Every Lake
South Dakota
The Missouri splits the state in two — East River farm country, West River range and the Black Hills.
South Dakota in relief
The land itself, cut in six steps of birch from the lowlands to the high ground — the cities starred, the summit and rise on the title block. No counties, no roads: just the shape of South Dakota.
About South Dakota
South Dakota is cut down the middle by the Missouri River, and the state still talks about itself as East River and West River. East of the water the land is glaciated prairie and the Coteau des Prairies, dotted with lakes and farmed hard. West of it the country is drier range, broken by the White River Badlands — a maze of eroded spires and banded clay — and rising to the Black Hills, an island of granite and ponderosa where Black Elk Peak reaches 7,242 feet, the highest point in the United States east of the Rockies. Sixty-six counties.
South Dakota entered on November 2, 1889 as the 40th state, on the same day as North Dakota. Pierre was made the capital for the plainest reason on the map: it sits on the Missouri at almost the exact center of the state, so no corner could complain. The board's landmarks are unmistakable — Mount Rushmore, carved between 1927 and 1941, the Badlands, and I-90 running the full width past the Wall Drug country to Rapid City.
- Six layers of birch — the land in elevation steps
- The summit and total rise on the title block
- The major cities, starred and named
- Title block with the admission date and capital
- A double rule engraved around the edge
- Every county line and the state border
- The interstates with their shields — 6 on this board
- The major cities, starred and named
- Title block with the admission date and capital
- A mile ruler engraved around the frame
