Butte County is in the heart of ancient buffalo country along South Dakota’s western boundary with Wyoming and Montana. The rugged buttes which gave the county its name, and the broad, diverse, short grass prairie, sheltered massive herds of migrating bison, pronghorn, elk and deer, which supported the native Lakota and Cheyenne people. 

French trappers and traders in the 19th century described the confluence of two local rivers as “belle fourche”—beautiful fork. But the Treaty of 1868 placed the region off limits to whites as part of the Great Sioux Nation. After gold was discovered in the Black Hills in 1876, ranchers and homesteaders settled the rich agricultural bottomland along the Belle Fourche and Redwater rivers, and became the primary source of food and livestock for the booming gold camps of Lead and Deadwood.

The region was originally incorporated by the Dakota Territorial legislature in 1881 as the southern half of Harding County. Butte split off from Harding two years later. In 1891, Deadwood sheriff and land speculator, Seth Bullock, built a railroad terminal on the banks of the Belle Fourche, and began shipping cattle east. By 1895 the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad was the largest cattle shipping center in the nation, sending 2,500 carloads a month to eastern markets during the fall months of the year.

The town that grew up around the cattle economy was also named Belle Fourche, which quickly established itself as the county seat. In 1904 the Secretary of Interior authorized construction of the Belle Fourche irrigation project to support the growth of local agriculture. The project was completed in 1914. Irrigated land allowed the small town of Newell to become a national center of sugar beet production and a key part of the Butte County economy in the period between the World Wars.

Today, the Belle Fourche Project is managed by the Corps of Engineers, and irrigates 57,000 acres of corn and alfalfa. The Reservoir is also a popular fishing site for local anglers. The Rocky Point Recreation Area is managed by the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Wildlife.

Historical Photos and Documents Online

The prints and photograps section of the Library of Congress has about a dozen images related to Belle Fourche mainly contributed by John Gabrill which depict Devil's Tower and ranching scenes from the late 1800's.

The Denver Public Library digital collection has Draft Registration from the area for World War I.

Religion

A 2000 survey of churches in Butte County provides only a partial reflection of religious adherence in the area. A majority of people (6,481) were not identified with a specific religion or denomination. Of those who did respond, 1,657 people were members of Mainline Protestant churches. Catholic churches accounted for 730 congregants, while another 224 people in the area were listed as Evangelical Protestant. We have graphed this data here.

Butte County's population as of July 1, 2011 was 10,259 residents, according to estimates by the U.S. Census. This total reflected a 1.1 percent increase over the previous year. The county's residents share 2,248 square miles with approixmately 64,000 cattle. The population density of 4.5 persons per square mile is among the lowest in the nation, and over half the population (5,594) lives in the county seat of Belle Fourche.  Butte County's population rose 11.2 percent to 10,110 between 2000 and 2010, according to the U.S. Census. The rate of population growth in the county (11.2 percent)  exceeded the rate for the state (7.9 percent).

Race

Butte County is predominantly white, accounting for 94.2 percent of the population of Butte County. The remaining 6 percent is comprised mostly of Native Americans and Hispanics.The presence of Lakota natives has declined to less than two percent of the population in recent decades. At the same time, the local Hispanic population has grown to over 3 percent.

Poverty

Butte County’s poverty rate is exactly the same as the statewide poverty rate of 14.2 percent. Butte County has the highest home ownership rate in the seven-county region with about 77.2 percent of households being owner-occupied. Despite this, Butte County also has the lowest per capita income ($38,085) in the region with the exception of Shannon County. According to the South Dakota Kids Count project, the estimated percentage of children under the age of 18 in poverty has hovered around 21 percent since 2005.

Population Trends

Throughout the Great Plains, rural counties have lost population in the last fifty years, but despite declining as a hub of the national cattle economy, Butte County actually gained 1,000 new residents between the 2000 census and the 2010 census. The growth has been almost entirely in the city of Belle Fourche, which has grown as a service center for outlying ranches and a bedroom community for nearby Spearfish, which is only twelve miles away.

In 1959, the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey designated Butte County as the geographic center of the United States. The “center of the nation” had been located in Lebanon, Kansas until Alaska and Hawaii were admitted to the union, and the center shifted north and west to a spot twenty miles north of Belle Fourche. A historical marker memorializes this spot.

Newell County School District

Students in the Newell School District take the annual Dakota STEP test to ensure that the district is making adequate yearly progress (AYP) in reading and math. According the State of South Dakota's report card, Newell's middle and high school students achieved AYP in all categories in the spring of 2011, but elementary students did not achieve AYP in reading. The subcategry of elementary students with economic disadvantages also failed to make AYP in reading, though white elementary students did make AYP.  Wall's high school graduation rate was 72.7 percent in 2011, dramatically lower than the 88.8 percent rate posted in 2010 and lower than the statewide average of 83.3 percent.

During the 2009-2010 academic year, the Newell School District's fall enrollment was 312 in grades K-12. With a 1.4 percent dropout rate, the district graduated 16 students. Thirteen students took the ACT exam. The average composite score was 21.2. To view a statistical profile of funding, student and staff data, see the South Dakota Department of Education's 2009-2010 Profile of Newell School District.

Local Government

The Butte County Commission includes five elected commissioners who represent different districts within the county. In 2011, approximately half of the county’s $3.2 million budget is allocated to general government services including courts and the state’s attorney’s office. Another third of the total budget pays for public safety. Contact information for the commissioners, as well as agendas and minutes for Commission meetings are available here.

Elections

Butte County citizens generally vote Republican in state and national elections. In the 2004 presidential election, 74 percent voted for George W. Bush. In the 2008 election 67 percent voted for the ticket of John McCain and Sarah Palin.

Voter turnout in Butte County in the 2010 general election was 59.3 percent, compared to statewide turnout of 62.3 percent. For more information on election history in Butte County, visit the South Dakota Secretary of State.

Butte County ranked 45th among 59 South Dakota counties scored on the basis of health outcomes in 2012. Residents reported higher rates of poor physical and mental health days than the state and national average. More children were born with comparatively low birthweights. Higher rates of risky health behaviors included greater incidences of adult smoking, adult obesity and excessive drinking than the national average, as well as a higher rate of teen births. County residents are also more likely to be without health insurance compared to state and national averages. To compare Butte County data to other counties, visit the site created by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin.

Data from U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

County-level health statistics are also available from the U.S. Deparment of Health & Human Services. Compare Butte County to similar counties in the United States and to the national median.

A healthy agricultural economy has contributed to substantial growth in Butte County's median income over the last decade, from $29,040 in 2000 to $38,015 in 2009. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the county's total labor force in October 2011 was 5,481, with 211 people or 3.8 percent listed as unemployed. Approximately one in four workers are employed in the trade, transportation and utilities sector. Another one in four work for various federal, state or local government agencies. Nearly three of ten employed residents commute to another county to work in another county. For an in-depth economic profile of Butte County, visit the South Dakota Governor's Office of Economic Development.

Business Activity & Taxable Sales

Taxable sales in Butte County exceeded $10.564 million in January, 2012, according to the South Dakota Department of Revenue.