Two Treasures of South Dakota

 Well I am not sure everyone would agree that the two places I am mentioning here would be considered treasures, because the Badlands in that state should get a higher rating from tourists passing thru South Dakota.  What I am going to tell you about here is what some people call "tourist traps.  I am referring here to Wall Drug, and the Corn Palace.  Each are located in a southern corner of the state, Wall Drug in the western and the Corn Palace in the eastern.

We have been to Wall Drug store several times.  This was one time we just did not have much desire to explore it as extensively as we did in the past,  primarily because there was a heavy crush of people.  Very few people were wearing masks.  In case you know nothing about this store, it did start out as the only drug store in Wall, South Dakota.  The owners, Dorothy and Ted Hustead, at first were getting very little business (there was the depression going on in 1931, and a drought).  Then Dorothy got the idea in the summer of 1936 to have the store give out glasses of cold water.  That brought the people in, and the store expanded with other stores, a Western art gallery and dining areas.  A big attraction for many people are the life-size statues of people sitting on benches outside of the stores.  One that many men especially seemed to like is the statue of show-girl- I did not get a picture of her because she was kept busy with men hugging her.  I did get a picture of a little old lady playing cards.  Looked like she was waiting for someone to play a card!

Strangely, while wandering around in the different stores, I found a chapel.

Imagine having a wedding at Wall drug store!  Well, I could not see that as a destination wedding.  We had lunch and I found a drug store in the complex to purchase some Advil.  We moved on east and made a stop at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota.  We have also visited that building several times in the past.  That place really is not a tourist trap, but just a fascinating stop.

                                                  

The Corn Palace is having its 100th anniversary this year!  Actually in the present building for that long- all total it has been 128 years.   The building has been redecorated every year with a different theme, this year it is "come and play". Thirteen different shades of corn are used to complete each picture.  About 325,00 ears of corn are sliced  lengthwise and carefully nailed into place.  Different grasses, as rye and sour dock, are used for the trim work.  In the picture below you can get a close up of the decorative mural celebrating the building's anniversary. 

                                        

We wandered around the inside of the building (munching popcorn of course) where there are many interpretive signs explaining the history of the building and the the process by which different artists through the years have been able to make the murals using corn.  The process is best described as "corn by number".  The city pays about one hundred thirty thousand dollars a year for different corn murals to be placed on the outside of the building.  The large hall on the main floor inside has been used for basketball games as well as stage shows.. So the building besides being decorative is quite useful!

Main Hall inside the Corn Palace

This concludes my postings of our trip out west, sometime the miles were long and a bit boring- but all in all it was a very enjoyable trip!

                                                           
 

Surprise in Sundance, Wyoming

When we drove into Sundance we were looking for a motel.  Strangely, most of the motels were full, but we were finally able to obtain a  room.

The streets of the town were empty.  We asked the motel clerk where all the towns people were.  He informed us that the Crook County Fair was going on at present and that almost everyone were there.  Next we needed supper, and there were not many restaurants in town open to choose from.  We lucked out again and found one.  We decided that after all the cattle we had been seeing, it was time for a steak meal..

Sign above John says: "The West Needs More Cowboys".   I don't think John would qualify.   After supper we felt in need of a good walk.  What a surprise when we came upon Sundance Square (just built in 2020), a lovely park with a bit of history to share with us.

Sundance Kid

 The Sundance Kid, Harry Longabaugh, served time in the local jail and took his name from the town.  He put in 18 months there for stealing a horse, the only time he was in any jail.  After leaving Sundance he became notorious for bank robberies and a train heist.  

 

Sundance Jail, circa 1800s

Besides the sculpture of the Kid, there were these large photographs in the town square.  We noticed that besides Harry Longabaugh, Butch Cassidy was also in the picture.  I was surprised, I thought the pictures would be of the town founders!    It was a Prussian-born immigrant who staked his claim in 1879 and named the town Sundance.   He gave that honor to the Native Americans and the sun dance they performed on both Sundance and Imyan Kara Mountains.  Before I end this posting I will share with you an interesting plant which I found in the square.  I don't think I have seen this plant ever, or at least if I did I did not know what it was!

catnip

Wyoming

"Welcome to Wyoming, don't do anything stupid".  I found that comment in my notes of our travels; it was a statement I saw on a road sign after we entered the state.  I did not notice whether that was an official state highway sign or not.  Maybe that rates right up on the top of my list with  the other strange sign which I saw: "celebrate freedom, get a gun".  That one was not in Wyoming

Devil's Tower

One of our goals while driving through Wyoming was to see this large rock formation again.  Maybe it was about the third time we have viewed it.  According to the park brochure it has the longest, largest rock columns in the world.  The columns range from four to seven sided.  Formed 50 to 60 million years ago, it grew by magmatic activity (meaning by molten rock pushing up through rock layers) and erosion.  Over time the Belle Fourche River carved away the older rock layers revealing the hard rock of the tower. The tower rises 867 feet from its base.  It is known as "Bear Lodge" by North Plains Tribes. It is important in their belief systems and sacred narratives,  and has a important place in their spiritual life.  Still today Native Americans make prayer offerings, seek visions and perform the annual Sun Dance.  For that reason, the Towers was eligible for  listing on the National Register of Historic Places as a Traditional Cultural Property. 

The Bel Fourche River also carved away "red beds" which surround the tower.  Those red rocks are part of the Spearfish Formation- which can be seen in the Black Hills of South Dakota, also in North Dakota, Wyoming and Montana.  They are oxide-rich layers of siltstone,shale and sandstone.

