Places to Visit in South Dakota

The Mead Cultural Education Center, located in Yankton, South Dakota, was constructed in 1909 by Dr. Leonard C. Mead. Originally serving as part of the women’s ward for the Dakota Hospital for the Insane, the building was in use until the 1980s. Today, however, it houses the Dakota Territorial Museum and is upkept by the Yankton County Historical Society.

Tensions were high when Meriwether Lewis and William Clark entered Lakota homelands.

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark visited this Lakota sacred site in 1804.

After Charles Floyd’s death, Patrick Gass was promoted to sergeant to serve in his stead.

Dams built by the U.S. government in the twentieth century have radically changed the Missouri River.

The Akta Lakota Museum and Cultural Center is an educational outreach building, supported by St. Joseph's Indian School in Chamberlain, SD. Akta Lakota means “honor the people” in the Lakota dialect. The museum has welcomed thousands of people since opening its doors in 1991 and sits on the banks of the mighty Missouri River. It tells the story of the Lakota people beginning prior to European colonization and ending with contemporary issues facing tribes today.

On August 25, 1804, Lewis, Clark, and several of their men walked nine miles to Spirit Mound from their camp on the south bank of the Missouri River. They were determined to see the mound that was so feared by the indigenous people of the area. In his journal Clark explained the legend of Spirit Mound:

Pierre, now the capital of the state of South Dakota, has significant connections to the Corps of Discovery. The expedition’s first introduction to the region was on the evening of Monday, September 24, 1804 when Lewis, Clark and their entourage of forty three men and three boats anchored across the river from Pierre, in what is now Fischers Lilly Park in Fort Pierre.

Big Bend of the Missouri is a High Potential Historic Site on the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail. On September 19, 1804, the expedition camped downriver of the Big Bend, an expansive meander of the Missouri River that was already a well-known landmark.

Bad Humored Island was the backdrop of a meaningful exchange between Lewis & Clark and the native tribes that called the region home. As the journals discuss, Black Buffalo and the other chiefs were invited to tour the keelboat, where they were presented gifts. Captain Clark conducted them back to Lilly Park in the pirogue.