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In order to count this Earthcache as a find, you must complete the following tasks and email the answers to me.
1. Estimate the height of Bear Butte.
2. Describe the appearance of the Butte.
3. What effect has erosion had on Bear Butte?
4. What color is the rock making up Bear Butte?
This Earthcache is located at Bear Butte State Park. A state park sticker/daily pass is NOT required to get this earthcache as long as you do not go past the ranger booth. If you choose to get closer to the butte, you will need a park pass. Enjoy!
Called “Mato Paha” (Bear Mountain) by the Lakota and “Noahvose” (Sacred Mountain) by the Cheyenne, Bear Butte is a great example of what geologists call a laccolith (“near volcano”). This well-known landmark was created between 34 and 56 million years ago as the result of an igneous intrusion. In geological terms, an intrusion is the process of forcing a body of igneous rock (rock that has solidified from lava or magma) between existing rock layers without reaching the surface. The pressure of the magma beneath the earth’s surface was strong enough to force the overlying rock layers upward, giving it a dome or mushroom-like form.
Geologists consider this laccolith to be a near volcano because magma may have breached the surface when the intrusion took place, forming a volcano. However, the rock of this slight volcanic neck would have eroded away long ago. The laccolith itself is made of a very fine-grained rock that is similar in composition to granite. The eastern face of the butte is comprised of limestone that was raised by the intrusion.
Bear Butte has long been considered a sacred place of worship for many central plains Native Americans. According to S.R. Kinsella’s article “Bear Butte: Crossroads of History,” Bear Butte is the site where the Cheyenne religion originated and this laccolith is the reason by the number four is so significant to their culture. According to Cheyenne legend, “Sweet Medicine, a Cheyenne youth expelled for injuring a fellow Cheyenne in a dispute over the killing of a bison calf, lived on Bear Butte where he became friends with and married a young Indian woman who had also been expelled from her tribe. After being on the mountain for four years, Sweet medicine was called into a cave by the Gods where he was given the four sacred arrows of the Cheyenne. The arrows..., signifying war and peace, were then wrapped in a piece of hide from a four year old bison and placed into a quiver made from a kit coyote pelt. While on Bear Butte, Sweet Medicine was also give the four commandments... After receiving the arrows and commandments, Sweet Medicine and his wife spent four more years on the mountain before returning to the Cheyenne. ... Sweet Medicine lived for four generations among the Cheyenne, instructing the people in the ways of their new religion.”
The Mandan tribe also considers Bear Butte to be the origin of their religion. Legend dictates that several Mandan Natives were caught in a canoe during a great flood. It is said that they were saved when their canoe came to rest on the summit of Bear Butte.
To the Lakota, Bear Butte served as a favorite campsite. Kinsella’s article states, “There are two well known trails leading to [Bear Butte’s] base from the muddy mouth of the Bad River near present day Ft. Pierre. The trails were used extensively in the Lakota’s travels from the Missouri River to the Black Hills region. Tipi rings, rings of stones used to prop up the poles of a tipi, can still be seen throughout the Bear Butte area.”
The buffalo gap, the sun dance, and the shield (made from the though neck hide of a bison obtained at the mountain)--sacred to many plains Native Americans--are also considered to have originated at Bear Butte.
Throughout history, many Natives have made the summit to Bear Butte, including Sitting Bull, Red Cloud, Man Afraid, and others seeking sacred visions, which would guide Natives throughout their lives. In the early 1840’s, an Oglala man climbed the mountain and was given sacred powers by the gods. This man declined the powers and instead insisted that they be passed on to his unborn son. This man’s son Curly--more commonly known as Crazy Horse--became legendary for his battle tactics and leadership among the Lakota. He often spoke to tribes from a hill on the south side of Bear Butte. Crazy Horse worshipped at Bear Butte every winter to receive his sacred vision and ask for guidance. Lakota legend indicates that Crazy Horse was only able to be killed because he had not returned to Bear Butte for two years, and as a result, was spiritually weak.
To this day, Bear Butte is still used for Native American religious ceremonies. Throughout the area, prayer clothes, “Indian rosaries,” sweat lodge frames, and small stones placed between the branches of trees can be seen. Native Americans believe that when a person puts a stone in a tree, they receive the protection of God. Once the stone falls or is no longer in the tree, you have lost God’s favor or are no longer on the earth.
Bear Butte State Park includes several hiking trails. One trail leads to the summit and was designated in 1971 was a national Recreation Trail; another trail brings hikers near the sacred ceremonial areas of the Cheyenne and Lakota. Park guides suggest two to three hours for the summit hike and at least one hour for the second. Visitors to Bear Butte can also tour the visitor’s center, which includes a museum containing artifacts and displays from early Native American inhabitants as well as some from early white visitors.
Resources:
Kinsella, S.R. “Bear Butte: Crossroads of History.” South Dakota Magazine, September 1985: 24-27. Print.
NOT A LOGGING REQUIREMENT: Feel free to post pictures of your group at the area or the area itself - I love looking at the pictures.
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