I woke up at 5:20 a.m. and by mistake woke Rosalie to find out if it really was 5:20! We had a dreary buffet breakfast of congealed eggs and undercooked bacon and couldn’t get on our way fast enough.
SD MT. RUSHMORE NATIONAL MONUMENT IN THE BLACK FOREST: Washington, Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt and Lincoln carved into the mountain. An impressive accomplishment but overwhelmed with tourists.
We were so glad to have spent time in the Badlands the day before so that we could take all day exploring the Black Hills. The American government had given the Black Hills to the Sioux Indians in the mid-19th century as it was important to them both spiritually and economically. Unfortunately gold was discovered there, prospectors poured in, and the government took the Black Hills back from the Indians, part of our disgraceful treatment of Native Americans. The hills are very beautiful, some quite high and with many inholdings and a few towns like Custer, where we ate lunch at the Bakers’ Bakery and topped it off wit ice cream cones from across the street.
SD CUSTER STATE PARK IN THE BLACK HILLS: Th Black Hills were given to the Indians by the U.S. Government, but then were taken back after gold was discovered.
SD THE TOWN OF CUSTER IN THE BLACK HILLS NATIONAL FOREST: Sarah and Rosalie playing urban cowboys!
SD CRAZY HORSE MONUMENT IN THE BLACK HILLS: It is in the process of being carved out of the mountain, just the face, his spear, and part of the horse’s mane are finished. We all agreed that this was the most impressive and exciting thing we saw on the whole trip. Begun in the 1930’s, to be finished…when?
We had reserved the afternoon for a visit to the site of the mountain in the Black Hills that is being turned into a gigantic monument to Crazy Horse. It was begun in 1931 by a well-known European sculptor who fought in WWI and then came to America to begin a project meant to compensate for the injustices Native Americans have been subjected to. It is a multi-generational, multi-decade project that his whole family worked on, his wife, five boys and five girls. Today 16 people work at the site in the summer, and fourteen in the winter. The scale and scope of the project are stunning; they have finished Crazy Horse’s head, but the front part of the horse he is riding on has yet to emerge from the rock. The rear part of the horse will disappear into the rock. It will be decades before it is finished. The three of us think it dwarfs Mt. Rushmore in its dramatic scale. They take a hefty sum to let you in, but all of that goes towards continuing the project. They have a large and well-done museum, and a fledgling Indian University to spread Indian culture and crafts. A bus takes you on a tour of the site. It was a blistering 94 or so, but it was dry heat and not so objectionable as our humidity. Crazy Horse has etched itself in my memory. I’m jealous of Eliza (and certainly my grandsons) whom I hope will live to see the finished sculpture.
SD THE INDIAN MUSEUM AND UNIVERSITY share the site with the monument. It is all funded by donations, no government money has been used; a matter of great pride to the Indians. The museum is large and well-done.
SD THE BLACK HILLS LANDSCAPES: A beautiful landscape and one that succumbed to fire.
On the way out of the Black Hills we saw a medium-sized dog of a handsome chestnut color that was trying to commit suicide on the road. He had obviously run away from home. We stopped, and he came to me, grateful to have someone to come to. He was wearing a collar with a nametag, “Marley,” and was very friendly if confused. The nametag had a telephone number on it, but when we called the message machine was full.
Just then two young women who saw us on the side of the road got out of their Jeep and came up to help, thinking we had a flat tire. We showed them Marley, who had willingly jumped into the rear of our car. I have trouble with big miracles, but small ones I believe in. When we told them about Marley, one of the young women said “Oh I volunteer at a Dog Rescue Center, I’ll take him!” Marley jumped from our car into her Jeep, we exchanged numbers and went on our way. She texted the number, they picked up the message, and a half-hour later Marley and his owner were reunited!! Divine intervention at its best.
We ate dinner at The Firehouse in the historic district; not particularly good food, but they had a three-man group that played and sang so we lingered, listening and enjoying the ambiance and the music.