Neihardt Hugh Glass monument is located on the North Shore at Ketterlings Point, Shadehill Reservoir, South Dakota
RAPID CITY, S.D. – Reclamation staff are in the process of approving a proposal from the Neihardt family to remove the Neihardt Hugh Glass monument from Ketterlings Point at Shadehill Reservoir during the last two weeks of October 2023.
The public will see South Dakota State Game, Fish, and Parks staff working with the Neihardts as they package the monument for transport to the Neihardt Center in Bancroft, Nebraska.
“At Shadehill Reservoir there are two monuments dedicated to Hugh Glass,” said Justin Hammer, acting Environmental and Resources Deputy Division Manager for Reclamation’s Dakotas Area Office.
“The petrified wood monument located on the South Shore, off Hugh Glass Road, is a known local landmark. This monument is not being moved. It will remain in its current location for people to enjoy into the future,” said Hammer. The monument is made of locally acquired petrified wood with a large metal plaque that was erected in 1964 by the Lemmon Chamber of Commerce, the South Dakota State Historic Society, and South Dakota the Game, Fish, and Parks Commission.
The small, lesser-known Neihardt Hugh Glass monument is located on the North Shore at Ketterlings Point. “The Neihardt Hugh Glass monument is owned by John Neihardt’s grandchildren, and it will be moved to the Neihardt Center where it can be displayed, and a time capsule located inside can be opened,” said Hammer. “We are looking forward to helping the Neihardt family carry out these long-awaited plans.”
Reclamation was contacted by individuals from Wayne State University in Nebraska in June, and the family of John Neihardt regarding a proposal to open a time capsule left in the Neihardt Monument. The monument was constructed in August of 1923 by author, John Neihardt, and the Neihardt Club from Wayne State University to mark the 100-year anniversary of the survival of Hugh Glass following the attack by a grizzly bear that occurred at the confluence of the North and South Forks of the Grand River in 1823. During the commemoration in 1923, Neihardt placed a time capsule inside the monument and left instructions for the capsule to be opened in 2023.
The Neihardt Monument was originally constructed on private lands decades prior to the construction of Shadehill Reservoir. During the 1940s the land around the proposed Shadehill Reservoir was acquired by the federal government. At that time, the monument was moved from its original location (an area intended to be inundated by the reservoir) to the adjacent planned shoreline south of Shadehill Reservoir. Significant shoreline erosion occurred during the 1980s near the monument and the concrete structure was moved to its current location at Ketterlings Point.
Shadehill Reservoir is primarily a flood control reservoir with recreation as a secondary benefit that is part of the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program. It was initially authorized by the Flood Control Act of Dec. 22, 1944, which approved the general comprehensive plan for the conservation, control, and use of water resources in the entire Missouri River Basin.
For more information, please contact Elizabeth Smith, at esmith@usbr.gov or (406) 591-4761.
