Thunder Butte (

Lakota Lakota may refer to: *Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes *Lakota language Lakota ( ), also referred to as Lakhota, Teton or Teton Sioux, is a Siouan languages, Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of ...

: ''Wakíŋyaŋ Pahá'') is a prominent

butte In geomorphology, a butte ( ) is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and table (landform), tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from the French l ...

landmark located in the northwest corner of Ziebach County,

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Thunder Butte is a large, isolated hill that can be seen for many miles in every direction, and has served throughout history as an important

orientation Orientation may refer to: Positioning in physical space * Map orientation, the relationship between directions on a map and compass directions * Orientation (housing), the position of a building with respect to the sun, a concept in building des ...

point for area residents or a navigational aide for travelers crossing the surrounding plains. The butte gives its name to a small community at its base, and to a small creek that runs into the Moreau River.

Geography

Thunder Butte was formed by

differential erosion Weathering is the deterioration of Rock (geology), rocks, soils and minerals (as well as wood and artificial materials) through contact with water, atmospheric gases, sunlight, and biological organisms. It occurs ''in situ'' (on-site, with litt ...

. Its summit is above sea level, and rises some three to five hundred feet (90 – 150 metres) above the surrounding grasslands. Thunder Butte is the highest point in Ziebach County. Thunder Butte lies on the

drainage divide A drainage divide, water divide, ridgeline, watershed, water parting or height of land is elevated terrain that separates neighboring drainage basins. On rugged land, the divide lies along topographical ridges, and may be in the form of a single ...

between the Grand River, to the north, and the Moreau River to the south; both rivers drain eastward to the

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. The butte is located about west of the

Missouri River The Missouri River is a river in the Central United States, Central and Mountain states, Mountain West regions of the United States. The nation's longest, it rises in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Moun ...

, and about northeast of the

Black Hills The Black Hills is an isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States. Black Elk Peak, which rises to , is the range's highest summit. The name of the range ...

, (both distances

as the crow flies The expression ''as the crow flies'' is an idiom for the most direct path between two points. Etymology The meaning of the expression is attested from the early 19th century, and appeared in the Charles Dickens novel ''Oliver Twist'' (1838): ...

). The geographical coordinates of Thunder Butte (Wakinyan Paha) are Latitude N 45.319978 (49 19 12 N) and Longitude W -101.880704 (-101 52 51 W). The butte lies in the Southeast quarter of Section 26 of Township 16 North, Range 18 East.

Native Americans and Thunder Butte

Thunder Butte is “Wakinyan Paha” in the language of the

Lakota people The Lakota (; or ) are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people. Also known as the Teton Sioux (from ), they are one of the three prominent subcultures of the Sioux people, with the Eastern Dakota (Santee) and Western D ...

, to whom the butte has historic, religious and cultural significance. In traditional Lakota lore, thunder originated on the butte. Four Bands of the Lakota Sioux has resided in this area since about 1776 after being forced onto the Reservation. A high concentration of Lakota Sioux people still reside around the Thunder Butte landmark – Ziebach County, where Thunder Butte is located, has a 72.29%

Native American Native Americans or Native American usually refers to Native Americans in the United States. Related terms and peoples include: Ethnic groups * Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North, South, and Central America ...

population. The prominent landmark is clearly visible from two surrounding reservations of the Lakota and Dakota Sioux people; the butte is within the

Cheyenne River Indian Reservation The Cheyenne River Indian Reservation was created by the United States in 1889 by breaking up the Great Sioux Reservation, following the attrition of the Lakota people, Lakota in a series of wars in the 1870s. The reservation covers almost ...

which has Lakota people from four bands/tribes of the Lakota nation, and the butte is only a short distance from the southern boundary of the

Standing Rock Indian Reservation The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North & South Dakota controls the Standing Rock Reservation (), which straddles the border between North and South Dakota in the United States, and is inhabited by ethnic "Hunkpapa and Sihasapa bands of Lako ...

which has people of the Lakota and Dakota nations

Geology

Thunder Butte has an erosion resistant cap of harder

Paleocene The Paleocene ( ), or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 mya (unit), million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), ...

age sedimentary rock known as the Ludlow Formation. Lower elevations of surroundings grasslands/plains are underlain by the softer and more easily eroded

Hell Creek The Hell Creek Formation is an intensively studied division of mostly Upper Cretaceous and some lower Paleocene rocks in North America, named for exposures studied along Hell Creek, near Jordan, Montana. The formation stretches over portions o ...

sedimentary rock.E-mail, South Dakota Geological Survey Program, August 19, 2008 The cap of Ludlow Formation rock is an erosional remnant, and other buttes in this area of western South Dakota are also capped by similar Ludlow Formation erosional remnants. Geological maps are available online, which show Thunder Butte, and its cap of the Ludlow Formation; see the 15 minute (1:62,500 scale) Glad Valley geologic map, which can be viewed and downloaded from the SD Geological Surveys website. The regional geological aspect can also be viewed on the Geologic map of South Dakota, but Thunder Butte's cap of Ludlow Formation rock is too small a feature to be shown on the regional map with its larger 1:500,000 scale.

