I cannot imagine paying big box prices for cherry or black walnut.
I had 37 ash trees infected by emerald ash borer a few years ago. I purchased an Alaskan Chainsaw jig and cut some nice beams out-8x8, 8x10, 8x12. Using an Alaskan chainsaw jig is too much work for a 1x but it was worth it for beams. I spent a lot of time walking on my knees pushing that chainsaw.
This year I had to cut a hard maple and a walnut tree down. I ended up with 6 logs and had a portable sawmill come in. I think I had some 27" hard maple boards. I am on a hillside so took awhile to set up, but we had four hours total. For eqpt, operator, and helper it cost me $250 for 4 hrs which I thought was cheap. I also learned with a logger's cant I could roll a log uphill by myself, but had to get help with the 27" one. That was one big log to roll uphill. There probably are not too many portable mills in S.D. but you may want to do a search to find the nearest one. I know the one I hired had a kiln and dried some lumber on the side. Something like that may be a source since they would not be tapped in to the export market or large users.
I do not know what you are building, but consider #1 or #2 common. Prime will have a premium price, and knots can add character. I made my own house trim work out of poplar (stained like cherry) and found #2 worked fine for me. It would depend on the species-I do not think #2 white oak would be good. I bought from a sawmill in southern Ohio that had their own kiln. If I remember right, there was a price break at 500 b.f. The sawmill has since burned down (more than one fire) but I remember they had a pile of chestnut in their racks. I do not remember prices, and that was over 20 years ago, but I know I did not pay over $1 per board foot even for 10-12" wide stuff. I had them rough plane it and square one side, then I ran through a 12" portable planer for finish plane. So yes, I cringe when I see the prices at the big box stores. Besides at a sawmill you can find interesting stuff like sassafras or elm or something like the pile of Osage orange I have. We had the hedgerows (Osage Orange) in Illinois that were planted during the dust bowl. Did the hedge rows make it out to S.D.?
If you have storage space, I would get a truck and a trailer and take a trip. Bring back extra and sell it to local woodworkers. Check out the portable sawmill idea. Have fun and get away from that sterile big box stuff.
