Inyan Kara Mountain ( lkt, Íŋyaŋ Káǧa, Rock Gatherer ) is a mountain associated with the Bear Lodge Mountains of

Crook County, Wyoming Crook County is a county in the northeastern section of the U.S. state of Wyoming. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 7,181, making it the third-least populous county in Wyoming. Its county seat is Sundance. History Crook ...

, (part of the

Black Hills The Black Hills ( lkt, Ȟe Sápa; chy, Moʼȯhta-voʼhonáaeva; hid, awaxaawi shiibisha) is an isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States. Black ...

) that is considered sacred by the Lakota people, particularly for mothers in childbirth. Inyan Kara stands apart from the main body of the Black Hills, with an elevation of . The mountain was stated to rumble on quiet days by the local Native Americans and by early explorers. No mention of the noises is found after 1833; the noise has been attributed to gas escaping from burning coal seams. The peak was visited by

George Armstrong Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, b ...

during Custer's 1874 Black Hills Expedition, reaching the summit on July 23. The peak was placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1973.

Photo gallery

File:Inyan Kara, altitude 6,000 feet, by Illingworth, W. H. (William H.), 1842-1893.jpg, ''Inyan Kara, altitude 6,000 feet.'', a stereoscopic photograph from 1874 by William H. Illingworth File:Black Hills Mountains from Inyan Kara.JPG, The Black Hills from the summit of Inyan Kara File:Black Hills Prairie from Inyan Kara.JPG, The prairie surrounding the Black Hills from the summit of Inyan Kara

References

External links

Inyan Kara Mountain
at the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office
Inyan Kara Mountain
at

Black Hills National Forest Black Hills National Forest is located in southwestern South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming, United States. The forest has an area of over 1.25 million acres (5,066 km²) and is managed by the Forest Service. Forest headquarters are locate ...

* Penry, Jerry
"Sacred Mountain—Climbing Inyan Kara"
''American Surveyor, The.'' Vol. 10, Issue 10, 27 September 2013 Mountains of Crook County, Wyoming Mountains of Wyoming Black Hills Natural features on the National Register of Historic Places in Wyoming Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Wyoming National Register of Historic Places in Crook County, Wyoming Religious places of the indigenous peoples of North America {{Wyoming-NRHP-stub