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| where I went this month |
Because nearly 2 weeks into my time here I was still trying to catch up on my blog posts from my month in North Dakota, I never completely felt like I was being fair to South Dakota. But in many ways it is an interesting state, and I'll do my best for it here.
South Dakota's land
This state has a wide variety of types of land, and when I was in - say - northeastern SD, I found it hard to believe that the Black Hills were in the same state. Without getting into geologic terms, which I'm not very familiar with anyway, I'd say SD is mostly agrarian, with the exception of the southwestern section - the Black Hills and the Badlands.
Most of the eastern quarter of the state is in what they call Lakes Country. Pothole lakes, of course, as are throughout this area of the US - SD, ND and western Minnesota (I'm told). Also quite a few reservoirs scattered around the state. It's pretty country, though not exactly lush. A sort of arid version of east Texas.
As I said, much of the southwestern quarter is the Black Hills and the Badlands - which are complete opposites of each other visually. The Black Hills are genuine mountains coated with evergreens and deciduous trees (probably beautiful in the fall), and there isn't much flat land. The Badlands are aridly beautiful early and late in the day but otherwise just look mostly flat and inhospitable.
Except for the Lakes Country, the Black Hills and the Badlands, South Dakota is mostly rolling hills, grasslands, croplands (for corn, soybeans and sunflowers mostly), grazing land and cows and not much else. I can't say I was enamored with its beauty, because I didn't see as much beauty as I'd've expected. And a likely result of all this is that SD doesn't rank high among the states in per capita income - maybe 16th from the bottom, I think.
South Dakota's people
Most of the folks I met were pleasant people. All were glad to tell me how much they liked where they were living. Almost all said they were still living in the town they were born in. Almost everyone said they liked the town either because they liked the people who lived there or they liked living in a small town (which most of SD's towns are).
Most people were eager to give me travel advice about what to see in their state, although most tips were limited to the usual: the Black Hills, the Badlands, and the Lake Country.
SD isn't exactly multicultural: about 84% of South Dakotans are white, with more than half originally from Germany, Norway or Ireland. On the other hand, 8% of the population is Native American, ranking SD #3 among the states (behind only Alaska and New Mexico). With 86% of South Dakotans claiming to be Christians, the number of anti-abortion signs I saw is explained. Odd religious fact: SD has the largest population of Hutterites in the US (they're a communal Anabaptist group that emigrated in 1874 from Europe).
Driving in South Dakota
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| The majority of South Dakota's license plates look like this. |
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| I saw a lot of these - that start with W - and I think they're for tribal members. |
The roads here are good, in general. The roads through the mountains are well-constructed and didn't cause me much concern, despite the very rugged terrain in places. They're mostly well-signed and I didn't have too much trouble trying to find the places I was going.
Drivers here are generally easy to get along with. Few tailgate, most signal lane changes and turns in a reasonable way, and almost all were willing to pass when I moved over for them.
What I didn't see that I wanted to see
In my daily posts I mentioned quite a few places I'd want to see on a return trip through the state.
Besides those, I was sorry to miss the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, down in the far southeast corner of the state almost on the border with Nebraska near Iowa. I like to see the campuses of a state's major universities for some reason.
I'm also sorry I missed the state's history museum, which they call the SD Cultural Heritage Center. I was misled by the name and didn't realize when I was in Pierre that this was actually the place to go for state history. It seems a little spendy - they charge non-resident seniors $6.00, though they say there's a discount for AAA members - but I'd've been willing to pay it if I'd realized what was there.
My conclusion
I know that I'm probably not being fair to South Dakota for 2 reasons: I liked North Dakota very much so any state that followed my month there was likely to fall short of that standard; and I was so far behind in my blog posts for ND that I couldn't really put my full attention into SD for a good chunk of the month.
Those considerations aside, I can't say I'm a big fan of South Dakota - certainly not for living here. My impression is that everyone is so wildly proud of having 2 memorable areas of their state (the southwest and the far eastern lakes), that they're a little smug about it.
I guess if I had to put my impression of South Dakota and South Dakotans in one word it'd be self-satisfied (I'm claiming that as one word). And I guess that's not such a bad thing if it's deserved, but I felt like SD fell far short of being deserving. The Indians living in Pine Ridge Indian Reservation say the racism in nearby Rapid City (for instance) is significant. As an example, a police officer with the reservation (probably a reliable witness) says she's routinely harassed by Rapid City police when she goes to town for supplies.
South Dakota's apparently popular governor Kristi Noem (who has national political ambitions) regularly and proudly displays a willful refusal to become educated about issues like the COVID vaccines and the usefulness of masks in protecting against the disease, and displays speech habits that encourage people to hate fellow citizens who think or look or act differently. My guess is that she's a good example of the general thinking of many of the state's residents. And maybe that's where my feeling comes from that these folks feel self-satisfied. Pleased with being this kind of person.
If I'm right, then it's a real shame. Obviously because it doesn't help our nation for a big chunk of people to be intolerant of others. But also because South Dakota might have a lot going for it if it were only able to take a clear look at itself. As it is, my advice is go for the scenery (and the fishing), and then leave.
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