More About The Geography of South Dakota
This richly illustrated book, now in its
third edition, is the first full-length study
in eighty years of the home of Mount
Rushmore and more than 700,000 South
Dakotans.
Written for the general reader
as well as for the student, for the visitor to
the state as well as for the native, The
Geography of South Dakota is a thorough
overview of a land of impressive diversity.
To visitors, South Dakota is known as the
land of the movie Dances with Wolves and
of Indian reservations, of the Black Hills
and Gutzon Borglum's Shrine to
Democracy, Mount Rushmore; of
pheasants, blizzards, the Badlands, the
Corn Palace, the Empire Mall in Sioux
Falls, and even of Wall Drug.
Yet the state is much more than the
images of tourists or its native citizenry.
South Dakota's features range from flat
lake beds, to vibrant, gently rolling plains,
to deeply carved river valleys, to arid
step-like tablelands, to complex scenic
forested mountains. The climate of South
Dakota can yield the nation's hot spot or
cold spot on any given day. Powerful
blizzards and other storms can sweep
across the land, dominating everything in
their way.
The state differs from rural to urban,
with increasingly larger numbers of the
people living in Sioux Falls, Rapid City,
and the more populous of the 309 municipalities.
The Missouri River divides
South Dakota into East River and West
River, the farming environment of the east
from the ranching life of the west.
The state varies from agricultural to
industrial. Manufacturing, commerce,
and service economies are becoming
increasingly important and are challenging
agriculture's dominance of the state's
economy. The greatest concentrations of
economic growth are centered in and
around the larger communities. Small-town
survival continues to depend upon
local leadership, hometown loyalties, and
time.
Fe w, if any, know the geography of
South Dakota as thoroughly as Hogan. His
book of 15 chapters is topically not regionally
organized, although there is a synoptic
chapter on regions near the end. The volume
has a lavish assortment of well-selected
photographs (some in color), 33 maps (some
in color), including a fine map in color of
the three physiographic provinces in the state
with 13 subdivisions. This book treats both
the physical and human aspects of South
Dakota, including material on Indian
and early European occupance. . ., a very
praiseworthy contribution.
-- Journal of Cultural Geography
About the Authors
The author of the first edition of The
Geography of South Dakota is Edward
Patrick Hogan, professor of geography at
South Dakota State University and author
of the popular South Dakota, An
Illustrated Geography, published in 1991.
He has been joined in the writing of
the revised edition by his daughter,
Erin Hogan Fouberg, who has a Ph.D.
degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
She is an assistant professor of
geography at Mary Washington College,
Fredericksburg, Virginia.
