South Dakota, created with North Dakota on 2 November 1889, ranks fifteenth in size with 77,047 square miles that include exceptional corn land in the southeast, grass land in the west, wheat land in the north, and productive land all over. Its lowest point, Big Stone, is 979 feet above sea level, and its highest, Harney Peak, at 7,247 feet, is the highest point in the U.S.A. east of the Rockies. The Black Hills, called "The American Alps," are scenically unsurpassed and are described as the richest one hundred mile square mineral area in the world, while Mount Rushmore, "The Shrine of Democracy," is visited by hundreds of thousands annually. Its Badlands are presented as weirdly beautiful and undeniably bad. Annually, South Dakota ranks in the first ten states in the production of wheat, corn, oats, barley, rye, grass, and cattle, and its Homestake Mine is the greatest gold producer in the western hemisphere. Its economy is well balanced, and the state is characterized as economically, physically, and recreationally a place of infinite variety. First visited by the white man Verendrye in 1745, it was for a century a fur traders paradise with a most romantic history. Its motto, "Under God the People Rule," is presented as symbolic of life in South Dakota. North Dakota, its twin state at creation, is identified as famous for the Red River Valley, wheat, and a progressive and self-reliant people.