States Army.
We shall now move on to the usual paranormal/cryptid segment now and first up is a relatively unknown bigfoot type creature that is either an actual cryptid, some kind of demon or entity or as is perhaps the sanest explanation, just a simple legend from the misidentification of a normal animal or something that has been made through legend as a way of explaining things.
I am talking about something known as the Taku-He, an apparent bigfoot like creature said to be found in the grasslands of South Dakota and also sometimes in the Black Hills area. It isn’t clear where such a creature originated from and as said it isn’t well known like some other localized cryptids or legends.
But it has been feared by some communities in the state and has been blamed for an array of things such as people going missing and even the creature making people suggestible to the idea of suicide. It is one of those strange creatures or entities that doesn’t exactly fit in any one box and it is highly likely this is due to community morphing of such an entity as some sort of coping mechanism to explain things that cannot be fully explained.
Its explanation has varied from looking like a type of Bigfoot, to looking human like in appearance (where in this case it has been referred to as “Walking Sam”), but in both cases very tall, sometimes hugely tall to the point where it is 10ft or higher. Some have even described the creature as wearing human like clothes. Strangely there have been a number of instances where it has claimed to be sighted. One such sighting in the 1970s claimed someone saw such a creature pulling a dead animal behind it as it walked through a field. The thing has also been blamed for unexplained animal mutilations as well.
Some say that the creature/creatures or entity/entities can cause mischief and misfortune to different communities in the areas it inhabits. It does make me wonder that if such a thing as this does actually exists, then it does very much sound like some sort of shape-shifting entity such as the Native American skinwalker.
Whatever it may or may not be, it sounds pretty terrifying and I certainly would not want to come across this thing. Could it have been something that came into existence due to the collective thought of such a thing, actually bringing it into existence as some kind of thought-form? Nothing else would seem to make sense, as from what I can understand, it isn’t simply just a type of bigfoot.
It could well be that whatever this thing is, it has somehow been mixed up with the bigfoot, perhaps this would make more sense if the entity does in-fact shape-shift. Nonetheless it is something that is incredibly difficult to believe unless you spot it yourself. Also does sound like some kind of boogeyman as well.
But the simplest explanation is that it is folklore molding and changing with the time.
South Dakota also has a water cryptid legend as well, surrounding that of Lake Kampeska.
The glacial lake is found near Watertown and is within the county of Codington. There is much residential development around the lake, making it the most urban lake in South Dakota. The lake itself is the third largest natural lake in the state. The lakes beauty inspired nature artists such as Terry Redlin as well. The lake is a popular attraction for those looking to do some recreational activities, such as boating, biking, camping, waterskiing, swimming, fishing and picnicking.
And that leads us right into the legend that comes from the late 1800s, specifically 1888 and involves a group of people having a picnic near to the lake for them to then be subsequently disturbed by some kind of water beast that emerged from Lake Kampeska.
The encounter was given to a local paper called the Watertown Public Opinion newspaper. The water monster was described as looking lizard-like and being at least 200 feet in length with a V-shaped tail that was a huge 30ft in length. It also had a large crested head as well as scales all over its body. One of the witnesses told the newspaper that it opened its awful jaws and from which it uttered the most unearthly laugh.
Of course, soon after that the group fled back home, leaving everything behind near the shore of the lake.
It all sounds rather comical. One of the popular explanations is that it was some kind of large fish, such as a big sturgeon, which is often a common explanation for unexplained water beast encounters. The only thing is if it was a sturgeon, how was it able to emanate such an obnoxious laugh at the terrified group? There is also speculation that it could merely have been made up for fun, but the people that encountered this were described as well educated, so you would think they would not really be the sort to make some silly joke such as this.
Did you also know there is a legend of a Banshee in South Dakota as well? I guess it isn’t too much of a surprise as immigrants to America from Ireland were not uncommon, but the Banshee is also described as being different to the typical Irish variant which warned of upcoming death to particular Irish families via letting out a loud scream or shriek.
