W. H. Over Museum of
Natural and Cultural History
South Dakota's largest natural and cultural history collection!
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Exhibits at the W. H. Over State Museum

At the W. H. Over Museum we are rich in the history of the land.  From its early beginnings the museum has collected and exhibited the natural history materials of the state and region.  The geography of South Dakota has changed dramatically through the millennia and with it the forms of life that inhabit the land.  The plants, animals, and environment of this region, both past and present are of special interest at the Museum.

bison

Lakota girlClose-up, Teepee

Lakota Family Camp

View an outstanding collection of Sioux artifacts, and historic photographic portraits of the legendary leaders and daily life of the tribes of the upper Missouri river.  In our Lakota Family Camp many of the artifacts were made in the early 20th century in the Lower Brule Reservation and given to the Museum by the family of Father David Clark.  Clark was an Episcopalian minister to the Sioux.  For his kind and generous ways the people thanked him and his family by giving them traditional items from their culture.
The canvas teepee is typical of the times.  By this time the buffalo had all but disappeared from the plains and the people were able to trade for canvas.  This teepee is decorated with a double row of quill-wrapped teepee ties and other symbols of the Lakota family.
Artifacts from the Clark Collection

Artifacts from the Rosebud Yellow Robe Collection

Mocassins

The settlement of South Dakota in the mid 1800's tells one of the most powerful stories of westward expansion.  The Museum's collection of over 500 stereographic cards of  Stanley J. Morrow's photographs document the drama of the west; the Indians, the U.S. Army, the river trade and booming mining towns during the post Civil War period. .

Sitting BullRed Cloud

The 8'x10' claim shanty, shown below, was constructed by Gabriel Mydland, a Norwegian ship carpenter, on his homestead near Lake Preston, South Dakota in 1882.  All nine family members lived in the claim shanty and an adjoining covered dugout for one year until a more permanent structure could be constructed.  The shanty was donated to the Museum by Gordon Mydland, Gabriel Mydland's grandson.  It is a part of the "South Dakota: Land and People" exhibit and will remain as an appropriate tribute to all the immigrants who endured the hardships and uncertainties of the Dakota Prairies during the 1880's. 

Claim Shanty
Moline Dreadnought '35'
1912 Moline Dreadnought '35'

The 1912 Moline Dreadnought '35' has been restored by the Friends of the Museum and is on display at the Museum.  The vintage touring car was donated to the Friends by Elwood Olsen, formerly of Sioux City, IA.  The vehicle had three previous owners and its speedometer shows just over 7,500 miles.  the Dreadnought was known for its reliability and endurance and sold for $1,700 in 1912.  The 
3-door Dreadnought is the centerpiece of the Museum's "Time to Remember" exhibit in Heritage Hall, a hall dedicated to early pioneer life from the 1880's to 1920's.