You Are Now Entering South Dakota

The motto the bronze calls symbolic of life in South Dakota is older than the state. Joseph Ward, founder of Yankton College, chaired the committee that devised the seal, and the historian Doane Robinson credited the motto to him; it was adopted at the close of the 1885 constitutional convention, when statehood was still four years off. In 1889 Article XXI of the constitution carried it over, changing the seal's legend from State of Dakota to State of South Dakota. Another account gives the motto instead to the Sioux Falls newspaperman Samuel Travers Clover.

What the plaque says

You Are Entering South Dakota CREATED with its TWIN, North Dakota, 2 November 1889, its 77,047 square miles ranks 15th in size. Those square miles include: exceptional corn land in the SE, grass land in the W, wheat land in the N and PRODUCTIVE land all over. Its lowest point, BIG STONE, is 979 feet above sea level; its high- est, HARNEY PEAK, at 7,247 feet is the highest point in the U. S. A. east of the Rockies. The BLACK HILLS "THE AMERICAN ALPS" are scenically unsurpassed and are the richest "100 MILE SQUARE" minerally in the world. MT. RUSHMORE, "THE SHRINE OF DEMOCRACY" is visited by hundreds of thousands annually. Its BADLANDS are weirdly beautiful and undeniably bad. ANNUALLY it ranks in the first ten states in the production of wheat, corn, oats, barley, rye, grass, and cattle. Its HOMESTAKE MINE is the greatest gold producer in the western hemisphere. SOUTH DAKOTA is "ECONOMICALLY, PHYSICALLY, RECREATIONALLY" a State of "INFINITE VARIETY." Its economy is well balanced. FIRST visited by white men, VERENDRYE, in 1743, for a century it was a fur traders paradise with a most romantic history. ITS highways are well marked; roadside PARKS frequent; historic markers, such as this, are to be found therein and adjacent to historic sites. Our MOTTO "UNDER GOD THE PEOPLE RULE" is symbolic of life in South Dakota. Welcome to our State. Erected 1956 by South Dakota State Highway Commission You are now leaving South Dakota and about to enter Minnesota the Gopher State, a great State of the land, famous for its 10,000 lakes, its Iron Range, its varied agricultural production and its cheerful citizenry. Erected 1956 by South Dakota State Highway Commission

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Hole-In-The-Mountain — steps away
• Brookings County / Moody County — 8.2 mi
• Lake Hendricks State Park — 15 mi
• Flandreau Christian Indian Community — 15 mi