In literature

Literary references to Thunder Butte appear in the story of

Hugh Glass Hugh Glass ( 1783 – 1833) was an American frontiersman, Trapping, fur trapper, trader, hunter and explorer. He is best known for his story of survival and forgiveness after being left for dead by companions when he was mauled by a grizzly bear ...

, a mountain man/trapper with the 1823 party of

William Henry Ashley William Henry Ashley (c. 1778 – March 26, 1838) was an American miner, land speculator, manufacturer, territorial militia general, politician, frontiersman, fur trader, entrepreneur and hunter. Ashley was best known for being the co-owner wit ...

and Andrew Henry, which was traveling overland from Fort Kiowa to Fort Henry at the mouth of the

Yellowstone River The Yellowstone River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long, in the Western United States. Considered the principal tributary of the upper Missouri, via its own tributaries it drains an area with headwaters across the mountain ...

. In August 1823, on the south fork of the Grand River (located north west of Thunder Butte, in

Perkins County, South Dakota Perkins County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,835. Its county seat is Bison. The county was established in 1908 and organized in 1909. It was named for Sturgis, South Dakota, offici ...

), Hugh Glass encountered a

grizzly bear The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horr ...

and was so badly mauled that he was left for dead by the others in his party. Reviving, he found himself alone and unable to travel except by crawling. Hugh Glass crawled from the Grand River to the Moreau River and then on south to the

Cheyenne River The Cheyenne River (; "Good River"), also written ''Chyone'', referring to the Cheyenne people who once lived there, is a tributary of the Missouri River in the U.S. states of Wyoming and South Dakota. It is approximately 295 miles (475 ...

, a distance of some . This "crawl" consumed six weeks. After reaching the

, Hugh Glass recuperated for a time and then fashioned a crude

raft A raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is usually of basic design, characterized by the absence of a hull. Rafts are usually kept afloat by using any combination of buoyant materials such as wood, sealed barre ...

on which he floated down the

and

to Fort Kiowa. The Grand-to-Moreau-to-Cheyenne River "crawl" took Glass by Thunder Butte on the divide between the Moreau and Grand Rivers, and factual and fictional accounts note that in making his crawl to the

, Hugh Glass navigated by watching Thunder Butte which was first ahead, then alongside, then behind him. Thunder Butte has been commemorated by white settlers who saw beauty and majesty in the prominent landmark. The following poem was written by G. M. Drummond, who was appointed Zeibach County Superintendent of Schools in 1912 and elected in 1927. A pioneer and longtime resident of the area, Mr. Drummond died in 1973. "Thunder Butte"

In northern Ziebach County
Stands Thunder Butte alone
The monarch of surrounding hills ...
With a diadem of stone!
He stood there countless ages,
While red men roamed the plains
And Buffalo and antelope
Grazed over vast domains.
There still he stands undaunted,
While seasons come and go,
Unchanged alike by summer sun
Or by the Winter snow.
The Persepolis of Persia
Stood not more dignified,
Nor the Acropolis of Athens
In its historic pride!
Rule on, Majestic Mountain!
May nothing ever mar
Your innate rugged beauty,
That may be seen afar.
G. M. Drummond

From, “South Dakota's Ziebach County, History of the Prairie” published in 1982 by the Ziebach County Historical Society in Dupree, SD.

Other geographical features and locations named after Thunder Butte

''Thunder Butte Creek'' originates to the west of the butte, and flows by the southwest side of the butte, and then extends southeasterly to join the Moreau River. The small unincorporated community of ''Thunder Butte'' is located near this river junction at these geographical coordinates: Lat. 45.21166 N, Long. -101.670016 W.

Notes

Many other buttes in this area of western South Dakota are capped by erosional remnants. Besides the Ludlow Formation, buttes in this area are capped by the Tongue River formations, White River Group sediments, and clinker beds formed by the combustion of coal seams which bake the surrounding rock into a hard erosion resistant layer.

References

{{Reflist, 33em

External links

Data on community of Thunder Butte

Thunder Butte Blog

Official Website of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe

Website of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe

South Dakota Geological Survey

South Dakota State Historical Society

Lakota mythology Buttes of South Dakota Landforms of Ziebach County, South Dakota Places in Native American mythology