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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

We have a couple of goals for our Gazetteer:

  • That it be a tool which helps us with planning our trips.
  • We're trying to shape our Gazetteer as a tool to help us understand the community in which our ancestors lived, the community that was part of their daily lives.
  • On our trips, we try to visit those places where our ancestors left their footprints.

By learning about Buffalo Gap (and the surrounding area) during the time that our ancestors lived, we hope to have a better understanding of both their community and its relationship to their lifes. We hope that this tool helps to give us an insight into their world.

As we add data and organize our Gazetteer to help with our family research, we will be adding to this our Genealogical Helper for Buffalo Gap. While we don't have information that is specific to any given person or family, we intend to expand our understanding about where and how people lived.

Neighboring Counties ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived:  their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the east contained birth and death records; the county to the north contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Buffalo Gap is located in Custer County.

To see how the shape of South Dakota's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Custer County: Fall River, Oglala Lakota, Pennington, Niobrara (WY) & Weston (WY).

Below are the counties that are near Buffalo Gap. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Buffalo Gap:

  • Custer County     (The home county of Buffalo Gap)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Buffalo Gap, with the one closest to Buffalo Gap listed first.
    • Fairburn
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairburn have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairburn
      • Fairburn is located in Custer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fairburn <2>
    • Pringle
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pringle have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pringle
      • Pringle is located in Custer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 109 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pringle <2>
    • State Game Lodge
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for State Game Lodge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for State Game Lodge
      • State Game Lodge is located in Custer County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 29 people
    • Ivanhoe ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ivanhoe have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivanhoe
      • Ivanhoe is located in Custer County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 144 people
    • Sanator
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sanator have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sanator
      • Sanator is located in Custer County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 1,350 people
    • Custer
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Hermosa
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Spokane ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Spokane. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spokane
      • Spokane is located in Custer County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 3,237 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Spokane
      • From Buffalo Gap to Spokane
    • Fourmile
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fourmile have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fourmile
      • Fourmile is located in Custer County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 70 people
  • Fall River County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Buffalo Gap, with the one closest to Buffalo Gap listed first.
    • Oral
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oral have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oral
      • Oral is located in Fall River County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 206 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oral <2>
    • Hot Springs
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Smithwick
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Erskine
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Erskine. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erskine
      • Erskine is located in Fall River County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Erskine
      • From Buffalo Gap to Erskine
    • Cascade Springs
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Heppner
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Heppner have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heppner
      • Heppner is located in Fall River County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 267 people
    • Rocky Ford
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rocky Ford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Ford
      • Rocky Ford is located in Fall River County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 6 people
    • Oelrichs
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oelrichs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oelrichs
      • Oelrichs is located in Fall River County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 124 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oelrichs <2>
    • Edgemont
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edgemont have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgemont
      • Edgemont is located in Fall River County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 718 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Edgemont <2>
  • Pennington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Buffalo Gap, with the one closest to Buffalo Gap listed first.
    • Hayward ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hayward have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayward
      • Hayward is located in Pennington County
    • Frenchtown ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Frenchtown have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frenchtown
      • Frenchtown is located in Pennington County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 276 people
    • Harney
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harney have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harney
      • Harney is located in Pennington County
      • Estimated population in 2014: 64 people
    • Keystone
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Buffalo Gap, see our County-by-County Page for Buffalo Gap.

Cemeteries Near Buffalo Gap ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Buffalo Gap.

This is a new section and is likely to have errors. If you find an error, such as a missing cemetery or we have the wrong name, please let us know. If you know of them, we would also appreciate learning about previous or alternate names.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Buffalo Gap covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Buffalo Gap, with the one closest to Buffalo Gap listed first.

  • Buffalo Gap Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Buffalo Gap Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Buffalo Gap Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hines Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hines Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hines Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hot Springs National Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hot Springs National Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hot Springs National Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairview Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Evergreen Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Evergreen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Smithwick Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Smithwick Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Smithwick Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fairburn Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairburn Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairburn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Horsehead Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Horsehead Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Horsehead Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pringle Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pringle Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pringle Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Highland Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Highland Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Highland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hillside Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Custer Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Custer Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Custer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mountain View Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
  • Edgemont Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)

Nearby Communities in 1895 ...

We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Buffalo Gap had a population of 501 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Buffalo Gap had a population of 144 people.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Buffalo Gap, with the one closest to Buffalo Gap listed first.

  • Hot Springs
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Erskine
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Erskine. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erskine
    • Erskine is located in Fall River County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Erskine
    • From Buffalo Gap to Erskine
  • Smithwick
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Fairburn
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairburn have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairburn
    • Fairburn is located in Custer County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 99 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fairburn <2>
  • Pringle
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pringle have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pringle
    • Pringle is located in Custer County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 109 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pringle <2>
  • Argyle
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Argyle have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Argyle
    • Argyle is located in Custer County
  • Minnekahta
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Minnekahta have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minnekahta
    • Minnekahta is located in Fall River County
  • Ivanhoe ‑ Historic
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ivanhoe have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivanhoe
    • Ivanhoe is located in Custer County
    • Estimated population in 2014: 144 people
  • Oelrichs
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oelrichs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oelrichs
    • Oelrichs is located in Fall River County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 124 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oelrichs <2>
  • Custer
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
  • Hermosa
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
  • Spokane ‑ Historic
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Spokane. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spokane
    • Spokane is located in Custer County
    • Estimated population in 2014: 3,237 people
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Spokane
    • From Buffalo Gap to Spokane
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Hayward ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hayward have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hayward
      • Hayward is located in Pennington County
    • Berne
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Berne have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berne
      • Berne is located in Custer County
    • Edgemont
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edgemont have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgemont
      • Edgemont is located in Fall River County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 718 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Edgemont <2>

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Buffalo Gap. See our List of 1890's Communities around Buffalo Gap.

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Buffalo Gap ...

An ongoing effort between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has resulted in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).

To share their results, the partnership has created the Chronicling America website. The goal of this partnership is to assemble a database about the current and historic newspapers of the United States. This includes a growing collection of scanned images from selected papers. All of it available to the public on their website.

Using information that we've taken from the Chronicling America website, we've identified 35 newspapers that have been published in the area around Buffalo Gap.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Buffalo Gap. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Buffalo Gap and those printed in the larger area surrounding Buffalo Gap.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<6> of Buffalo Gap.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites offer the information directly or else point to where you can find it. Their information is open to everyone.

To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that are relevant to Buffalo Gap:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Buffalo Gap. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of South Dakota: https://www.sd.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>The Find-a-Grave website is an excellent research tool with information about a cemetery's location and interments. They also offer a forum for their members which can provide additional help. More information about Find-a-Grave can be found on their website: findagrave.com.
<5>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Buffalo Gap, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Buffalo Gap) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Buffalo Gap. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 43.4928, Longitude: -103.3140    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025