Our first full day at the South Dakota Good Sam Rally. We
got up early and supported the Florida Good Sam members that are here and
attended the First Timers Meeting. We knew it was a small rally, but did not
realize, just how small. At the 2017 SD State Rally, there were 6 chapters in
the state and 14 rigs at the rally. This year, the 2018 SD State Rally, there
are 4 chapters in the state and 20 rigs at the rally. That means that the rigs
from Florida make up a quarter of their rally attendance … Wow!
We decided to go back to Mitchell today, to see the area and
the Corn Palace. Our friends had some prescriptions they needed to drop off at
Walmart. So, we did that first. By then, we were starved and decided to grab
lunch at the Depot.
The old depot of the Chicago Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad
was built in 1908 at a cost of $40,000 and was used over 40 years for
passengers and freight. During the early days, the depot was considered the most significant structure on Main Street and the hub of passenger activity. Porters often carried guest
luggage down the street to the three nearby hotels. During WWII many GI’s
passing though Mitchell on the train were served food by volunteers to make
their day brighter. In 1954, the railway terminated passenger service
operations and then freight service in 1981.
It sat empty for many years and then in 1990 it was beautifully
renovated and is now registered as a historical "site." Much of the original décor was maintained
including the freight room which served as the Railway Express quarters for
many years. Once again it is full of activity and houses The Depot Pub and
Grill. Where you can enjoy a craft beer, a hot meal, and a fun game in our
family dining area. It still has the depot look and feel, where you can experience
what it’s like to eat inside of an historic train depot! It is located 7 blocks
south of the Corn Palace.
The first Mitchell Corn Palace was part of a late 19th
century race by farming communities to make a name for themselves, promote
their products and draw curious visitors. Aberdeen had the Grain Palace, Rapid
City had the Alfalfa Palace. Rod Evans, who wrote “Palaces on the Prairie,”
found records of 34 palaces in 24 towns across the Midwest. All are gone,
except for the Corn Palace in Mitchell.
The World’s Only Corn Palace, which dates back to 1892, is a
one of a kind attraction. By 1905 the success of the Corn Palace had been
assured and a new Palace was to be built, but this building soon became too
small. In 1919, the decision to build a third Corn Palace was made. This one
was to be permanent and more purposeful than its predecessors. The present
building was completed in 1921, just in time for the Corn Palace Festivities.
That winter Mitchell hosted its first boy’s state basketball tournament. The
building was considered to have the finest basketball arena in the upper Midwest
area.
In the 1930’s, steps were taken to recapture the artistic
decorative features of the building and minarets and kiosks of Moorish design
were added restoring the appearance of early day Corn Palace. When it is not
hosting visitors in the spring, summer and fall, it is hosting special events
like live entertainment, fairs, basketball games and the Corn Palace Festival.
Some 350,000 colorful ears of corn are carefully, sliced and
nailed into place on the murals that adorn the building. It is all by hand, a
folk art form that is all but lost, but not here in Mitchell. A local farmer
plants 13 different colors of corn (red, brown, black, blue, white, orange,
calico, yellow and green corn) in carefully separating the plots to ensure
plants don’t cross-pollinate and dilute the purity of the colors.
A different theme is chosen each year, and murals are
designed to reflect that theme. Ear by ear the corn is nailed to the Corn
Palace to create a scene. The decorating process usually starts in late May
with the removal of the rye and dock. The corn murals are stripped at the end
of August and the new ones are completed by the first of October.
The murals are drawn on tar paper and marked. Bundles of
ryegrass and sour dock, a hearty prairie plant, are stapled to the frames. Then
the corn is added, kind of a paint by number, only they use corn!
Inside the palace are more corn murals, 6 of them are
designs of Oscar Howe. Oscar Howe, a Native American born on the Crow Creek
Indian Reservation. Howe was famous internationally as an artist who defined
the Native American Fine Arts Movement between the 1940s and 1960s. His work is
widely recognized for representing the rich heritage and unique character of
American Indian people and South Dakota. Howe’s paintings have been collected
and shown in museums as far away as New York, London and Paris.
He is highly
regarded as a major influence on the course of Indian art today. After
graduating from the Pierre Indian School, Howe polished his skills at the Santa
Fe Indian School in New Mexico. Howe’s career eventually led him to the
University of South Dakota, where he became an assistant professor of art,
artist-in-residence and assistant director at the W.H. Over Museum. He stayed
at USD for a quarter of a century.
Mitchell is a great place to explore Howe’s life and work. Howe
has designed the murals for the Corn Palace in Mitchell for many years. Howe
took the Corn Palace murals to a level of art that was never seen before and
has not been seen since. Many of his murals dealt with themes of reconciliation
between the races, whereas today the art on the Corn Palace is pretty much just
a series of pictures. Howe’s murals sparked actual thought, which is quite an
accomplishment when you consider that the medium was corn and other assorted
grains. Howe designed the Corn Palace murals from 1948 to 1971. He passed away in
1983.
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