First thing this morning we saw the baby prairie dogs. They
were hanging around the door of our wagon master’s coach! They were so cute, but
why are the called dogs when they live in the ground? Prairie dogs got their
name from the sound they make when danger is near, which is a warning bark or
yip. At one time, there were millions of prairie dogs living on the plains and
grasslands. These ground rodents live in towns made up of underground tunnels
or burrows. They have brownish fur, with white underbellies, large eyes, short
tails and rounded ears … sounds cute!
Classified as rodents, not so cute, they
have strong front teeth and sharp claws for digging. They are very social, as
we can see by their visit, and they live in colonies with hundreds of members.
The colonies are divided into wards, then into neighborhoods and each
neighborhood is made up of family members … babies, brothers, sisters, females
and one or two males. The underground tunnels connect to rooms with nurseries,
bedrooms lined with grass, bathrooms and a listening room (which is close to
the entrance.)
They are a prey species, being the primary diet for other
prairie critters such as the black footed ferret, the swift fox, the badger,
the coyote, the golden eagle and the hawk. Over the past 100 years much of the
range of the prairie dog has become cattle pastures and grain fields. Farmers
and ranchers do not see the prairie dog as a cute little animal, but more
competition to their livestock’s food source since the prairie dog’s diet is of
the same grass that cattle and horses eat. Not only do they eat a lot of grass,
leaving less food for other animals, but they can destroy a farmer’s crop of
alfalfa, hay, wheat or corn. Did you know there are five species of prairie
dogs. Black tailed, white tailed, Gunnison’s, Mexican and Utah prairie dogs.
Charlie (her Charlie, not my Charlie), Nancy and I had to stop at the WW store front for a weigh-in. With that done, we are ready to start our day of adventure! I did a happy dance ... being on the road for about a month, I lost 1 pound! Awesome!
We saw the Black Hills National Cemetery from the highway, so we had to stop. It covers almost 106 acres and has over 23,000 interments. The area around the Black Hills Cemetery was originally inhabited by the Lakota Indians. French explorers went through the region in the 1740s, and Spain laid claim to the area in 1762 until it was acquired by the United States in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Fort Randall was established in 1856, and the 1861 establishment of Dakota Territory brought more settlers to the region, but it wasn't until gold was discovered in the Black Hills that the area was truly populated.
Under the Treaty of Fort Laramie, the United States granted the land of the Black Hills to the Lakota, but there was no stopping the settlers from entering the region, which led to several conflicts. Most of the original interments in the cemetery were soldiers who fell in battles of the Indian Wars, but it has since been used to inter veterans from every major campaign the United States has been involved in. The cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016. Notable interments include US Sergeant Charles Windolph, Medal of Honor recipient for action at the Battle of Little Bighorn during the Indian Wars.
When in South Dakota, you have to feel the rumble of the motors
and the roar of the crowds and visit the city of riders in Sturgis. Oh, yes we
did! We were 4 days ahead of the start of the annual event, but the amount of
activity was incredible already! Founded in 1876, Sturgis was names after Fort
Meade Commander Major Samuel D. Sturgis. Fort Meade was a nearby cavalry post
established to protect those who were flocking to the Black Hills after the
discovery of gold. It later became the home of the 7th Cavalry after
the massacre at Little Bighorn.
All summer, Sturgis is a destination for riders from all
over the country. Sturgis is a small town of about 6,800 people. But for a
10-day period in August, hundreds of thousands of bikers and vendors descend on
Sturgis, making it one of the most famous motorcycle rallies in the world. What
started in 1938 as a dirt-track motorcycle race has evolved into South Dakota’s
number one tourism event and has spread throughout the entire Black Hills.
We found our Charlie's restaurant and bar in Sturgis.
Speaking of the Black Hills, they are sky piercing granite
peaks and forested mountain peaks that dominate the skyline of western South
Dakota. There is scenic wilderness, sylvan woodlands, sunlit meadows and
abundant wildlife.
You have to stop in Deadwood, since it is only 14 miles from
Sturgis! The historic town of Deadwood has been well established in books,
television shows and movies. Classic characters such as Wild Bill Hickok,
Calamity Jane and Seth Bullock are all part of Deadwood’s rich and sorted
history.
The discovery of gold in the southern Black Hills in 1874
set off one of the great gold rushes in America. In 1876, miners moved into the
northern Black Hills. That’s where they came across a gulch full of dead trees
and a creek full of gold and Deadwood was born. Practically overnight, the tiny
gold camp boomed into a town that played by its own rules that attracted
outlaws, gamblers and gunslingers along with the gold seekers. Wild Bill Hickok
was one of those men who came looking for fortune. But just a few short weeks
after arriving, he was gunned down while holding a poker hand of aces and
eights – forever after known as the Dead Man’s Hand.