This particular Banshee could actually just be a ghost haunting, and the area this apparent Banshee or ghost is found is in the Badlands of South Dakota, particularly focused around the Watch Dog butte. There are various explanations as to why this female entity is there, all to do with a woman having been murdered in the area long, long ago, with it either a white woman killed by the Natives or a Native American woman killed there.
Whatever it may be, the restless spirit/Banshee is said to roam the area now, having done for many, many decades, scaring and jumping out on anyone or group bold enough to pass through the area, such as a war party, travelers, cowboys and hunters. The difference of it from a typical Irish Banshee is that it targets anyone rather than warning specific families or people and it also does not warm of death, but merely harasses anyone who passes.
Next up we will look at a Native American legend. Remember the Nimerigar from my previous posts? Little aggressive peoples feared by the Native Americans. Well there are also another group of little people’s that the Sioux tribe of the area greatly feared. The area in question is found at the Spirit Mound Historic Prairie, which is a state park located near the city of Vermillion in the state. The mound located in the state park is believed by the Native American tribes to be the home of a race of dangerous and aggressive little peoples that will attack and kill anyone who comes close or on to the mound.
There is a story from the Lakota Peoples about a group of 350 warriors who got close to the mound during late hours and were attacked by these Little Peoples, killing nearly all of them and crippling any of the few survivors for life. Many of the Native American tribes refuse to get close to the area, seeing it as a major taboo.
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition visited the mound themselves and Lewis wrote in a journal about the little peoples calling them “devils” and that they had very large heads, were 18 inches in height and were very alert to intrusions on their territory. It was said that these little peoples also carried sharp ranged arrows. Lewis and Clark did not come across any of the little peoples when they visited the mound themselves, perhaps luckily for them.
It is interesting to think on what could have promoted this legend to come about, as it had to have originated from somewhere.
To round this off we shall move on to a haunted place and South Dakota actually has a lot to choose from and we will be choosing a place from the city of Deadwood, historically known for its Old West history and the infamous figures Wyatt Earp, Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok, who some say still haunt the city to this day.
But we shall be checking out the Bullock Hotel, another one of America’s most haunted locations and possibly one of South Dakota’s most haunted places, although there is plenty of competition. The hotel is the oldest in Deadwood and is named after Seth Bullock who built the hotel around 1894-1896 along with his business partner Sol Star. Seth Bullock was the first Sheriff of Deadwood and also became good friends with Theodore Roosevelt, who would later go on to be the 26th US President. Bullock built the hotel after his Hardware store burned down.
The most popular ghost at the hotel is Seth Bullock himself who died in 1919 from Colon Cancer, although there is a misconception that he died at the hotel when he actually died at his home, which is falsely the reason many think he haunts the hotel. Although, just because he didn’t actually die at the hotel does not mean he doesn’t haunt it, it is strongly believed by many believers in the paranormal that the ghost of a person can be attracted to places they have strong pride in, perhaps as a way to make sure it keeps up and running, the attachment being very strong.
And that is exactly what it is believed Seth Bullock does, as many employees have claimed to sense a paranormal presence if they are taking a break or not working as hard or good as they could be. Bullock though isn’t said to be an aggressive ghost, simply just a ghost that apparently likes his employees to be hard workers. Sounds of a piano playing or the unexplained smell of cigar smoke is said to be a telltale sign of Seth Bullocks ghost.
An interesting alleged psychic incident took place in April 1991, in relation to Seth Bullock, when a man all the way in Dorset, England was said to have been contacted by Seth Bullock to warn of a period of lawlessness that threatened Deadwood. Coincidentally the psychic who claimed to be contacted by Seth Bullock’s ghost was called Sandy Bullock. For many believers, this was confirmation that Seth Bullock was a frequent ghost at the hotel.
Other unexplained phenomena have included ghostly shadows and objects such as chairs being moved without explanation as well as the apparition of Seth Bullock, dressed in Old West style clothing.
The haunting of Bullock Hotel is well known and has been featured on the programs Unsolved Mysteries and Ghost Adventures. The Hotel itself offers haunted tours for visitors interested in the paranormal side.
And that is some of the strange mysterious side of South Dakota. Next up we will look at Nebraska.
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