Archives and Special Collections - The Collections

The Herman P. Chilson Collection includes books, journals, maps, pamphlets, and print materials relating to local histories, South Dakota history, Native American cultures, and United States western expansion. Rare books by national and international authors are held in the Chilson Collection as well. Among the items in the Chilson Collection are books in the Norwegian language, Lakota and Dakota dictionaries, and one of the first translations of the Bible into the Dakota language by Stephen Return Riggs. Included are first edition works by South Dakota authors such as Ole Rolvaag, Native American authors such as Vine Deloria, Jr. and regional authors such as Willa Cather and John G. Neihardt. There are extensive materials on General George Custer and the Battle of Little Bighorn as well as both historical events at Wounded Knee.