Black Hills National Cemetery
Details
Established1948, 75 years ago
Location
Sturgis, South Dakota
Country United States
Coordinates44°22′08″N 103°28′33″W / 44.3688669°N 103.4757336°W / 44.3688669; -103.4757336
TypePublic
Owned byUnited States Department of Veterans Affairs
Size105.9 acres (42.9 ha)
No. of graves32,000 +
WebsiteBlack Hills Nat'l Cemetery
Find a GraveBlack Hills National Cemetery
Black Hills National Cemetery is located in the United States
Black Hills National Cemetery
Black Hills National Cemetery
Location in the United States
Black Hills National Cemetery is located in South Dakota
Black Hills National Cemetery
Black Hills National Cemetery
Location in South Dakota

Black Hills National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery in South Dakota, located three miles (5 km) southeast of Sturgis in Meade County. It encompasses 105.9 acres (42.9 ha), and as 2021, had over 30,000 interments. Located at exit 34 of Interstate 90, it is administered by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which also administers the nearby Fort Meade National Cemetery. It is one of three national cemeteries in South Dakota (the other two being Fort Meade and Hot Springs).

History

The area around the Black Hills Cemetery was originally inhabited by the Lakota Indians. French explorers went through the region in the 1740s, and Spain laid claim to the area in 1762 until it was acquired by the United States in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Fort Randall was established in 1856, and the 1861 establishment of Dakota Territory brought more settlers to the region, but it wasn't until gold was discovered in the Black Hills that the area acquired a large white settler population. Under the Treaty of Fort Laramie, the Lakota retained possession of the land of the Black Hills, but there was no stopping the settlers from entering the region, which led to several conflicts. Most of the original interments in the cemetery were soldiers who fell in battles of the Indian Wars, but it has since been used to inter veterans from every major campaign the United States has been involved in. The cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.

Expansion

In 2018, Kristi Noem sponsored the Black Hills Cemetery Act in Congress that approved of an expansion of the Black Hills cemetery.[1]

Notable interments

See also

References

  1. ↑ Huber, Chris. "Bill to expand Black Hills National Cemetery is headed to the President". rapidcityjournal.com. Rapid City Journal.
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