Missiles and Memory: Dismantling South Dakota's Cold War

Abstract

For much of the cold war, 150 Minuteman missiles dotted South Dakota's western plains. Today the warheads are gone, but one silo remains as the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site. This article considers South Dakota's relationship with the Minuteman—from deployment to preservation—in order to examine the domestic cold war and the creation of a national cold war narrative.