History

Millions of years of erosion have given Badlands a visually striking appearance and remarkable geological history.

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History Details

Millions of years of erosion have given Badlands a visually striking appearance and remarkable geological history. The park contains sharp buttes, spires, and eroding pinnacles of sedimentary rock standing amid a landscape of prairie grass and flowers. The Sharps Formation, Rockyford Ash, Brule Formation, Chadron Formation, and Pierre Shale were laid down in layers as far back as 75 million years ago, the result of volcanic activity as well as the rise and fall of forests, rivers, savannahs, and seas. Paleontologists often find fossils of early inhabitants in these rock layers. Native Americans used this area as a hunting ground for 11,000 years. The Lakota tribe, whose descendants still live in North Dakota today, camped in eroded caves and canyons during hunts, and the Badlands Wall were key lookout points for spotting approaching enemies. In the 19th century, homesteaders arrived in the Dakotas and the Lakota were stripped of their land and forced onto reservations, a conflict that led to the infamous Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890. The Badlands National Monument was established in 1929, and in 1939 the land was redesignated as Badlands National Park.

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