Today we were able to tick off another one of the remaining states we have never visited before. This time it was South Dakota. So, now we are down to 'nine to go'.
We had decided to go into Sheridan to see the Sheridan Inn, an historic house, where according to the sign, Buffalo Bill used to live.
We did some shopping in a small antique mall and I bought a book on the Prairie Short Grass regions. I didn't know that there were different types of prairie grasses and that the Montana and Dakotas prairies had short grass. After all the bison were slaughtered, cattle were herded from Texas to graze on the empty prairie.
I liked this mural above the pharmacy next to the antique mall.
The very pretty buildings along Main Street.
We left Sheridan and drove more or less due east for a couple of hours to see the first National Monument in the United States, Devil's Tower. It was created a National Monument in 1906. The tower of rock rises vertically 800 feet from the surrounding countryside. We saw the tower for the first time from a distance of ten miles. This photo was taken from about five miles away.
As we were about to get back into our car, a mountain bluebird flew past and landed on one of the telegraph wires. In flight, their dazzling blue wings are quite amazing. This was the best picture I could take using a still shot from a short piece of video I filmed as the bird flew by us.
We reached the park gates and drove the short distance to Devil's Tower. It is sacred to several North American Plains tribes, including the Lakota Sioux. There are many legends connected with the tower. The following appears to be the most popular. "One day, seven small girls were playing by the river, when a bear came towards them. They climbed on to a small rock, but the bear continued to advance. They pleaded to the rock to save them and the rock began to rise up, taking the girls higher and higher, so that the bear could not reach them. He clawed at the sides of the rock and fell to the ground. He continued to jump at the rock as it pushed the girls up into the sky, where they remain to this day as seven little stars (the Pleiades). The marks of the bear's claws are still on the side of Devil's Tower, known as Mato Tipila (Bear Lodge) in Lakota."
As we drove round the tower, we saw this deer in the woods.
We liked this sign warning you of prairie dogs. There were hundreds of them on a nearby grassy field. They are very cute, as these photos show. However, they have a dark side, which is that they carry fleas that can transmit the plague virus! So, we kept our distance!
Standing guard.
We left Devil's Tower and, within a few miles, we crossed into South Dakota, another one of the thirteen states we haven't visited before this trip.
The drive then took us south through the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota to Mount Rushmore. The hotel we had booked, The Presidents View, was signposted as being closed, which was a bit of a shock! As we were now very close to the Mount Rushmore monument, we decided to go straight there. When we parked, I called the hotel reservation number and found out we were booked instead into The White House, which was in the centre of Keystone.
We walked the short distance to the mountain. My first impression was that is was not as large as I had thought it would be. However, it is a most impressive work of art that took years to complete. It was started in 1927 to help promote South Dakota's tourist industry. The sculptor chosen, Gutzon Borglum, died in 1941 before it was completed and his son, Lincoln, took over to finish the project.
We spent about an hour at the site and then went down to Keystone to check into our hotel. As we were doing this, the others arrived having driven through the Black Hills forests over dirt roads. At times, they had to clear fallen trees from the tracks to get through. They all said it had been great fun. Wendy and I were pleased with the route we had chosen and were happy to miss out on another dirt road, enabling us to see the historic sights en route from Sheridan.
We were told when we were at the Monument, that the statues are illuminated in the evenings until 10pm. So, we drove back at 9pm. Lit up, the faces of the four presidents (from left to right, Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln) make a very dramatic scene and one well worth seeing.
We have a rest day here in Keystone tomorrow, the first one of the drive so far. It will enable us to see the area around Mount Rushmore, including the giant sculpture currently under construction of the Indian chief, Crazy Horse.
Finally, we have driven just under 3,000 miles on the drive so far, which is about halfway. Let's hope the weather continues to shine on us, as it has done for the past ten days!
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