Black Hills, South Dakota

Sturgis

 

 

 

 

 

Our sightseeing trip today took us to the northern part of the Black Hills, namely, Sturgis, Deadwood and Lead.

 

 

 

 

Our first stop was Sturgis. Not being bikers, we were underwhelmed by this small, tired town. Many of the businesses were closed, and it appeared that they opened only for bike festivities. We were told that this small town and rural area hosted in excess of one million visitors during bike week last year. No doubt Sturgis will be a happening kinda place then.

 

 

 

Our next stop was the historic, bawdy town of Deadwood, just a few miles away.

 

 

Deadwood

A fan of HBO’s show by the same name, Alan was keen to learn more about the town, and what he thought were fictitious characters.  

 

The show, set in the late 1800s, revolves around Deadwood’s massive gold rush and the unscrupulous characters attracted by fast fame and fortune. The show features many historical figures, such as, Seth Bullock, Al Swearengen, Wild Bill Hickock, Calamity Jane, Wyatt Earp and many more.

 

This era, I’m sure, was not one of Deadwood’s proudest moments, but it was history, and that can’t be re-written. No surprise, we found no mention of the TV show and any connection with the town.

 

Deadwood is described in South Dakota’s Vacation Guide as “a historic mining town built on a rowdy history of gold, gambling and gunpowder”.

Casinos, large and small are still prevalent everywhere in this tourist town.  

 

 

Strolling the town, we were on the lookout for a place for lunch. We chose the Deadwood Social Club, rated #2 in town by TripAdvisor. Located on Main Street, the second floor historic saloon was promoting al fresco dining on the terrace to take advantage of this perfect sunny afternoon. Lunch and service were excellent.

 

 

 We are not gamers or gamblers, but could not leave Deadwood without trying our luck at the slot machines. We stopped at a likely looking saloon, where Alan quickly lost his $5 and I won $17 after spending about $2. I immediately quit and cashed out. Winnings were small, but at least I left on the win side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This picture is for Kian, our youngest grandson and Beanie Boo fan.

 

 

Lead

 

Our final stop of the day was Lead. Until its closure in 2002, Lead was home to the Homestake Gold Mine, the largest gold mine in north America.

 

 In July of 1874, gold was first discovered in the Black Hills by General Custer’s expedition. This discovery signaled the gold rush to the Black Hills area in 1876.

 

Brothers, Moses and Fred Manuel first discovered gold in the northern Black Hills on April 9, 1876 on what is called the Homestake mine. They discovered an outcrop of ore which was termed as a lead, hence the town name. They sank their discovery shaft in the side of a draw, and in the spring of 1876 took out $5,000 worth of gold. The following year the brothers sold their claim to a trio of mining entrepreneurs for $70,000.

The Homestake mine stayed open until 2001 and was the second largest gold producer in the United States and was once the largest and deepest gold mine in North America. The mine produced 39.8 million ounces of gold for more than a billion dollars. The mine then closed in 2002. Currently the mine is now home to the Sanford Underground Laboratory. 

 

 

We arrived at the Black Hills Mining Museum, just 25 minutes before closing. Unfortunately, we missed the last basement tour of a gold mine replica.

 

 

 

 

Alan’s great, great grandmother’s sister, Margaret Michell Phillips settled in Lead with her husband John Rapson Curnow. They were both born and grew up in the St. Ives area of Cornwall, UK, and emigrated to the United States in 1873 when the mines in Cornwall began closing and employment was scarce. The Curnow’s had 14 children, many of whom worked in the Homestake Mine, as did many of their children. Given this long line of mine workers here in Lead, we were sorry that we had so little time at the museum.

 

The Homestake Mine was the major employer of the area for many years, and contributed much to the community, including the Historic, Homestake Opera House.

 

 

Even though the mine is now closed, Lead appeared to be a much more industrial town than Deadwood. Tourism is important to this area, especially in winter when the population explodes with downhill skiers. 

 

 

 
 

This aerial photo from the internet, courtesy of www.viewamerica.be clearly demonstrates the monstrous size of this pit mine in relationship to the town.

 

By 5:30 PM we were out of time and out of energy. We had hoped to visit both the Lead Cemetery and the Black Hills National Cemetery, but that will have to wait for another visit.

 

We have so enjoyed our time in South Dakota, and especially the Black Hills. The western part of the state is so different from the eastern portion. Everyone told us that we would love the Black Hills, and we certainly did.

 

Until the next time, a domani! 

 

Next stop for us will be Bismarck, North Dakota. We fly out of Bismarck for Pensacola, Florida, where we will spend a week working in our business. Looks like a busy week ahead.

 

 

 

Mount Rushmore

Mount Rushmore is a major Black Hills attraction. It is impressive and a moving experience. 

Upon arrival one is greeted by the memorial framed by the Avenue of Flags.

56 flags represent the 50 states, one district, three territories, and two commonwealths of the United States of America.


The Avenue of Flags was initially established as part of the celebration of America’s Bicentennial at the request of a visitor. 

We visited during the evening hours. The Mount Rushmore KOA campground offered a bus to and from Rushmore for a cost of $7 per person. Considering that we did not need to drive, fight traffic or find a parking spot, it was a good deal.

The ever changing light was responsible for the changing appearance of the memorial.

The Visitor Center had a great movie, and after, we headed out to the amphitheater for the lighting ceremony.

Unfortunately I could not capture the lit memorial with the camera. Not enough light and to far away.

Mount Rushmore will be dwarfed by Crazy Horse Memorial when it is completed. Each face at Rushmore is 60' high, and the head of Crazy Horse is said to be 200' high,

At the close of the lighting ceremony, the Ranger invited all military personnel, both active and retired, to join him on stage for the lowering of the flag. A fitting tribute to those who serve and have served, and given so much for their country.

