The Ku Klux Klan in South Dakota

Download or read book The Ku Klux Klan in South Dakota written by Arley Kenneth Fadness and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2024-03-18 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A startling rise and retreat In the 1920s, a reborn Ku Klux Klan slithered into South Dakota. Bold at times, the group intimidated citizens in every county. KKK anti-Catholicism sentiment resulted in the murder of Father Arthur Belknap of Lead. Idealized Gutzon Borglum, sculptor of Mount Rushmore, operated as a white supremacist and KKK leader. In 1925, animosity between the KKK and Fort Meade soldiers came to a clash one night in Sturgis. The clatter of two borrowed .30 caliber Browning cooled machine guns split the air over the heads of a Klan gathering across the valley. Author Arley Fadness follows the Klan's trail throughout the Rushmore state.