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Published: July 14th 2010
Now that my moving back to Chicagoland is definite, my departure date from Colorado seems to be looming closer and closer, and I'm suddenly worrying about all these great places close by, and don't want to miss out on any potential trips!! Since Mount Rushmore is only 6 hours away, I decided to go when I had two days off work.
I drove up late on Wednesday, leaving from work at about 8pm. This was my first time being in Wyoming, but since it was dark, I'm afraid I didn't get to see anything...not that there seems to be much to see on the eastern side! I made it up to Custer, South Dakota at around 2am, and ended up sleeping in my jeep for a couple hours. Even though I'm pretty short, I wish my jeep was just a couple of inches longer, because I can never seem to get really comfortable! But it's worth it to save the money on a hotel I'd only be using 4-5 hours.
Someone had told me that sunrise was the prettiest time to take pictures and look at Mount Rushmore, so I wanted to get there early...just my luck, though, the
day was overcast! Seeing Mount Rushmore for the first time was still really cool, cloudy or not, and I loved that there weren't many people there early in the morning. It costs $10 for admission to the National Memorial, but you can't use your National Parks Pass, which is kind of a bummer. Your admission is good until the end of the year, though, which was nice, because I was planning on coming early in the morning, leaving and then heading back at night for the Evening Lighting Program, which people had told me was cool to see.
Mount Rushmore is in the Black Hills, and it's carved into the granite of the hills. It seems like it must have been an amazing undertaking for the sculptor, Gutzon Borglum. The heads are each 60 foot tall, and feature George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. Originally, the idea came about by someone who wanted to bring tourists to the area, and was the idea of having Lewis and Clark, or Native American heros were thrown about. But Gutzon Borglum decided that there needed to be a national focus, and chose the four former US presidents. Construction began
in 1927, and was finally finished in 1941. Between that time, over 400 sculptors worked on the faces. It was amazing to me to find out that 90% of the work was done by dynamite blasting!!
The four presidents were chosen by what they stood for, and what they did for the United States of America: George Washington for the birth of our nation, and of our democracy, Thomas Jefferson for the growth and expansion of our nation (with the Louisiana Purchase), Abraham Lincoln for the pursuit of individual liberty, and the preservation of our nation with the challenges of the Civil War, and lastly, Theodore Roosevelt for development of our country in the early 20th Century. There is a great visitors center here, that was showing two different films - one about the construction of Mt. Rushmore, which was really interesting, and another about the surrounding area of the Black Hills, including the animals, flora and fauna (I didn't watch that one). There was also information about the four presidents that gave good insight and helped me understand why Gutzon Borglum chose them for this amazing memorial.
After wandering around here for a little while, I decided
to head north to the town of Deadwood, South Dakota. Deadwood was named because of all the dead timber on the surrounding hills. It was a really pretty drive, and the town itself was decent, it reminded me of Black Hawk and Central City in Colorado, old mining towns that are being restored, with lots of casinos. The highlight for me here was the cemetery (of course 😊 ). Mt. Moriah Cemetery, also called "Boot Hill", is the final resting place of a few colorful characters, the most famous Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane. James Butler Hickok, "Wild Bill" was murdered in Deadwood in 1876. He came to Deadwood for adventure and fortune, but was killed while gambling. Wild Bill is famous in history as for many things. He came West as a stagecoach driver, became a lawman in Nebraska and Kansas, fought for the north in the Civil War, and became famous after the war as a scout, gambler and marksman. Wild Bill was born in Illinois! and his farm was a stop on the Underground Railroad. He was a great marksman, and was the first to do a "Quick Draw" duel.
Buried next to him is Martha
"Calamity Jane" Canary. She died in 1903 and apprarently, her dying wish was to be buried next to Wild Bill. She claimed that she used to be his "sweetheart", a claim that has been refuted a lot. She was another interesting Wild West character. She was a frontierswoman and a scout, a prostitute and fought against the Native Americans.
