Butte County, South Dakota
| Butte County, South Dakota | |
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Butte County Courthouse
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 Location in the U.S. state of South Dakota |
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 South Dakota's location in the U.S. |
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| Founded | May 6, 1883 |
| Seat | Belle Fourche |
| Largest city | Belle Fourche |
| Area | |
| • Total | 2,266 sq mi (5,869 km2) |
| • Land | 2,250 sq mi (5,827 km2) |
| • Water | 16 sq mi (41 km2), 0.7% |
| Population (est.) | |
| • (2015) | 10,283 |
| • Density | 4.5/sq mi (2/km²) |
| Congressional district | At-large |
| Time zone | Mountain: UTC-7/-6 |
| Website | butte |
Butte County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2010 census, the population was 10,110. Its county seat is Belle Fourche. The county was established in the Dakota Territory on March 2, 1883, and given the descriptive name based on the French word for a hill.
In 1975, Plesiosaurus fossils dating back to the Cretaceous Period were discovered in Butte County. These fossils were approximately 110 million years old. In the 1980s, a 90-million-year-old fossil of a clawless lobster was discovered. A tyrannosaurus rex skeleton was found in 1981.
The early human history of the Belle Fourche River Valley, and by extension, Butte County, has been traced back to about 3000 BC. The first people of the area were Native Americans who resided on the northwestern plains of North America. The earliest known evidence of human activity in the area dates back to the Middle Plains Archaic Period of the Plains Indians, which lasted from about 3000 to 1500 BC. Traces of tipi rings dating from this time period have been found. In 1979 and 1980, archeologists excavated a fortified and previously inhabited site located west of Belle Fourche that dated back to AD 1000. This site was called the Smiley-Evans Site and had been recorded in 1959. Until 1984, only 47 archaeological sites had been recorded, but after the excavation of the Smiley-Evans Site, several investigations were undertaken. As of 1989, 199 archaeological sites have been discovered in the county.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,266 square miles (5,870 km2), of which 2,250 square miles (5,800 km2) is land and 16 square miles (41 km2) (0.7%) is water.
As of the census of 2000, there were 9,094 people, 3,516 households, and 2,468 families residing in the county. The population density was 4 people per square mile (2/km²). There were 4,059 housing units at an average density of 2 per square mile (1/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 95.52% White, 0.10% Black or African American, 1.65% Native American, 0.24% Asian, 1.09% from other races, and 1.40% from two or more races. 2.93% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 37.3% were of German, 10.0% Norwegian, 8.2% United States or American, 7.8% Irish and 7.7% English ancestry.
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