South Dakota- facts for the shocked.

So many of you are shocked to find out we are located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. So I thought I would bring you some fun facts about the great state in which we Sparklers live.

Here are some fun facts about the great state of South Dakota:

• South Dakota is the home of the Dakota, Lakota, and Nakota tribes which make up the Sioux Nation.
• Sculptor Gutzon Borglum began drilling into the 6,200-foot Mount Rushmore in 1927. It took 14 years and cost a mere $1 million. The faces are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.
• The U.S.S. South Dakota was the most decorated battleship during WWII.
• Sturgis is the home of the annual Black Hills Classic Motorcycle Rally.
• Tom Brokaw of NBC graduated from Yankton High School and the University of South Dakota.
• The name "Black Hills" (where Mount Rushmore is) comes from the Lakota words Paha Sapa, which mean "hills that are black". Seen at a distance, the hills do appear black.
• Badlands National Park consists of nearly 244,000 acres of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles, and spires blended with the largest, protected mixed grass prairie in the US.
• Deadwood was the site of a gold rush in 1875 and still has a mining town atmosphere. Much of its fame rests on the famous or infamous characters that passed through.
• One of the largest, most complete and best preserved Tyrannosaurus Rex was excavated near Faith, SD.
• At Palisades State park, beds of red pipestone and Sioux quartzite can be found. The minerals are 1.2 billion years old and the pipestone is considered sacred by American Indians.

Believe it or not: we DO have things like Starbucks, malls, art museums, airports, and we do watch the news. NO there are not tepees and buffalo everywhere, we don't wear bonnets like on Little House of the Prairie, and we do actually like where we live.

:)

Thanks to these pages for the great SD info!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Dakota
http://50States.com