Thomas E. Odell

Thomas E. Odell came from Ohio in 1907 and, by this 1967 bronze's account, kept teaching until he was eighty-six so his summers stayed free for research. His book Mato Paha, the story of Bear Butte, came out of that, and the bronze credits his persistence with the 1961 state law that made this a park. He was not the only campaigner: Ezra Bovee had pressed for a national park in the 1950s. Federal landmark plates for the mountain stand beside this one.

What the plaque says

Thomas E. Odell Born in Ohio in 1876, he came to South Dakota in 1907. With scant education, he achieved college degrees, taught for 25 years, his last school at 86, to afford him time for summer research. He wrote "Mato Paha", the story of Bear Butte, a western classic. His per- sistence culminated with the enactment of Chapter 307, Sessions Laws of 1961 creating this park. Humble, self effacing, he sought no other honor than the respect of his fellow citizens. Erected 1967 by the State Historical Society and the Game Fish and Parks Commission

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Bear Butte — 0.5 mi
  Mato Paha to the Lakota and Noahvose to the Cheyenne, a lone mountain off the plains where both nations still come to fast and pray.
• Mount Moriah Cemetery — 16 mi
  The hillside where Deadwood moved its dead: Wild Bill and Calamity Jane side by side, Seth Bullock looking at his friend's tower, and the Chinese burner of 1908.
• Deadwood Historic District — 16 mi
  A gold-rush town on treaty land, rebuilt in brick after the 1879 fire and rescued a century later by a vote to let casinos pay for its preservation.
• Homestake Open Cut & Sanford Lab Visitor Center — 19 mi
  A 1,250-foot pit on Lead's Main Street, the visible top of a gold mine that went down 8,000 feet in 125 years and is a physics laboratory now.

More markers nearby

• Camp J.G. Sturgis / Scooptown — 2.0 mi
• Bear Butte — 3.7 mi
• Death of the Bismarck Trail — 3.9 mi
• It Started Here — 4.7 mi