Death & Souvenirs | Exploring Crow Butte, South Dakota | RuralEx and History Mini-Doc

On This episode of Decadence and Decay, we stop by a roadside attraction near the site of not just one, but possibly two horrific massacres -each with a surprising twist at the end.

This is… Death and Souvenirs, Exploring Crow Buttes, South Dakota

[INTRO] The darker side of history, past & present

LOCATION
The Crow Buttes are located just north of Buffalo South Dakota in Harding County. A vast plane dotted with buttes and interesting geology, the famous Hell Creek Formation covers 54% of the county. Uranium , Lignite , Crushed Stone , Petroleum (Oil) , and Natural Gas mines were also once located in this region. The Riley Pass uranium mine in Harding County was one of hundreds of sites mined to provide fuel for nuclear weapons and reactors.

NAME
Crow Buttes, not to be confused with the more popular Crow Butte in Nebraska, most likely received its name form the battles fought between the Crow and Lakota. Known as “The Crow” in English today, the original name was, Absaroka (pronounced ab-SOR-ka), which translates as "children of the large-beaked bird”.

Given to them by the Hidatsa, a neighboring Siouan (Soo—An) speaking tribe, French interpreters translated the name as "people of [the] crow", and they became known in English as the Crow.

The Hidatsa language is related to that of the Crow, and they are sometimes considered a parent tribe to the modern Crow in Montana.

Now let’s explore the fascinating history of Crow Buttes, and see what it looks like today.

The Crow Buttes Mercantile Store sits along side the CanAm Highway. Started in 1920, it connects Mexico to Canada, running along 6 US states.

Purchased approximately two years ago by the current owners, the shop which serves shakes, burgers, and sells touristy items sits as a sharp juxtaposition to the horrors which occurred just out the back door.

Traveling back in time, we would see vast plaines inhabited by many tribes. But this episode will focus on a battle, and subsequent slaughter which took place nearly 200 years ago…

Along the CanAm highway running north out of Buffalo South Dakota, one of the most graphic historical roadsigns I’ve seen sits in front of The Crow Buttes.

It states, “Crow Buttes, located in Harding County, was the scene of a bizarre battle between the Crow and Sioux Indians in the summer of 1822. Sioux men ravaged a Crow camp, destroying it and raping the squaws. Warfare ensued, Crow warriors left their women and children and old folks at Sand Creek north of the Buttes, fleeing for a better vantage point on top of the Crow Buttes, with Sioux fighters chasing them.

The Crows had no water with them and being sultry weather no rain fell. The Sioux encircled the Crow Buttes and waited patiently until the trapped Crows died from thirst. Subsequently, the nearby canyon of skulls, to the northwest, was filled with skeletons of Sioux who had died like flies after contracting a fever from the Crows.”

A writer and scholar by the name of Dakota Wind, on his blog called “The First Scout”, adds an additional battle to the location of Crow Buttes, South Dakota.

By looking at a winter count, he puts forth evidence of an eerily similar encounter roughly thirty years later. I should note, “Winter Counts” are pictorial calendars or histories in which tribal records and events were recorded by Native Americans…. The Blackfeet, Mandan, Kiowa, Lakota, and other Plains tribes used winter counts extensively.

Dakota Wind writes, “According to the Blue Thunder winter count (amongst several other winter counts) the Hunkpapa Lakota engaged in a battle with the Crow at Crow Buttes in 1858.  Using the same strategy thirty years before, the Lakota waited out the battle letting the Crow again perish of thirst at the buttes.  According to the Blue Thunder winter count, the Hunkpapa Lakota war party climbed the butte and executed the Crow war party - there were nine Crow warriors, all shot in the head. After the execution, the Crow war party, all nine of them, were beheaded, their bodies left for scavengers.”

While we could never cover the vast and fascinating history of both the Lakota and Crow in just this video, we can certainly gain a topical understanding of what transpired at the location. Today, The Crow Buttes Mercantile offers fuel, food, and rest to people who past by. Many who drive may never know the bloody history which transpired just past the fence line.