In 1874, word spread that gold had been discovered in the Black Hills by an expedition led by Lt. Col. George Custer. One of the first groups of gold seekers, the Gordon Party, built a log fortress on the bank of French Creek to protect themselves from possible Lakota attack. Originally called Fort Defiance, a replica called the Gordan Stockade stands on the original site at the entrance of Custer State Park. Interpretive signs tell the story of this short lived illegal occupation which stood in violation of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 that gave rights to the land to the Sioux.
The State of South Dakota were granted sections of land in the Black Hills to serve as school lands in 1897 but exchanged them in 1910 for roughly 50,000 acres that was called Custer State Forest (along with 12,000 acres in NW South Dakota) by 1912. The southern 50,000 acres was also known as Custer State Forest and Game Sanctuary and in 1914, the park purchased 36 head of buffalo from James "Scotty" Phillip to help preserve this magnificent creature. Today, the park's heard totals over 1,300.
It was not until a little while later, in 1919, that the 50,000 acres were renamed Custer State Park with legislation in Pierre, helped by former State Legislator and then Governor Peter Norbeck and the park officially established.
Norbeck was also instrumental in mapping out a road through the Harney Peak range and young Custer State Park that would allow for the grandest views of the region with the help of engineer Scovell Johnson during this time. Two years and 150,000 pounds of dynamite later, the winding road around (and through) stone known as Needles Highway was completed in 1921.
Norbeck’s next venture was The Iron Mountain Highway. The route he created included blasting through the mountains to expose three different tunnels, all of which frame out Mt. Rushmore as you drive through. C.C. Gideon, the Superintendent of Custer State Park at the time, designed the road so that all of the tunnels would connect through a corkscrew spiral road that lifted the traveler up from one level to the next. Gideon referred to them as “spiral-jumpoffs”, Norbeck called them “whirly jigs”, and today they are known as Pigtail Bridges. Iron Mountain Highway took about a year and a half with the help of 16 men, finishing in 1933.
These two roads helped create the 66-mile Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway – an extraordinary man’s masterpiece of art and engineering.
The State Game Lodge served as the “Summer White House” for President Calvin Coolidge in 1927. During his stay, White House staffers stocked the creek with fish everyday to increase any likelihood of a catch. The Lodge was also visited by Dwight D. Eisenhower for several days in 1953. This stone and wood lodge was built in 1920 and is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. There’s a hand-built cabin in the park that is known at Badger Hole. It was home to Charles Badger Clark, South Dakota’s first poet laureate.
Many of the park’s structures date back to the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930's and into 1940 when the CCC men built roads, bridges, dams (which in turn created Stockade, Center and Legion lakes), a fire tower, museum, campgrounds and picnic areas.
In 1964 and 1965, the park saw a few major additions that are a huge part of its identity today. During that year, 22,000 more acres were added, which made Custer State Park 71,000 acres and one of the nation's largest state park. In 1965, the Park held its first Buffalo Roundup and Auction which today is one of the Black Hills signature events.