South Dakota & Wyoming: Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Devils Tower, Deadwood

          In early May, Doug and I rendezvoused in Rapid City, South Dakota. He'd driven the van to Washington to spend time with his kids, then on to Rapid City. I'd been in Florida visiting my aunt and cousin and flew into Rapid City. Doug had visited the area long ago, but I had never been. 

 The Badlands from the air.

 Landing in the middle of farm country.

While taxiing, I took pictures of a helo and a Navy jet for Doug, the former Naval Aviator who started in jets then was moved to helicopters, which he flew for 20 years, including SAR in Vietnam.

Grain silos such as these in Rapid City were typical in the plains towns we drove through. 

      After a long sleep in the hotel Doug had reserved, we left early the next morning for nearby Mt. Rushmore. 

 Mountain goats at the monument may be accustomed to people, but they're still wild and have been known to charge when aggravated.

Gutzon Borglum, the artist of Mt. Rushmore, did not plan Washington's profile to be so prominent. Work had begun on Jefferson to Washington's right, but the rock was of poor quality, so Jefferson was blasted away and the rock smoothed. Washington's head is 60 feet tall, his nose 20 feet, his mouth 18 feet wide, and each eye 11 feet across.

Creation of the Crazy Horse Memorial by Korczak Ziolkowski and now his children and grandchildren has been in progress since 1948. Chief Henry Standing Bear invited Ziolkowski to create the memorial. Ziolkowski not only undertook the sculpting but also had the goal of preserving the culture and traditions of all North American Indians, as evidenced by the onsite Indian Museum of North America and the Indian University of North America. 

    At my brother's suggestion, we left Crazy Horse and drove a little over 100 miles to the volcanic Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming. We're so glad we did! American Indians have lived in the area for 10,000 years and still hold traditional ceremonies in the park, as well as leaving prayer bundles and prayer cloths on tree branches. The rock is also a favorite of climbers and has a multitude of routes, some of which were closed while we were there for the protection of nesting falcons. We saw climbers high up on the rock on other routes.

We camped that night in nearby Belle Fourche Campground.

Prairie dog towns are everywhere in the plains regions we traveled, with guards atop each mound, whistling back and forth, and amusing antics by those who venture between mounds.

     The next morning we left Devils Tower and headed back east toward Rapid City and the Badlands, with a stop in Deadwood for breakfast.

Deadwood, South Dakota.

     After breakfast it was time to head East to the Badlands as our journey continued.