The southwestern corner of South Dakota contains a rich mountain range called the Black Hills. It stretches for about 6,000 miles and has an abundance of valuable minerals, the most infamous of which is gold. The mountain range is also the home of breathtaking scenery, amazing natural formations, history, and lore.

There is an ancient legend regarding this mountain range. The Sioux tribe that had been allowed to live in a reservation in the Black Hills believed that the Four Winds were the true gods of the Native Americans. They believed that the Four Winds resided in the Black Hills.

The Sioux people were not considered to be citizens and had no rights, so they could not make a citizen petition. They could not look to petition examples, and even if they learned how to make a petition, their demands would have been ignored in the favor of the white settlers.

When white settlers heard of the gold in those mountains, they rushed to take the reservation from the Native Americans. A bloody battle ensued and General Custer was defeated and killed at the Battle of Little Bighorn. The Sioux tribe fought hard to protect the home of their people and their gods.

It is easy to believe that the Wind Cave really was the home of the sacred wind gods. Caves were formed by carbonic acid inside of rain and surface water. Great beds of limestone were dissolved by this acid. As the limestone began to break apart into blocks, water would seep in between the cracks and dissolve more stone until great, hollow cavers were formed. Many of these caves can be found in the Black Hills.

When Tom Bingham discovered the largest and strangest of these caverns by accident, he was enthralled. The people concluded that the Wind Cave should not be taken advantage of as a business enterprise. Thanks to the petition process, they could learn how to make a petition and could make ideal petition examples. It is not certain whether petitions were actually used in the process of preserving the Wind Cave, but the people’s voice was still very important. Congress set the Wind Cave aside as in 1903 as the sixth United States National Park.

The Wind Cave is strange because air rushes in and out of the cave’s entrances on different days, in spite of the wind direction outside. This phenomenon has much to do with atmospheric pressure. When the air pressure reduces, the cave blows air out through the entrances. When the outside air pressure increases, air blows into the cave.

Venturing into caves without park rangers is very unsafe, so all visitors must go on a guided tour. This is an inarguable safety consideration, and nobody has attempted to write a petition letter or make an online petition in an attempt to get petition signatures to override necessary park regulations.

Many caves are famous for their stalactites dripping from the ceiling, and stalagmites that rise from the floor. There are very few of these in Wind Cave. Instead, the Wind Cave is noted instead for its box work decorations on walls and ceiling, which result in traceries, carvings, and lacework of the most elaborate and surprising description. Delicate veins and inter-lacings of calcite deposited in crevices are left standing out in relief as the softer limestone between is leached away by seeping water.

Other interesting features in­clude frostwork, curtains and sheets of flowstone, crystal-lined cavities, and strange shapes, some of which suggest plants and animals. Many of the decora­tions are pure white, while some are combined with a very delicate pink background.

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