God Bless America!

Black Hills, South Dakota continued

Custer, South Dakota

This quaint, small, western type town is close to all major attractions of the Black Hills, like Crazy Horse Memorial, Custer State Park and Mount Rushmore.

The population of Custer totaled 1987 on the 2010 census.

Gold was discovered in 1874, which initiated the Black Hills Gold Rush.

Custer was all but  abandoned in 1876, when the much larger gold strike was discovered a few miles away in Deadwood Gulch.

Custer claims to have the widest Main Street in the United States. Wide enough for a 19th century oxen team, pulling a wagon to completely turn around.

After strolling down Main Street, we chose Bitter Ester's Brew House for lunch.

Besides being a craft brew house, home made sausage is their specialty. I had an Asian Sriracha patty sandwich, and it was awesome and different. Alan was more traditional and chose the bratwurst sausage patty sandwich. Both were excellent, as was the service and some of the beers.

The main street is adorned with awesome, bison (buffalo) art.





Wind Cave National Park

During Theodore Roosevelt's term in office,  Wind Cave was the first cave to be designated a national park,

Wind Cave National Park features the world’s largest concentration of rare boxwork formations along with a 28,295-acres of South Dakota wildlife sanctuary on the surface

This formation is called popcorn, as in popcorn ceilings.

 

 Back in days of the early cave explorers, it was customary to inscribe your name on the rock, as shown here from some explorers  from 1919.

Today, touching or defacing the rock formations is forbidden.

Unfortunately, due to lack of light, these flash photos do not do justice to this cave.

 

Deep into the cave, the Ranger turned off the light and we experienced total darkness. We learned that absence of all light will turn a person blind in a very short period of time.

South Dakota

 

The Black Hills of South Dakota

 

To date, we have seen some phenomenal sights and beauty, so South Dakota follows in some big footsteps. We had heard many glowing compliments from fellow travelers, telling us we would love the area. They were correct, we were not disappointed.

Comanchee campground was very quiet with big, secluded lots, but no services. We are self-contained with solar panels, propane generator and furnace. Water and pit toilets were available, none of which we used.

We enjoy camping and the scenic outdoors, but love our comforts of home. Our says of roughing it are long gone.

Like a turtle, we carry our home and comforts with us.

 

We very much enjoyed our 5 day stay in this picturesque, quiet park, and at $8 per night with our Golden Age Parks Pass, it was a great deal.

Custer State Park

Day one in this area was a drive to Hot Springs to do some banking business at Wells Fargo. The 27mile trip took us through part of Custer State Park, where we got our first bison (buffalo) sighting.

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

It was neat to see the new additions to the herd.

 

 

 

 

Hot Springs was a quaint touristy town.

 

It’s claim to fame is the hot springs that feed the plunge pool and water park. We love soaking in hot pools, but we opted to leave this one to the kids and families.



 

Crazy Horse Memorial

Located on SD highway 385 north, between Custer and Hill City is the Crazy Horse Memorial.

 

The actual memorial is 32 times larger than the scale model, and is an ongoing project.

 

 

 

 

Korczak Ziolokowski, a Polish sculptor and assistant on the Mount Rushmore sculpture, received a letter from Lakota Chief, Henry Standing Bear, inviting Korczak to come to the Black Hills and carve a mountain. The letter stated that Chief Standing Bear and his fellow chiefs would like the white man to know that the red man has great heroes also.

Korczak accepted the offer and work began in 1948 with only $174.

Korczak married in 1950 and he and his wife Ruth raised 10 children on the mountain. All contributed to the project in some capacity. Following the deaths of Korczak and Ruth, many of their family are still actively involved in the ongoing carving and daily operation of the monument and museum.

Crazy Horse was the chosen subject for this monument, and is to be carved not as his lineal likeness, but more of a memorial to his spirit and that of his people. His outstretched hand is in answer to the white man’s question “where are your lands now? He is pointing and replies, “my lands are where my dead lie buried”.

One of the greatest challenges to date has been how to create and carve the space beneath his outstretched arm. Currently the main focus of the carving is the work being done on Crazy Horse’s hand and the mane of his horse.

The monument’s final dimensions will be 641’ wide, 563’ high, and the head of Crazy Horse will be 87’ high, compared to Presidents at Mount Rushmore, which are only 60’ high. This is likely to become the world’s largest sculpture. Visitors to the monument and museum support the carving. No state or federal funds are accepted.

Although it is a long way from completion, it is quite a sight to see.  The movie at visitor center tells the story of the Ziolokowski family and the carving work from inception.

 

Needles Highway

 Custer State Park's most spectacular scenic drive.

From Crazy Horse, we continued heading north on SD 385 to connect with the scenic Needles Highway, named for the rock spires along the byway. A picture is worth a 1000 words, so I’ll let these photos be your tour guide.

 

 

 

 

 

We stopped in Custer State Park  at Sylvan Lake Lodge for lunch. The dining room is filled with mountain charm and character. It was such a beautiful, warm day, we couldn't resist joining other diners out on the patio.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sylvan Lake

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rock spires from which the Needles Highway derives its name.

 

 

Yes, the road does make a ninety degree turn!

Immediately followed by this single lane bridge!

This truck entering the bridge demonstrates the tight confines here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we turned off the highway to visit the new Visitors Center, we were greeted by a few bison, who were just sauntering around the parking lot, oblivious to us mortals and our vehicles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After all, this was their home long before man set foot here.

 

 

Time for a dusty roll and back scratch.

 

 

 

What are you looking at?

 

 

A family of Canada geese enjoying a spring afternoon at the Custer State Park Visitor Center.

 

 

 

 

Back onto the rolling grass lands.

A wild burro and her baby.

 

 

 

 

 

Time to head home to the campground for Happy Hour.