On our road trips out west we always look for pronghorn antelope, mule deer, and prairie dogs.  We did not see the pronghorn, saw one mule deer and a colony of prairie dogs.  A pull-out off the highway was provided and I snapped away until I finally got one to sit still!   These are not dogs, but a type of ground squirrel.  The black-tailed prairie dog has the widest range and is found throughout western United States, from Canada to Mexico.

Native Americans and Montana

Before leaving the topic of the Little Bighorn Memorial, I have one more necessary detail to add. The leader of the Native American warriors on June 25, 1876 was Chief Sitting Bull, warrior and statesman. He was the spiritual leader of the Lakota tribe who thought it important that his people keep their traditional way of life.  We found a quote from him on one of the interpretive signs at the memorial: "you are fools to make yourselves slave to a piece of fat bacon, some hard-tack, and a little sugar and coffee".  After the battle of Little Big Horn he continued for awhile to lead several bands of Sioux and Cheyenne in skirmishes against the United States. Another item which I want to mention here is that the theme adopted by the Native Indians for their memorial was:- "Peace through Unity". 

 

The rest of our journey through Montana took us through Native American reservations.  One town is named Lame Deer, located on the North Cheyenne Reservation.  We went slowly through the town, but along the main route through town we saw no park, or even the sight of any fast food places.  One gas station had food to offer- but that was only fried offerings.  We were carrying our own supplies for a picnic.  Before leaving Lame Deer we saw an interesting mural, however.

We also noticed a sign pointing the direction to Chief Dull Knife community college.  Interestingly enough, after we arrived home we saw an article in the paper mentioning that a forest fire had come near the town Lame Deer.  We just thought it so neat that a small town in Montana, mentioned in the paper, was a town which we had just traveled through- and we are quite happy for the town's people that the forest fire was stopped before reaching it!

So here was our lunch spot, just a picnic table by the side of the road in the town of Ashland-  located east of the of the North Cheyenne Reservation boundary, and not very far from Lame Deer.  How sad for these small reservation towns, lacking any shady type of parkland or even playgrounds.  But they are small towns- Lame Deer has a population of around 2,000 and Ashland 464.  Small shacks or trailers dot the land, this speaking to the apparent poverty found in these areas.  I also found the names of Lame Deer and Chief Dull Knife intriguing, but discovered later that those were the name of important Native Indian leaders.

Battle of Little Big Horn

 Traveling through Idaho, and then Montana, we encountered a few hazy days when we did not see much of the sun.  At one point we could smell the forest fires, which were some distance away.  And one morning we found ash on the hood of our car, which caused me to think that we were perhaps not as far away from the fires than I thought!  The picture below can give you an idea of how hazy the sky was.  After we got home and I looked at the pictures, I at first wondered why so many of my pictures of Montana looked so poor and a bit dark- I then realized that I had the forest fires to thank for that!

The Battle of Little Big Horn took place on June 25th, 1876.  Shortly after we arrived at the memorial site we encountered a group of tourists who were avidly listening to a park ranger tell of what has become known s "Custer's last stand".  The park ranger did a very dramatic recitation of the story, soon John and I also became mesmerized and listened to the details of that dreadful battle.  Later I picked up a park brochure which gave information on what events led to that confrontation.  In 1874 gold was discovered in the Black Hills, the heart of a new Indian reservation in eastern Wyoming.  The army tried to buy the Black Hills back from the Indians and failed.  The Lakota and Cheyenne left the reservation and began raiding parties on settlements and travelers.  In December 1875 the Indians were ordered to return to the reservation before Jan. 31, 1876, or be treated as hostiles by "military force".  The battle at Little Big Horn was the army's campaign against the Lakota and Cheyenne.  Some of what happened in June of that year has been told by Indians, as Kate Bighead.  The Lakota,Cheyenne and Arapaho (approximately 7,000 of whom 1,500 to 2000 were warriers) were camped by the river called Little Big Horn (in an area located in southeastern Montana).  Several women were digging wild turnips, while their children were seeking relief from the afternoon heat in the river.  Men were sitting and smoking.  In the distance a dust cloud was arising, and the shout arose that "Soldiers coming.Plenty white soldiers".  Soon women and children were screaming.  Old men were calling young men to battle.  It was the 7th Calvary of the army which had discovered the presence of the camp, led by General Custer.  He did not realize the size of the Indian presence and had divided his regiment into three battalions.  It was one of those battalions that raided the Indian village; they retreated when they saw that they were out numbered.

 

Site of Custer's Last Stand

There are many more details of the 7th Calvary movements on that fateful day, which I will not go into.  What happened during the course of that day is the stuff of legend and has become known as "Custer's Last Stand".  With 250 men under his command Custer was surrounded by the Indians and destroyed.  At the location of his last stand he and approximately 41 of his men shot their horses for breastworks, to no avail.  A total of 262 men were killed and 52 wounded.  The Indians lost no more than 100.  Red Feather, a Lakota Indian, commented that  "It was a terrible battle..a hard battle- both sides were brave warriors".

In 1988 two Native American groups pressured the National Park Service to give equal recognition to Native Indians who died at this battle site.  This prompted Congress to pass legislation authorizing a construction of a memorial for the Indians, which President G.Bush signed into law in 1991.  The theme of the memorial is "Peace through Unity".  It acknowledges the need for cooperation between Indian tribes and the federal government.

Public Law 102-201 redesignated Custer Battlefield National Monument as Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument and approved establishment of a memorial to recognized Native Americans who participated in the battle.