The first mountain men and explorers to visit the Black Hills reported hearing strange and unexplainable sounds. The mystery of these underground rumblings remains to this day. Nearly every explorer to visit the Hills prior to 1833 makes reference to the strange roar, a sound which was often compared to the discharge of cannons. There is a general agreement that these noises, often heard on cloudless days, did not refer to thunder.

    These early boomings and reverberations endowed the Black Hills with an aura of intrigue and mystery for Indians and white men alike. Lewis and Clark never reached the Black Hills country, but learned of this from the fur trapper Jean Valle. Referring to these heights as Black Mountains, Valle said, "a great noise is heard frequently from these mountains."

    A possible explanation for the phenomenon was advanced by Hyman Palais in 1941. In the Black Hills Engineer Palais wrote "These strange rumblings have been attributed to the escape of hydrogen gas from subterranean beds of burning coal. No visitors to the regions where these noises had been heard fail to mention the curious phenomenon. After the year 1833 the rumblings evidently ceased, for explorers no longer mention hearing them." Yet there has never been a documented satisfactory explanation. The Black Hills mystery of the great noise remains for us to ponder.

10/01/03