Bearlodge Writers

The Black Hills form a unique landmass, sometimes called a “forested island in a grassland seas.” Viewed from the plains, the Hills appear black because of their heavy covering of ponderosa pine. An eagle-eye view of western South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming shows a teardrop-shaped “island in the plains,” well separated from the Rocky Mountains to the west. The Bear Lodge Mountains occupy the northwest third of the teardrop, and at their northwestern edge rises Devils Tower—Mato Tipila, or Bear Lodge.

Ancient uplift formed this geologic dome of crystalline granites and basalts, and subsequent erosion around its central core exposed rings of sandstones, shales, limestones and conglomerates. Caves lace the ground beneath the Hills---passageways for spirits and stories, creation myths and sacred chants. Here too is gold.

Geologically distinctive, the Black Hills embrace a unique biological diversity. They gather bits of eastern deciduous forests like the bur oak; ponderosa pine from the west; birches from the boreal forests of Canada; yuccas from the southwest; the many grasses of the surrounding prairie; as well as ancient native ferns, mosses, and orchids.

Like the plants drawn to these hills, so have the animals left their footprints in the varied habitats--- mule deer and whitetails, pronghorns, coyotes, bobcats and mountain lions, beavers and otters, blue herons, eagles and crows, Canada geese. And the buffalo---bone and flesh, sinew and spirit of Indian culture.

Waves of human immigration brought first the tribes of the Great Plains, then explorers, hunters, gold seekers and miners, and settlers with their horses, cattle, and sheep. All pressed footprints deep into the dust, overlaid until only poetry can pattern their passing and catch wingprints on the wind. So too do we leave our prints on the landscape of the Hills.