SICA HOLLOW, SOUTH DAKOTA

Hello all:  Hubby and I walked the one trail in Sica Hollow called 'Trail of the Spirits' and it was stunning, but short.  The entire State Park is very small, but much of it is taken up with hiking/horseback riding trails, not roads to drive through.  There are two small cemeteries there, out in the middle of nowhere. Sica Hollow is a conjunction of two prairies that many millennia ago crashed into each other and formed a deep ravine area of forest, streams and some unusual phenomena.  

It is this unusual, though completely natural phenomena that 'spooked' the original Sioux inhabitants into believing this area was haunted.  The streams carry a heavy mineral/iron content and at certain times the streams run almost blood red, which prompted the early Sioux to proclaim that the stream carried the spilled blood of their ancestors.  There's also heavy phosphorus content in the area which makes the tree trunks glow in the dark at their bases.  And the streams and swamp gasses make loud echoing, gurgling noises, all-in-all unusual surroundings that would make the imaginations of the jumpy and superstitious run on overtime. 

When the first Native Americans visited the location, they named it "Sica," (pronounced she-cha) meaning evil or bad place.  And several numerous Sioux legends recall mysterious happenings here.  The first white man to be recorded in history as making his home near what would one day become Sica Hollow State Park was named Robert Roi, who inhabited the area in the 1840s. Finding the location to be ideal for hunting because of the abundant game, some of which we saw as we drove the one road through the park, he soon made his home in a deep ravine.  The local Native Americans thought Roi crazy for living in an area that they wouldn't dare set foot in.  

A few years later, solders from Browns Valley set out to find Mr. Roi with the intent of collecting information on the frontier.  It took them days just to get down into the wooded ravine where he lived.  After they'd visited with Roi, the soldiers left, agreeing with the local natives that the man was probably crazy for living in such a place.

As the years passed, more settlers came to the area and the mythical stories about Sica Hollow grew.  It was later believed that some sort of beast or "Big Foot" type man inhabited the dense woods.  This fear apparently came to a boiling point when several people disappeared at Sica Hollow in the 1970s.  Of the many people who joined the hunting parties for the missing persons, several who participated openly admitted they were probably looking for some sort of beast.  Such a wild idea was actually supported by recent local sightings of something fitting that description.  

Others thought there might be a bear loose in Sica Hollow, but neither beast nor bear nor any of the missing persons have been found.

A wild tale, but all we saw was a beautiful forest area with lots of hawks and deer.  Of course, it was mid-morning, since I  couldn't convince hubby to go there at around sunset, not  even to let me walk the trails alone with a flashlight.  I really  wanted a photo of glowing tree trunks, but alas, it wasn't  meant to be.  Included are some photos I did take, and if you're  ever in the area I would recommend camping in their  beautiful but primitive campgrounds.  Those who have braved  it frequently speak of hearing the sound of drums and war- whoops of the departed spirits in the area once the moon rises,  and even a few have reported sightings of ghostly Sioux  braves.   But don't go walking off path, especially in the dark.   There are bogs and strange areas of quicksand that may have  actually been responsible for more than one of those people  disappearing in the Hollow . . . forever.  Later, friends!