Scouting History: Fifth Face of Mount Rushmore dies, Wounded Knee occupation & a disliked judge

This week in South Dakota history: Feb. 22-26

Ben Black Elk (Credit: South Dakota Department of Tourism)

Ben Black Elk of the Oglala Lakota people, also known as the Fifth Face of Mount Rushmore, died at the age of 74 on Feb. 22, 1973.

Born May 17, 1899, in Manderson on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Ben Black Elk was the sixth in line to carry the name, according to the Huron Daily Plainsman. His father, Nicholas Black Elk — the namesake of South Dakota’s highest peak — was a first cousin of Chief Crazy Horse. Both participated in the battle of Little Big Horn.

Black Elk was sent to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Ivyland, Penn. from October 1914 until July 1917 when he returned home to help with the family farm after the death of his father. According to a 1963 Sioux City Journal article, he was a successful rancher and farmer who won several blue ribbons for his quality livestock and crops.

SCOUTING REPORT: Kids consuming sugary drinks, contraception bans, trust in media, wolf rampage