#23. Odd Facts

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I have visited the Black Hills of South Dakota, but I learned a few NEW things about those hills, recently. First of all, according to geologists, a hill is called a hill if it's less than 1000 feet high. Higher than that, a hill becomes a mountain. The Black Hills rise from 2000 to 4000 feet, and some peaks exceed 6000 feet., with the highest peak, Harney Peak, at 7,242 feet, which is actually higher than any peak in the Appalachian or the Ozark Mountains. The Sioux Indians actually named the mountains Paha Sapa ("hills of black") because, those hills were covered with pine trees that appear to be black when viewed from the plains below. Nor did the Sioux Indians know that geologists would later distinguish between what should be called a hill and what should be called a mountain.