The climate of South Dakota is of a continental type.
Another state could do so, however, and in 1904, certain creditors having given ten of their bonds to South Dakota, the case of South Dakota versus North Carolina came before the Supreme Court.
The territorial boundaries extended to the Missouri river, including a greater part of the present North and South Dakota.
Lake Traverse and the Big Stone Lake separate the state in part from Minnesota; the Big Sioux River forms most of the boundary between South Dakota and Iowa; and the Missouri river separates the state in part from Nebraska.
The Big Sioux river rises in the Coteau des Prairies in the north-east and flows almost directly south for a distance of 300 m., in the lower part of its course forming the boundary between South Dakota and Iowa.