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# Fact brief: Was Rapid City’s M Hill the first of its kind in the United States?
- URL: https://www.sdnewswatch.org/fact-brief-rapid-city-south-dakota-school-mines-m-hill/
- Published: 2026-01-15T11:00:45.000Z
- Updated: 2026-01-15T11:00:44.000Z
- Description: A fact brief that refutes or confirms a claim with supporting information and additional evidence and context.
- Author: Michael Klinski
- Tags: Fact briefs, Education, #feature-4

## No.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cb/ab/cbabab5e-2dc6-462c-94a0-b72956c0d224/content/images/2025/01/WhiteFACT-BRIEF--500-x-200-px--2-1-1.png)

The iconic M Hill has showcased South Dakota Mines in Rapid City for more than 100 years, but it's not the first large letter to be displayed prominently in a college town.

The tradition began in 1905 when University of California, Berkeley students constructed a big “C” on a hill overlooking campus. Fifty years later, University of California, Riverside students made their own.

Other schools with the tradition include an “M” at the Colorado School of Mines and University of Wisconsin-Platteville, a “Y” at Brigham Young University in Utah and an “A” for when Colorado State University’s nickname was the Aggies.

Rapid City's M was built in 1912 by faculty and students who used more than 100 wagonloads of rock. Ten years later, it was replaced with concrete. The “S” and “D” were added in 1953\. Students hike up the hill during homecoming to clean the “M”.

*This fact brief responds to conversations such as* [*this one.*](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/nb93qd/til%5Fthe%5Fletters%5Fon%5Fhillsides%5Fwere%5Fstarted%5Fby/?ref=sdnewswatch.org)

### **Sources**

South Dakota Mines, [M Hill](https://www.sdsmt.edu/student-life/campus-points-of-interest/off-campus/m-hill.html?ref=sdnewswatch.org)

UC Riverside, [A tale of two campuses and the Big ‘C’](https://news.ucr.edu/articles/2025/12/03/tale-two-campuses-and-big-c?ref=sdnewswatch.org)

BYU History, [The story of ‘Y’ Mountain](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBySlHkWkfY&ref=sdnewswatch.org)

University of Wisconsin-Platteville, [The Platteville Mound of the 'M'](https://www.uwplatt.edu/platteville-mound-or-m?ref=sdnewswatch.org)

Colorado School of Mines, [M Climb](https://www.mines.edu/oredigger-experience/m-climb/?ref=sdnewswatch.org)

Colorado State University, [100-year tradition](https://magazine.csusystem.edu/2024/09/23/a-100-year-old-tradition/?ref=sdnewswatch.org)

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