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Published: September 11th 2007
Shadehill Lake
Unmarked shallow graves? A disturbing possibility.Obfuscator writes: Shadehill State Park in South Dakota wasn’t too bad. It had a nice lake that we were right next to, and some good sunset and morning views. It wasn’t too special though, so we didn’t stay long in the morning. Since we were in the north-western part of South Dakota, we decided to make a little detour to see the site of the Battle of Slim Buttes (approx.), which is near Reva, South Dakota. On the way we got sidetracked into stopping in Bison, SD, which advertised itself as having a Sod House and Museum. We were unable to find the Sod House, though we were able to find a museum. We skipped it, because it looked small and not particularly interesting. By the Bison High School we found a historical marker for a guy by the name of Hugh Glass, who survived being mauled by a bear and left for dead by his trapper buddies, and crawled 150 miles to Fort Kiowa, past the present town of Bison.
The Battle of Slim Buttes site doesn’t have much to see. There’s a plaque, and a marker, and about 3 graves. Still, if you’re an Indian fighter history buff,
Battle of Slim Buttes
Battle of Slim Buttes. Better marked graves. it’s worth the stop. It also takes you right up to Custer National Forest, which is a very beautiful little area, and certainly worth at least passing through.
We drove north from Slim Buttes along Hwy 85, for quite a while, before getting on 94 and heading into Medora, ND, where you enter Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The first thing you come to, going west on 94, is Painted Canyon. It’s a nice little rest stop, and we hiked for about a mile there and were duly impressed. From there, we drove into Medora itself, and went to the National Park visitor’s center. When we got there, we found out that the forecast for the night called for thunderstorms, and so after picking the brains of a couple of nice rangers (one rather cute), we decided to get a motel room for the night and thus avoid trying to a.) hike through slippery paths in a thunderstorm, and b.) camp in a thunderstorm. Later in the evening, this was to prove a wise choice, as the storm was pretty severe.
After getting a room, we walked around all of Medora, which is really quite small, and stopped in
Painted Canyon
Painted Canyon - Theodore Roosevelt National Park a little old Catholic Church there, because it was historic and so forth. After a while of that, we grabbed dinner at a buffet, and went to use the motel’s wireless (which was only in their lobby), and were unable to make Onaxthiel’s wireless work. After about an hour and half of that, we headed back to the motel to get other things done, and eventually, to sleep. This was also a good opportunity to plug a lot of things in and get them all charged. Which leads me to one important side note about the trip so far. Technology is freaking amazing. We have with us more electronic goodness than some countries, and that’s just in a mid-size car. GPS, cell phones, mp3 player with about 500 CD’s worth of music, laptop computer, and cameras, 2-way radios, and battery chargers. Most every day when we’re driving, whoever is in the passenger seat is sitting with the laptop (plugged in mind you) typing up blog material or pulling photos from the cameras, and we’re simultaneously charging at least two other devices. To think of people even ten years ago (not to mention people from before that time, since they clearly
Hot Air Balloon
A preview of things to come! didn’t exist) not being able to have all these capabilities . . . . It’s tragic, I believe. Discuss.
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Mom
non-member comment
old fashion travel
Let's see, people sang songs together in cars, read books, talked to each other. People played games like I Spy, looking for letters of the alphabet in order, Zoo, games with license plates, and Slug Bug.