Introduction 5Regarding the Dakota mountain lions, Roo se velt ([1885] 2004, 658) wrote: “Though
the mountain lion prefers woodland it is not necessarily a beast of dense forests
only, for it is found in all the plains country, living in the scanty timber belts which
fringe the streams, or among the patches of brush in the Bad Lands.” Roo se velt’s ref-
erence to mountain lions in the plains might have come from personal observations;
around that time a few specimens were captured in the oak groves along Oak Creek
(where the Grand River joins the Missouri River, in Corson County, South Dakota)
(Hoffman 1877). In addition, with the recolonization of the region by the species,
recent observations include the plains and buttes west of Corson County and juniper
stands along the Cheyenne and Missouri rivers.
In the Black Hills, members of the expedition of 1874 led by Lt. Col. George Arm-
strong Custer, while completing a reconnaissance of the Black Hills, reported seeing
a mountain lion near the headwaters of Castle Creek (in what is now Pennington
County); they believed mountain lions were numerous in the region (Ludlow 1875).
Hallock (1880) also stated that mountain lions were abundant in the Black Hills at
that time. However, Dodge (ca. 1875; published 1998) mentioned that only “a few”
mountain lions inhabited the Black Hills. He related that when he visited the Black
Hills, two or three had been seen by members of his party, but none had been killed,
because the animal was rarely seen during daylight. It prowled about under darkness
figure 1.4. The Rough Riders with their mountain lion mascot “Josephine.” “McClintock
1864–1934,” photographic collections, US Army, Phoenix Public Library.