Christmas Cookies With a Twist
By Laura Johnson Andrews ((img|ammonia-cookies-12-23-24-2.jpg|width=400)) Deb Mehrer demonstrated her family's ammonia cookie tradition at a gathering of the Germans from Russia Society in Kaylor....
View ArticlePostcards from December
By Christian Begeman As another year comes to an end, I find myself watching the weather closely like most of us in the Upper Midwest. When there is fog and overnight lows below freezing, I really pay...
View ArticleJanuary/February 2025
((img|JanFeb25.jpg|width=250)) Lawmakers gather in Pierre this January for our 100th legislative session. This issue includes stories from a century of lawmaking. Photo by Chad Coppess The...
View ArticleA Border Town
By Chad Coppess ((img|gary-1-6-25-1.jpg|width=450)) Gary is a true border town. The east end of Main Avenue intersects the South Dakota/Minnesota state line. It’s been many years since a train rumbled...
View ArticleNeedles Highway in Winter
By Bernie Hunhoff ((img|needles-highway-winter-1-13-25-1.jpg|width=759)) Needles Highway is also known as Highway 87. It is part of the Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway, a 66-mile circle that also includes...
View ArticleFollowing Black Elk’s Good Red Road
By Bernie Hunhoff ((img|black-elk-sainthood-1-20-25-1.jpg|width=759)) ONLY 11 AMERICANS have ever been canonized as Catholic saints. The 12th could be Nicholas Black Elk, a thoughtful and humble...
View ArticleDakota’s Bullwhackeress
By Chuck Cecil ((img|emma-buckingham-bullwhackeress-1-27-25-1.jpg|width=759)) Emma Buckingham (center), at 37, and her freighting family, including husband Emmond Knutson, whose head can be seen in...
View ArticleWinter Mornings in West River
By Christian Begeman Highland Ridge Road in Wind Cave National Park is one of my favorite places to experience the breaking of a new day. Flanked by prairie dog towns and grazing buffalo, an early...
View ArticleWatertown’s Pizza Champ
By John Andrews ((img|dempseys-pizza-2-3-25-1.jpg|width=475)) Sean Dempsey's innovative pizzas are turning heads in Watertown, where he owns Dempsey's Brewery, Pub and Restaurant. “Another 30...
View ArticleNestled in the Badlands
By Chad Coppess ((img|interior-2-17-25-1.jpg|width=759)) The lights of Interior twinkle against the Badlands wall. There once was a town called Black on the White River. Black was the name of an area...
View ArticleWhy We Fall for Balanced Rocks
By Bernie Hunhoff ((img|balanced-rocks-2-24-25-1.jpg|width=759)) Balanced rocks near Sylvan Lake. Ever since there have been poets, which is roughly the last 5,000 years, they have lauded the...
View ArticleMarch/April 2025
((img|MarApr25.jpg|width=250)) A juvenile eastern red-tailed hawk flies near the confluence of the Cheyenne and Missouri rivers. Photo by Chad Coppess Flat and Happy: An entertaining loop through...
View ArticleA Musical Bridge
By John Andrews ((img|lakota-music-project-3-3-25-1.jpg|width=759)) Bryan Akipa is a self-taught red cedar flute player who also makes the instruments in his home near Agency Village on the Lake...
View ArticleThe Characters of Isabel
By Chad Coppess ((img|isabel-3-24-25-1.jpg|width=759)) Ryan Maher provides groceries and supplies for a wide area of the state from the Occidental General Store. The high school closed in 2009, the...
View ArticleDancing with Grebes
Story and photos by Donna Caplinger ((img|dancing-with-grebes-3-31-25-1.jpg|width=759)) Western grebes appear to walk on water during the rush, perhaps the most distinctive element of their spring...
View ArticleThe Elevator
By Bernie Hunhoff ((img|elevators-4-7-25-1.jpg|width=759)) A skeleton of the Rauville Grain Company still attracts attention north of Watertown. Dave Goos recalls walking into Lampert Lumber Company...
View ArticleRamming Through the Mickelson Trail
Story by Paul Higbee Photos by Chad Coppess ((img|mickelson-trail-4-14-25-1.jpg|width=759)) The Mickelson Trail, a recreational trail built atop an old railroad bed. stretches 109 miles from the...
View ArticleFirst Signs of Spring
By Christian Begeman People who live in the Northern Plains tend to be hardy. They can endure hot, dry summers or long, hard winters with the best of them. Even so, the first signs of spring on the...
View ArticleDouble the Fun in Carthage
By Chad Coppess ((img|carthage-4-28-25-1.jpg|width=450)) Cabaret Days is Carthage's annual summer celebration and includes a kids' scavenger hunt on Main Street. The road through Carthage may not be...
View ArticleMay/June 2025
((img|MayJune25.jpg|width=250)) Sara Henning, camera in hand, is a barista for South Dakota Magazine's coffee house, Muddy Mo's. Numerous photographers, amateur and professional, have contributed...
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