Stories

a small hole in a rocky outcrop next to a sign reading "this place gave birth to a nation" with several tribal seals — Wind Cave is deeply spiritual place in many native oral traditions.
NPS Photo / Lennie Ramacher

Wind Cave National Park protects two very different worlds - one deep within the earth, the other a sunlit world of many resources. It is also one of America's first national parks.

The stories of Wind Cave National Park tell the tales of native oral traditions, exploring one of the world's longest cave systems, returning the wildlife to the park's surface world, and the ongoing conservation efforts to protect a mixed-grass prairie ecosytem, among others.

Lakota Emergence Story

Find out why Oniya Oshoka, also known as Wind Cave, is so significant to so many people.
Cave Exploration

Learn more about the early visitors to Wind Cave, as well as today's explorers and the places they see.
Professor Johnstone and the Hatpin

In 1893, mind reader Professor Paul Alexander Johnstone was invited to find a ladies hatpin hidden in Wind Cave.
Alvin McDonald's Diary

The personal diary of Alvin McDonald, first tour guide of Wind Cave.
The Birth of a National Park

Learn about how Wind Cave National Park was established.