Fort Sully

This granite outran the reservoir. Sully County residents set it at the second Fort Sully in 1929, and in 1961, as the plate on its plinth records, it was carried to the courthouse lawn ahead of Lake Oahe, which now covers the fort ground on the river's east bank. Its carved dates differ from the Army's: the post was established on July 25, 1866, and the garrison marched out on October 30, 1894, with the fort given up by the end of November. The state's own register entry for the fort ends it in 1892.

What the plaque says

Erected Sept. 21 1929 by residents of Sully County marking the site of Fort Sully established July 26, 1866 abandoned Oct. 20, 1894 Moved from Fort Sully to Onida S. D. 1961

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Oahe Dam — 24 mi
  One of the largest rolled-earth dams in the world, dedicated by President Kennedy in 1962, holding back a reservoir that reaches more than 230 miles to Bismarck.
• South Dakota State Capitol — 27 mi
  A copper-domed capitol built to end three elections' worth of fighting over where the capital belonged, beside a lake fed by an artesian well with a gas flame burning in it.
• Verendrye Monument — 29 mi
  The hilltop above Fort Pierre where three children found a lead plate in 1913 that two French brothers had buried in 1743 to claim the West for their king.

More markers nearby

• African American Homesteader Community in Sully County — steps away
• Medicine Knoll — 14 mi
• You Are Now on the 100° Meridian — 14 mi
• Mentor Graham — 14 mi