Across the fence: Battle Mountain

“A messenger arrived from the great west with news of a wonderful water which, he said, had been touched by the finger of the Great Spirit…”

These are the beginning words of the historical marker titled ‘Battle Mountain’ at the northwestern edge of town above the Fall River that runs through Hot Springs, South Dakota. The brief narrative continues with the messenger’s news of the waters ability to cure disease and the subsequent migration of Native Americans to the sacred site. The brass lettering on a black background jumps forward through centuries of unrecorded history to reveal that, “Afte...