The Pine Ridge is an

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''esca ...

between the

Niobrara River The Niobrara River (; oma, Ní Ubthátha khe, , literally "water spread-out horizontal-the" or "The Wide-Spreading Water") is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. Many early settlers, such as Mari Sando ...

and the White River in far northwestern

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

(a small section extends into

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large portion ...

). The high tableland between the rivers has been eroded into a region of forested

butte __NOTOC__ In geomorphology, a butte () is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from a French word meani ...

s, ridges and

canyon A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency to ...

Ecology

The plant and animal life in the Pine Ridge is atypical for Nebraska; the ecology is very similar to the

Black Hills The Black Hills ( lkt, Ȟe Sápa; chy, Moʼȯhta-voʼhonáaeva; hid, awaxaawi shiibisha) is an isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States. Black Elk ...

, to the north. The dominant tree in the Pine Ridge is the

ponderosa pine ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine is a very large Pinus, pine tree species of variable habitat native plant, native to mountainous regions of western Nor ...

; deciduous trees (such as cottonwoods) are also present in canyon bottoms. The Pine Ridge is one of two regions in Nebraska that support

bighorn sheep The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of sheep native to North America. It is named for its large horns. A pair of horns might weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates three distinct subspec ...

;

elk The elk (''Cervus canadensis''), also known as the wapiti, is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. The commo ...

, river otters,

mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whit ...

, and

wild turkey The wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') is an upland ground bird native to North America, one of two extant species of turkey and the heaviest member of the order Galliformes. It is the ancestor to the domestic turkey, which was originally d ...

s are also common.

History

The Pine Ridge region was the setting of the closing chapters of the

Indian Wars The American Indian Wars, also known as the American Frontier Wars, and the Indian Wars, were fought by European governments and colonists in North America, and later by the United States and Canadian governments and American and Canadian settle ...

. The region was home to several bands of

Lakota Lakota may refer to: * Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes *Lakota language, the language of the Lakota peoples Place names In the United States: * Lakota, Iowa * Lakota, North Dakota, seat of Nelson County * La ...

; several skirmishes between the Lakota and the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

took place in the 1860s and 1870s.

Crazy Horse Crazy Horse ( lkt, Tȟašúŋke Witkó, italic=no, , ; 1840 – September 5, 1877) was a Lakota war leader of the Oglala band in the 19th century. He took up arms against the United States federal government to fight against encroachment by wh ...

was killed at

Fort Robinson Fort Robinson is a former U.S. Army fort and now a major feature of Fort Robinson State Park, a public recreation and historic preservation area located west of Crawford on U.S. Route 20 in the Pine Ridge region of northwest Nebraska. The f ...

in 1877. In 1879,

Dull Knife Morning Star (Cheyenne: ''Vóóhéhéve''; also known by his Lakota Sioux name ''Tȟamílapȟéšni'' or its translation, Dull Knife) (1810–1883) was a great chief of the Northern Cheyenne people and headchief of the ''Notameohmésêhese'' ("N ...

led the Cheyenne Outbreak from Fort Robinson.

Protected areas

A large portion of the Pine Ridge is owned or managed by either the

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC) is the State of Nebraska's State agency charged with stewardship of the state's fish, wildlife, state park, and outdoor recreation resources. The agency is led by a governor-appointed member commission ...

or by various

U.S. Government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...

agencies for preservation and recreation uses. These areas include: *

Chadron State Park Chadron State Park is a public recreation area located within the Nebraska National Forest, south of Chadron, Nebraska, in the northwestern portion of the state. The park's include a portion of the Pine Ridge escarpment and Chadron Creek. The ...

* Metcalf Wildlife Management Area *

Nebraska National Forest The Nebraska National Forest is a United States National Forest located within the U.S. state of Nebraska. The total area of the national forest is 141,864 acres, or 222 sq miles (574 km2). The forest is managed by the U.S. Forest Service's ...

Pine Ridge National Recreation Area The Pine Ridge National Recreation Area is a United States national recreation area in the Pine Ridge region of northwestern Nebraska. The recreation area is managed by the Pine Ridge Ranger District of the Nebraska National Forest. It is home ...

Soldier Creek Wilderness Soldier Creek Wilderness is located in the U.S. state of Nebraska. Created by an act of Congress in 1986, the wilderness is managed by the U.S. Forest Service and covers an area of 7,794 acres (31.54 km2) within the Pine Ridge section of t ...

Oglala National Grassland The Oglala National Grassland is a United States National Grassland in the northwest corner of Nebraska. It is in northern Sioux and northwestern Dawes counties, on the borders with South Dakota and Wyoming. It is in size and is one of the s ...

Hudson-Meng Bison Kill The Hudson-Meng Bison Bonebed site, officially named the Hudson-Meng Education and Research Center, is a fossil site located in the Oglala National Grassland of Sioux County, Nebraska 20 miles northwest of Crawford. It contains the 10,000-year-ol ...

** Toadstool Geologic Park * Peterson Wildlife Management Area * Ponderosa Wildlife Management Area

External links

U.S. Forest Service - Pine Ridge Ranger DistrictNebraska Game and Parks Commission Land Atlas
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pine Ridge (Region) Regions of Nebraska Regions of South Dakota Escarpments of the United States Landforms of Nebraska Landforms of South Dakota

Ecology

History

Protected areas

See also

External links