Sioux Falls Trivia

SIOUX FALLS TRIVIA

1) What did the Lakota people call Sioux Falls, South Dakota?

"GOLDEN EAGLE NEST""BOARD ON THE WATER""STONE SHATTER CITY""HOLE IN THE WALL"

The Lakota name for Sioux Falls means "Stone Shatter City", and it is easy to see why, given the dramatic cracked and stony landscape.

2) How old are the city's namesake waterfalls?

1,400 YEARS 14,000 YEARS 140,000 YEARS 1.4 MILLION YEARS

The falls were created about 14,000 years ago during the last ice age.

3) What fort was built to defend the city in its earliest days?

FORT DOLE FORT MEADE FORT PIERRE FORT SOD

In response to native tribes attempting to defend their land, settlers built a temporary barricade of turf which they dubbed "Fort Sod". The sod wall was eighty feet square, ten feet high, and four feet thick.

4) Why was the city abandoned in 1862?

DROUGHT SMALLPOX PANDEMIC INDIAN WARS SEVERE WINTER

Although conflicts in Minnehaha County between Native Americans and white settlers were few, the Dakota War of 1862 engulfed nearby southwestern Minnesota. The town was evacuated in August of that year when two local settlers were killed as a result of the conflict. Fort Dakota, a military reservation established in present-day downtown, was established in May 1865, and many of the former settlers gradually returned.

5) What art exhibit does Sioux Falls host each year?

SCULPTUREWALK CHALKWALK PAINTWALK PHOTOWALK

SculptureWalk is an exhibit of more than 50 sculptures displayed year-round from the Washington Pavilion to Falls Park in downtown Sioux Falls. The sculptures are owned by the artists and loaned to the exhibit for one year. From May through September, the public votes for its favorite sculpture, which is deemed the "People's Choice Award." That sculpture is purchased at the end of the year for the city's permanent collection.

6) Sioux Falls has a full-size replica of what famous statue?

VENUS DE MILO STATUE OF LIBERTY THE THINKER DAVID

Though it's not exactly the real thing, the full-size statue of David in downtown Sioux Falls is one of only a few bronze castings from Michelangelo's original. David stands 18 feet tall near the Big Sioux River in Fawick Park, named for Thomas Fawick, the millionaire inventor and Michelangelo admirer who donated the statue to the city in 1971.

7) How old is the cemetery at the center of the city?

1,200 YEARS OLD 800 YEARS OLD 1,600 YEARS OLD 400 YEARS OLD

Five ancient burial mounds sit in the center of the city at Sherman Park along Kiwanis Avenue. Radiocarbon testing shows the physical remains of Woodland Indians were buried there 1,600 years ago.

8) How many gallons of water flow over the city's waterfalls every second?

74,000 GALLONS 74 GALLONS 740 GALLONS 7,400 GALLONS

Covering 123 acres, an average of 7,400 gallons of water drop 100 feet through the Falls each second.

9) What was the first newspaper published in Sioux Falls?

DAKOTA DEMOCRAT DAKOTA UNION DAKOTA REPUBLICAN DAKOTA INDEPENDENT

On September 20, 1858, Samuel J. Albright established the The Dakota Democrat, the first newspaper published within the limits of Dakota Territory. At the time, his readership was rather limited, with less than 40 people living in Sioux Falls.

10) What was the first church built in Sioux Falls?

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH CATHEDRAL OF SAINT JOSEPH FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH

In 1875, Rev. Amos Hilton organized a congregation with 11 charter members. The First Baptist Church was dedicated on November 1, 1882. Wallace L. Dow, premier architect of Dakota Territory and a member of the congregation, designed the structure, which had seating for 300 even though the congregation numbered only 25 at the time. Innovations included a warm water baptistry, making outdoor immersion baptism in the Big Sioux River a thing of the past.