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Before moving to be with me in Wyoming, my late wife, from New Jersey, had never been west of eastern Iowa where she attended college. She related to me that as she first crested the hill in Chamberlain and saw the Missouri and the hills beyond it she started to cry, as she had never before seen such a beautiful landscape. As you travel across I-90 there should be no doubt that the Missouri is the start of "The West".
One can definitely notice a change in the humidity when going from East River to West River. One can notice the humidity from the James River Valley on east and notice the lesser amounts in the western third. Amazing that we have go from cornbelt/midwestern landscape to somewhat mountainous scenery in the western part with the badlands and so areas near the hills having reddish soil.
As one who was born in West River country of parents who herded sheep there for nearly a quarter century, I have some understanding of "that country" and the people who live west of the Missouri River. Half my life in SD (12 years) was in the west and the other half (12 years) was in the east.
From my experiences living in "cities" and towns, going to school (elementary through some graduate school) and teaching in both halves of the state, there are some differences. To some degree, these differences are diminishing but were, to a large degree dictated by the nature of the environment. Little question that Sioux Falls, Aberdeen, Huron, Aberdeen, Watertown, Brookings, etc. dwellers are more urban. Those in Pierre (I know they are east of the river as I lived there for 18 years) are actually quite west river--but not so much as they are a mile away in Ft. Pierre.
Rapid City is a bit more urban but different from the urban nature of Sioux Falls, etc. Sturgis, Belle Fourche, Wall, Philip (near where I was born in the country), Spearfish, Murdo, Kadoka, etc. are very much west river. They are primarily ranchers--not farmers as in the "east." I think the land dictates that. Still, I know and worked with some "western" ranchers in the "east" from Highmore (Pat and Willie Cowan--real cowboys) and Merle B. "Boots" Gregg, Curtis Smith and Wayne Bartlett (real cowboys) east of the river.
The river may separate but there are other issues that impact as well. Good point that we may better have been East and West Dakota(s)--but then, no infinite variety. One thing, we are all South Dakotans. John Stone
You can take that same general line (the Missouri River before it swings eastward) and continue with it southward through Nebraska, Kansas and all the way to the southern-most tip of Texas and see the same division. When I lived in west Texas (San Angelo) I got a kick out of people who said they were taking a trip "back east". Being raised in eastern Kansas and Iowa, I at first thought they meant they were going to the New York area, but no, they meant they were headed to Houston.
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East River vs. West River in South Dakota