Calamity Jane also made a name for herself in these parts
and is buried next to Hickok in Mount Moriah Cemetery. Other legends, like
Potato Creek Johnny, Seth Bullock and Al Swearengen, created their legends and
legacies in this tiny Black Hills town. Deadwood has survived three major fires
and numerous economic hardships, pushing it to the verge of becoming another
Old West ghost town. But in 1989 limited-wage gambling was legalized and
Deadwood was reborn.
Today, the town is booming once again. When the
constitutional amendment allowing limited stakes gambling in Deadwood was
passed, there were only two other places in America, where gambling was legal …
Nevada and Atlantic City. The law authorizing gambling in Deadwood mandated
that a significant portion of the revenue would be earmarked for historic
preservation efforts. The city’s casinos annual receipts are over $100 million.
That means over $7 million annually is funneled into historic building
renovation and restoration of the city infrastructure.
There is more to Deadwood than history and gambling, you can
find a number of sculptures and art. In fact, the six hand-painted, bas-relief
welcome signs that greet visitors at the entrances to Deadwood are considered
art in their own right. You can find contemporary art at the Jacobs Gallery or
blown glass art at Mind Blown Studio. A noteworthy piece is the stone bust of
Wild Bill Hickok, it stands next to Deadwood Dick’s. Two other memorials to
Wild Bill can be found, a graveside bust at Mount Moriah and a seated Hickok in
front of Tin Lizzie. You can also see a statue memorializing the discovery of
gold. It’s a bronze sculpture of a prospector, gun on his hip, with a gold pan
in one hand and a nugget in the other. The final bronze sculpture is a rodeo
cowboy atop a bucking horse. It’s a tribute to TC Holloway, a rising PRCA star,
who was killed in a 2001 car accident.
“Unique and unparalleled elsewhere in our country.” Those
were the words used by America’s greatest architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, when
he visited Spearfish Canyon in 1935. Wright’s journey through the canyon was
made along a particularly rugged trail that followed a railroad track that had
been abandoned by the Burlington Railroad. By 1950, the trail had been
transformed into a smoothly paved roadway, and today Spearfish Canyon Scenic
Byway (US Hwy 14a) offers its spectacular views to the driving public.
We wanted to take a drive through 19 miles of the most scenic
road in the Black Hills, so we got on the Spearfish Canyon Byway. We truly were
immersed in some of the most beautiful landscapes in the country. This laid-back
byway through the canyon may cause you to creep along with low speed limits,
but you'll find yourself wanting to drive even slower, frequently pulling off
to take in the beauty for a while longer. There are breathtaking views,
waterfalls and streams cutting through thousand-foot rock walls.
Along our drive we saw some areas of the Black Hills west of
Spearfish Canyon have been turned into a mass of broken limbs and tangled brush.
We learned that the officials with the National Weather Service in Rapid City
said Friday June 30th tornado that struck Spearfish Canyon was on
the ground for about 19 miles.
Weather officials estimated the maximum winds
speeds were 105 mph. According to the weather service, the tornado spawned when
two supercells moved across northeastern Wyoming and western South Dakota. The
EF-1 tornado touched down southeast of Sundance and traveled east to Spearfish
Canyon ending on the eastern rim of the canyon.
The path was about 200 yards
wide. The area hardest hit includes some parts of Spearfish Canyon and an area
west of Spearfish Canyon along Schoolhouse Road.
After we exited the Spearfish Canyon Byway, we traveled on Route 385, where we found a large bust of Lincoln. It was once park of Presidents Park, which had similar busts of the first 42 presidents. The attraction is permanently closed. I don't know what happened to all the the busts.
We stopped in Lead, South Dakota (pronounced “leed”) it is a
quaint town that was founded in 1876 after the discovery of gold had the Black
Hills booming. The town was built by and for the mining families. The mountain
community was home to the great Homestake Mining Company. The largest and
deepest gold mine in North America. It produced more than 40 million ounces of
gold from 1876 to 2001.
We stopped at the Black Hills Mining Museum, to learn more
about the Homestake Mining Company. Since gold mining was the predominant
industry in this area—especially the Black Hills—for so many years, we wanted
to learn more. It is sad to say, that the museum was open, but the facility was
severly damaged by the storm that wreaked havoc in Spearfish Canyon. You could pan
for gold in the indoor facility, but the guided tour of the basement "mine
shaft" was closed as well as better than half of the exhibits.
That was a full day of traveling and touring! We ended the
day with a small campfire at Rod & Helen’s rig.
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