After walking around the hilly cemetery, I was quite hot and decided to drive back to a lake I had passed on my way to town. Pactola Reservoir was a gorgeous lake, with a nice sandy beach and water that cooled me off. The sun was beating down, and I enjoyed a couple of hours laying in the sand and swimming around. I learned that there's a submerged town at the bottom of the lake, the old mining town Pactola.
After I had my fill of sun and water, I decided to drive into the town of Keystone and see if I could find a cheap hotel for the night. White House Resort was advertising $49 rooms, and although they tried telling me that they were all sold out of those rates rooms, eventually I wore them down. 😊
After a shower and a rest, I felt wonderful again, and drove back out to Mount Rushmore for the evening program.
I didn't really know what to expect, but I really really enjoyed the evening program. There's a huge outdoor amphlitheatre, facing the huge sculptures, with a stage at the bottom. A Park Ranger started off the program by talking a little about the Memorial, and wound up talking about our country post-9/11. He was very interesting and a great speaker. There was a boy scout troup there for the flag-lowering ceremony, but first they led us in the Pledge of Allegiance, which took on a different meaning looking up at our past leaders. Next we watched a 20 minute program on the Memorial, and learned a little bit about each President. Lastly, the Park Ranger had all of the Veterans in the audience come up on stage for a round of applause. There were a lot! The Boy Scouts lowered the flag, we sang the Star Spangled Banner as the Presidents lit up, and the Vets still stood on stage. It was probably one of the most moving experiences ever, and made me realize how important patriotism is
to our country. The evening ended with more applause for the veterans, and everyone singing "America the Beautiful."
The next morning I woke up early and headed out. I was headed for Badlands National Park, but first I had to make a stop in Wall, South Dakota. People of my parents generation may be more familiar with Wall Drug, but as someone who loves Americana - Kitschy- touristy stuff, I just had to stop. Wall Drug Store opened in 1931 by a husband and wife. Their first couple of years business was pretty bad until they came up with a smart idea. There were plenty of travelers on the nearby highway, but no one was coming to Wall, SD. They put up a bunch of highway billboards advertising "Free Ice Water" and droves of thirsty tourists headed towards Mount Rushmore suddenly found it imperative to stop in Wall. They had billboards all throughout South Dakota and even some in neighboring states. For a while they were giving out free bumper stickers that said, "Where the heck is Wall Drug?" and "How far to Wall Drug?" Today, it's much larger than just a drug store. Part Drug Store / Cafe
/ Gift Shop / Western Art Museum / and even a Church, a "Traveler's Chapel", it definitely appealed to my love of road trip kitsch. 😊
After Wall Drug, I continued onto Badlands National Park. Now maybe I'm just spoiled, but I wasn't too impressed by the Badlands. Over 244,000 acres, all of the eroded buttes, pinnacles and spires made for a pretty view while driving, but that's about it.
After checking out the Badlands for a while, I was on my way home...with just one more stop. Scottsbluff, Nebraska, named for the bluff on the south side of the Platte River. Scotts Bluff National Monument was a stop on the Oregon Trail. I've always Trail. loved the Oregon One of my favorite computer games as a kid (for years, it was the only game we played in school), I think it always worked on my sense of adventure. I mean, back in the day it had to be the ultimate road trip, right?!? What isn't to love? These bluffs are the first large formations leading to the foothills of the Rockies. Wagon Trains used the bluffs for navigation, and used to travel between the bluffs.
There
were a couple of covered wagons in front of the bluffs and it was fun for me to imagine traveling in one cross-country, with all a family's belongings... not so different from what I'll be doing in three weeks, packing up my jeep and heading to Chicago!
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Snowhawg
Bob Kribs
Great Blog!
I really liked your description of the evening program at Mt. Rushmore. It almost brought tears to my eyes. It makes me really want to go back there, since my only visit was when my Dad took us as young kids. The photos are great, too. You do need to go back and edit some of your photos. Some of the captions are wrong. Excellent blog! Love, Dad