Fort Meade Firing Range

The Fort Meade Firing Range is located in the northern half of the preserve, adjacent to the Centennial Trail. The entire range encompasses an area 850 meters north to south and 200 meters east to west. Multiple berms running east to west are still visible. A 500-foot-long masonry wall is located at the northern end of the range where soldiers could change out targets. Sandstone blocks in the wall are heavily inscribed with graffiti from after the end of the First World War through, and after, the Second World War.

History

According to Post records, the rifle range was constructed by the military at Fort Meade for target practice in the late 19th Century, although an exact date is unknown. The range was used by the military until shortly after the end of World War II.

Montana State University Billings Study

In 2021, a survey team assembled by Dr. Timothy Urbaniak of TRU Technologies LLC, performed an inventory of the historic inscriptions on the firing range wall. The intent of the project was to record and catalog historic inscriptions dating primarily from after the end of the First World War through, and after, the Second World War.

There are approximately 660 inscriptions documented, depending on the selection of associative clustering. This count includes letters, names, and figures.

There are 141 inscriptions that identify a year as all or part of date information. In addition to the years noted, there are multiple occurrences that identify specific months and days. The earliest identified inscription is a faint number 22, presumably 1922, between Block 3 and Block 2. The period of greatest density is between 1935 and 1944, with 1943 being the peak inscription year with a count of 35 (Urbaniak 2022).

Speaker Series: Dr. Timothy Urbaniak, “The Historic Inscriptions of the Northern Plains.” March 31, 2021

“Behind the Wall: Historic Inscriptions at the Fort Meade Firing Range, Sturgis, South Dakota” by Dr. Timothy Urbaniak, James Busse, Robin Mutchler, Garry Worthington, January 24, 2022

Preservation

Efforts are underway to prevent any new graffiti or tampering with the firing range. Tree saplings in the wall were removed in 2022 and a wireless security camera is being installed.

Grenade Court

Before USD students began preliminary mapping for the first Soap Suds Row excavation, explosives expert Jim Laverick from Custer spoke to them about the grenade court that soldiers used to practice tossing grenades. Laverick, a retired FBI agent, talked about the grenade court that was depicted on a 1913 map of the area near Soap Suds Row, and what to do should a grenade be found.

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