Oglala, South Dakota

8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the West Oglala Lakota unorganized territory. It lies in ZIP code area 57764. The Survey maps it on the Oglala quadrangle. 1,282 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,995 feet above sea level.

Oglala within Oglala Lakota County

Population over time

2 figures

Oglala fell from 1,290 to 1,282 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

Year	People	Change
2010	1,290
2020	1,282	-8 (-1%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

3 surveys from 8 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

1955 USGS Hot Springs quadrangle1:250000, 5 printings
1967 USGS Oglala quadrangle1:24000
1985 USGS Pine Ridge quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings

Fires near this place

700 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 700 fires within 5 miles of Oglala between 1992 and 2020, burning about 8,845 acres in total. 24 started naturally. 9 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Debris and open burning	230
Misuse of fire by a minor	127
Fireworks	112
Other causes	74
Equipment and vehicle use	52
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	43
Natural	24
Smoking	16
Arson/incendiarism	9
Recreation and ceremony	8
Power generation/transmission/distribution	5

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
9 September 1999	Other causes	under an acre	Pine Ridge Agency	10-22
9 September 1994	Misuse of fire by a minor	3.0 acres	Pine Ridge Agency	WESTON
8 September 2006	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Pine Ridge Agency	DINKY
7 September 2009	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Pine Ridge Agency	BIG BUKS
7 September 1994	Debris and open burning	120 acres	Pine Ridge Agency	OGLALADUMP
6 September 2017	Misuse of fire by a minor	under an acre	Pine Ridge Agency	SCOOTER
6 September 2015	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Pine Ridge Agency	LID
6 September 1994	Misuse of fire by a minor	3.0 acres	Pine Ridge Agency	LOOKINGELK

Every fire recorded in Oglala Lakota County

Storms near this place

60 of 116 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Oglala in 116 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 56 hail, 52 thunderstorm wind, 5 flood, 2 tornado. The reports record 1 death and 8 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
April 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	1 killed, 5 hurt, $20,000	no account filed
July 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	3 hurt, $150,000	Two mobile homes were rolled and completely destroyed, with all their contents scattered by the wind. A stick-built house lost a large portion of its roof. Twelve transformer poles were broken.
August 2014	Hail	Oglala	$100,000	Large hail, with a few hailstones baseball to softball size, caused property damage in Oglala.
May 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	$20,000	A trailer house was rolled over by the wind.
May 2015	Flood	Oglala	$20,000	Record flooding occurred along the White River from the Nebraska state line to Badlands National Park. The White River was over 200 yards wide and at least two feet deep on BIA Highway 41 north of Oglala, where a vehicle was swept off the highway and the passengers had to be rescued. BIA Highway 32 near Slim Butte was washed out and a culvert on BIA Highway 27 washed out and the road was damaged north of Rockyford.
June 2011	Hail	Oglala	$20,000	Large hail damaged several automobiles.
May 2011	Hail	Oglala	$10,000	no account filed
August 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	$5,000	Wind gusts to 60 mph were reported.
July 2013	Hail	Oglala	$5,000	no account filed
July 2013	Hail	Oglala	$5,000	no account filed
July 2011	Hail	Oglala	$5,000	no account filed
May 2003	Hail	Oglala	$5,000	no account filed
May 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	$2,000	Portion of a greenhouse roof was blown off.
June 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	$1,000	Winds blew over a small shed.
June 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	Public reported estimated wind gust report.
July 2025	Hail	Oglala	-	Estimated hail report.
July 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	Public estimated wind gust.
August 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	The spotter estimated wind gusts at around 60 mph.
May 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	Thunderstorm produced wind gusts to near 60 mph.
July 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	The spotter estimated wind gusts at 60 mph.
July 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph.
April 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	Pea sized hail also fell with the storm.
July 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph.
June 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph.
August 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	The strong winds blew siding off mobile homes.
June 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	The spotter estimated wind gusts at 60 mph.
May 2019	Flood	Oglala	-	Runoff from heavy rain caused minor flooding of agricultural land along White Clay Creek. Flooding and high water levels along White Clay Creek quickly filled Oglala Dam and White Clay Dam. Due to the large volume of water and saturated soils, both reservoirs had to be drained.
August 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph.
July 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	Wind gusts were estimated at 60 to 70 mph.
July 2018	Hail	Oglala	-	Large wind-driven hail in the Oglala area damaged at least 300 homes and over 100 vehicles. Minor injuries were reported from broken glass.
July 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph.
June 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	The spotter estimated wind gusts at 60 mph.
July 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph.
September 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	Strong winds damaged homes and buildings in Oglala.
May 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph.
August 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	The spotter estimated wind gusts at 60 mph.
October 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	Pea sized hail also fell with the storm.
May 2015	Flood	Oglala	-	Minor flooding of agricultural land occurred along the White River.
May 2015	Flood	Oglala	-	Minor flooding of agricultural land occurred along the White River.
June 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph.
July 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	Wind gusts were estimated at 70 mph.
June 2015	Flood	Oglala	-	Minor flooding of agricultural land occurred along the White River.
June 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	Several people reported 60 mph wind gusts.
July 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph.
July 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	Wind gusts were estimated around 60 mph.
June 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph.
August 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph.
August 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph.
July 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph.
June 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph.
June 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	Six to eight inch diameter tree branches were snapped off trees.
July 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph.
October 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	A spotter reported wind gusts of 60 mph.
May 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph.
May 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	Wind gusts were estimated around 60 mph.
June 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph.
July 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph.
August 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	Large tree branches were broken off trees.
July 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Oglala	-	Dirt and lightweight objects became airborne.
July 2007	Hail	Oglala	-	Two front doors blown in from winds.

Every storm recorded in Oglala Lakota County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Slim Butte	8.9 miles	8
Manderson	14.6 miles	8
Pine Ridge	14.9 miles	9
Wounded Knee	20.1 miles	8
Evergreen	21.8 miles	8
Porcupine	21.9 miles	8
Sharps Corner	22.8 miles	9
Denby	23.1 miles	8

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on Oglala	An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1889041	The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1261129. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.