The Dakota Scout

The Dakota Scout

Share this post

The Dakota Scout
The Dakota Scout
SCOUTING YESTERDAY: Buried dynamite on reservation caused panic in 2000
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More

SCOUTING YESTERDAY: Buried dynamite on reservation caused panic in 2000

This week in South Dakota history: April 25 - May 1

Dan Gehlsen's avatar
Dan Gehlsen
Apr 30, 2025
∙ Paid
3

Share this post

The Dakota Scout
The Dakota Scout
SCOUTING YESTERDAY: Buried dynamite on reservation caused panic in 2000
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
Share
Debris is thrown into the air as decades-old dynamite is destroyed. Photo: Argus Leader

Federal officials sounded the alarm in 2000 after discovering that a 1930s Works Progress Administration (WPA) road crew had buried more than 140 cases of dynamite — with half the power of the Oklahoma City bomb — just 12 feet below tribal land on the Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota Reservation, according to the April 30, 2000, edition of the Argus Leader.

The road crew buried the dynamite in a field after completing their work on a dam and roads in 1938. Six decades later, an elderly living center and a Tribal Head Start building stood across the road from the site.

SCOUTING YESTERDAY: Dakota State's most wired award was two decades in the making

SCOUTING YESTERDAY: Dakota State's most wired award was two decades in the making

Dan Gehlsen
·
Apr 24
Read full story

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to The Dakota Scout to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 The Dakota Scout
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share

Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More