Sunday, May 9, 2010
Up by 7:00, out the door soon after…
We drove a different way out of town, finding the local railroad yard… for the Dakota Southern Railroad, a shortline, railroad trying to revive several semi abandoned granger lines… The yard was a junk yard of the highest order, but most amazing was the range of rusty and broken locomotives, ranging from three 70 ton GE’s with maybe 480 horse power up to a derelict 260+ ton UP Centennial with 6,600 horse power… I took photos…
From Chamberlain we again headed west, across the river then climbed up to the bluffs on the far side. On the west side of the Missouri the landscape changed… We had passed from the land of the mid-western farm to the planes… few trees, isolated small towns many fewer farms. It appeared to be a much harder place. We dropped off the Highway at Kennebec, South Dakota to explore. A town consisting of a grain elevator possibly served by the Dakota Southern Railroad, a main street, with a post office, a small grocery, the farm bureau, Plus a court house… I suspect without the courthouse the town would have died.
We passed other more successful towns as we worked our way west. All dominated by a grain elevator and possibly a water tower. We saw many roadside billboards advertising Wall Drug…
Eventually we turned south off the interstate towards Badlands National Park. A spectacular eroded cliff face, where the high planes drop off suddenly. The soft soils wash away easily, creating a sand castle like wonderland. We take a few short hikes, visit the visitor center, encounter prairie dogs, then drive the park highway, exiting northward towards I-90 and the town of Wall, South Dakota, home of Wall Drug, a small town pharmacy which has grown into a full block tourist mecca… a tacky mecca, but a mecca, built on highway signs and free ice water. I bought post cards, the girls bought fudge… We discussed the concept of the Jackalope at length…
Back on the highway we head first to Rapid City, where we eat lunch, then into the Black Hills… We are headed for Mt Rushmore, a national monument, but first we have to run the gauntlet of motels, tee shirt stores, fudge shops, wagon rides, a tourist train, and of course, water parks and mini golf… I have e a theory that you are required to have mini golf near every national park… A friend concurs and notes they have a I-Max theater at the Grand Canyon so you don’t actually have to go outside to see the canyon… you can do it from the comfort of an air conditioned theater.
Mt Rushmore was great, a monument as expected, with a visitor center, a court of flags and sight lines well thought out, with wonderful granite columns and a outdoor theater to view the evening Illumination. There are even hiking trails… As wonderful as it is it seemed strange to have a national park, based not on great and unusual natural places, or historic sites, but on a “created” site. I still enjoyed the visit. We took a hike along the bottom, and were surprised to see Rocky Mt. goats… We felt lucky until while leaving we saw more goats grazing along the road, with collars on…
From there we went to the Crazy Horse Memorial… a carved mountain to honor a great Lakota war chief. It’s a grand project, well underway, with a long way to go, so compared to Mt Rushmore it will one day be larger and grander. It is exciting as it is not static… you can see the vision, and how the vision is being realized… but it is also stamped with its creator’s personality.
Having survived the valley of the shadow of Rosevelt’s nose, we headed north to Deadwood and our motel and rest stop for this leg of the race… Much of old Deadwood remains, but has sadly been turned into a western mining town themed Las Vegas… There are restaurants if you look, but they are in the basements of the casinos… Much like old Nevada, there are slot machines everywhere and they dominate all.
We found a steak house had dinner including a bottle of South Dakota merlot, returned to our motel and went to bed.
Monday, May 10th
We were up at 7:00, out the door soon after.
Rain had set in overnight. We drove down the mountain towards Sturgis South Dakota, home of the largest and most famous of motorcycle rallies. Of course that takes place in August and this is May, so we missed it. We drove about, saw the self described “largest biker bar in the world” and many many others, all closed on this early spring morning… We found a coffee shop and had coffee before returning to I-90 and once again heading west.
The rain was heavy… so heavy that our progress was slowed…
We slipped into Wyoming, then left the road and visited “Devils Tower” National Monument… Of course, the tower its self was lost in the fog and clouds.
Back to I-90… conditions if anything were worse… driving was intense… we ate lunch in Buffalo Wy and considered heading straight to Cody, skipping a planned loop to the Custer Battlefield. When we left the restaurant the rain had stopped, so we pushed on north.
We crossed into Montana, finally reaching the battlefield along the Little Big Horn River… “ Last Stand Hill” with its monument and fenced markers, showing where Custer those who were with him at the “end” is just above the visitor center… other white granite markers, most simply marked “U.S. Soldier 7th Calvary Fell Here” are scattered over 6 miles of hill side. A few identify a specific soldier, officer or scout where the identity is known. More recently, other red granite markers have been added, where some of the Indians, mostly Cheyenne fell, their tribe having preserved the memory of their lost warriors. Other markers have been added as new remains are located, and even identified. One white granite marker memorializes the site of the graves of the horses of the 7th cavalry.
A six mile road follows the ridge line where most of the battle was fought… down to the site where Reno and Benteen gathered their companies and managed to hold off the Indians until a relief column arrived. At the Reno/Benteen site the movements of the battle are more obvious, helped by accounts of the troops who survived.
Returning along the ridge the actions which ended up with the “Last Stand” also start to make more sense, the white granite markers marking Custer and his men’s desperate retreat up the ridge. Recent archeology and study of Indian accounts show that not only was Custer outnumbered, but that the Indians were a disciplined fighting force, forming organized skirmish lines as they defended their encampment.
I walked the various loops available (some were closed.) The girls were less interested…
Back in the car, we first drove north via I-90 west, then dropped South at Billings headed towards Cody Wy… As we headed south we realized that the trip to Little Big Horn while longer saved us a trip over a snow mountain pass.
It’s now 11:00 pm… We are hoping the road into Yellowstone is open tomorrow… if not we have a long detour ahead… It appears the road from Yellowstone to Jackson via Grand Tetons won’t be, requiring a detour out via West Yellowstone, the back to the east over Teton pass to get to Jackson…
There won’t be internet in Yellowstone tomorrow, so the next posting will be Wednesday night.
Bye for now, Randy
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