"Bear Butte is a sacred mountain. It also is a South Dakota State Park. And it is close enough to Sturgis to be a victim of the annual motorcycle festival, which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world.

There is something powerful at this place. If you go silent and stand still there, you can feel something in the grass, hear something in the wind. On my lists, Bear Butte ranks as one of the five most magnificent places on the Great Plains.

I drove past Bear Butte (on South Dakota Highway 79) recently on my way from Rapid City to Dickinson. My goal was to photograph the butte in the November morning light. In the past 20 years, I have driven past Bear Butte a hundred times, and stopped to climb to the top on more than a dozen occasions. Whenever I have something really important to ponder or work out, I drive to Bear Butte and climb up to the top of the mountain (technically a volcanic laccolith 4,422 feet high, 1,253 feet above the surrounding plains) to brood while gazing off at the vastness of the Great Plains. I never drive past it in the daylight without stopping to take photographs.

The other day about 9 a.m., I came up over the rise expecting to see the stark and lonely magnificence of Bear Butte as it always has been and always will be. But what I saw instead was a scar as red as lipstick that marred, perhaps even ruined, the view.

The scar is a biker bar.

Last summer, a man named Jay Allen built a 22,000-square-foot, three-story roadhouse bar 21/2 miles north of the base of the butte. It's called the Broken Spoke. Its garish red metal walls shout down the subtle drab pastels of the plains. It's an eyesore. It's an open affront to American Indians. The parking lot looks like one you would find at a baseball stadium or special events center. Allen plans to carve out a 30,000-seat amphitheater at the site where he will host rock concerts during the annual Sturgis rally. According to press reports, one regular feature of the Broken Spoke will be a Best Breasts contest. You get the picture."

Get the Story:
An elegy for historic Bear Butte (The Bismarck Tribune 12/3)

Relevant Links:
Bear Butte International Alliance - http://matopaha.org/wp
Defenders of the Black Hills - http://www.defendblackhills.org

Related Stories:
Opinion: Don't use sacred Bear Butte as biker bar (08/18)
Editorial: Tribes need to buy Bear Butte land (8/15)
Kempthorne criticized for skipping Bear Butte (8/8)
Bar near Bear Butte to feature 'Best Breast' contest (8/4)
Rally to protest liquor venues near sacred Bear Butte (8/3)
Tribes gather for summit at sacred Bear Butte (8/2)
Jodi Rave: Indigenous summit at base of Bear Butte (8/1)
Bear Butte camp continues as biker week approaches (7/27)
Man plans topless contests at bar near Bear Butte (6/14)
More beer licenses approved near sacred Bear Butte (7/10)
Major gathering slated at sacred Bear Butte (7/4)
Man plans more development near Bear Butte (6/26)
Native activists work to protect sacred Bear Butte (6/14)
Battle continues over liquor near Bear Butte (05/31)
County blocks vote on beer license near Bear Butte (05/05)
Challenges filed to beer license near Bear Butte (5/4)
County approves liquor license near Bear Butte (5/3)
Protest slated for liquor license near Bear Butte (4/27)
Editorial: Tribe right to buy Bear Butte land (04/10)
Opposition to bar near Bear Butte to continue (4/7)
Editorial: Preserve Bear Butte through land buys (4/6)
Bar near sacred Bear Butte wins beer license (4/5)
Man surprised by opposition to proposed Bear Butte bar (4/4)
White Face: No development near sacred Bear Butte (4/3)
Northern Cheyenne Tribe buys land near Bear Butte (3/23)
Bill to create buffer zone around Bear Butte killed (02/01)
Bill would create buffer zone around Bear Butte (1/27)
Tribes can't collect fees in sacred site case (1/19)
Native American Day at South Dakota Legislature (1/18)
Opinion: Land use plans ignore tribal traditions (12/12)
Editorial: Permanent protection for Bear Butte (11/28)
Proposed bar near Bear Butte still under fire (10/31)
Man to change name, location of Bear Butte bar (10/28)
Respect urged at Bear Butte during high season (08/13)
Non-Indians press for access at sacred Bear Butte (07/16)
Plans for shooting range near sacred site scrapped (01/12)
Developers: Shooting range near Bear Butte still on (12/16)
Plans for shooting range near Bear Butte on hold (12/02)
Developers face deadline on proposed shooting range (11/14)
S.D. commission bans hunting at sacred site (11/07)
Janklow thought of shooting range by sacred site (10/17)
Janklow defends use of grant for shooting range (10/16)
S.D. governor says shooting range grant was OK (10/13)
Lakota group seeks protection of Black Hills (09/19)
S.D. to return grant for Bear Butte shooting range (09/19)
Protections for sacred sites called inadequate (06/19)
Federal funds used for shooting range near sacred site (03/25)
Judge to hear tribal suit against shooting range (3/19)
Four tribes file lawsuit to stop shooting range (03/4)