SOUTH DAKOTA - Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Custer State Park, & Deadwood

We spent two full days in the Black Hills to visit some of the major attractions and historical sites.

 

MOUNT RUSHMORE 

Fondly called “Happy Face Rocks” in our family from our last visit when College Girl was in elementary school, this National Memorial has also been built up more.   Flags representing every state leads us to these four monumental men:  George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln (in that order on the rocks).

"The purpose of the memorial is to communicate the founding, expansion, preservation, and unification of the United States with colossal statues of Washington, Jefferson, 

Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt."
~Gutzon Borglum

We enjoyed a documentary movie that provided more details on the sculptor, Gutzom Borglum, and the process called the pointing system by which this unique landmark was created. 

 One thing that *I* noticed while watching the movie was that Roosevelt has spectacles on!   I never paid attention to that detail before, but I did this time!

Bright and early in the morning is when we visited them, and the sunrise was shining on their faces. 

I even was able to get a profile view as we left the park! 

The state’s license plate focuses on Mount Rushmore and states “Great Faces, Great Places.” 

We agree!   

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LUNCH at a highly reviewed restaurant .... local food ...

Desperados Cowboy Cuisine

 ... where I actually ate a Buffalo Burger!

I was told it was grassfed meat.  It was very tasty ... and healthier, too!

(Much better than the alligator bites I tried last year !! )

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CRAZY HORSE MEMORIAL

Crazy Horse Memorial is not too far from Mount Rushmore.  Similar to Mount Rushmore, this visit started with a video that taught us more about the history of this project, which (by the way) is NOT federally or state funded.  It is continuing due to the all the visitors who pay to enter or make a contribution.

 "My lands are where my dead lie buried."  -Crazy Horse's 

answer given as he pointed left hand in response to "Where are your lands?"

You can see the equipment still on the rock as they continue working on the sculpture.

It will eventually look like this:

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The white statue in the pictures below is of the sculpture that Kiolkowski created in preparation for the rock monument.  It is 1/34^th the size of what they are still working on.

See me in purple shirt in front of white sculpture with arms in air?  :)

Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski  began this world’s largest monument carving in 1948.  He was personally contacted by Chief Standing Bear, who wanted the country to realize the importance of Crazy Horse in American history.  When Ziolkowski died, his wife continued the overseeing of the project.  She, too, died, and now most of their 10 children are currently handling the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation.

 “When the legends die, the dreams end. When the dreams end, there is no more greatness.” 

-Korczak Ziolkowski 

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CUSTER STATE PARK

We spent over an hour in this park, driving the Wild Life Loop with anticipation of seeing some South Dakota wildlife, and we did!

Bison/Buffalo

 Prairie Dogs

 Pronghorn/Antelope

The bison is the official logo of this park.  Nearly 1,300 of them roam the grasslands of this park.   We certainly enjoyed photographing them!

The park has other loops to drive along with so many other activities as well! 

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DEADWOOD

Mechanic Man is a history buff and a cowboy/western fan, so part of the itinerary is to visit some of these rootin'-tootin' places.

This town is another historical tourist site dating back 140 years when a bunch of rowdy miners headed to claim some gold in the rush of 1876.  The Old West spirit is alive in this town, but thankfully all that illegal and immoral activity is not.   (It appears to me that the greed for gold caused so much trouble in that town.)

 The year 1989 brought gambling back to town in an effort to increase revenue and keep the historical buildings opened.  Sadly, the insides were renovated to the modern-casino look, making Deadwood third (after Atlantic City and Las Vegas) to allow legal gambling.   

 

We took a tour and learned all these facts about the city, and we also attended a performance by a Seth Bullock re-enactor at the Adams Museum who taught us more about Wild Bill Hickock, Calamity Jane, Jack McCall, and the history of this Wild West town.    

Adam's Museum:

Re-enactor at Adam's Museum

Dead Man’s Hand at Adam's Museum

Gold on display at Adam's Museum

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The tour took us to the graves of Wild Bill and Calamity Jane at Moriah Hill Cemetery.

Seth Bullock is also buried there … across the gulch from where his buddy, Theodore Roosevelt, was buried.

We didn’t enter many buildings since most of them are saloons and/or casinos.  In fact, one place is advertised as a “the only museum in the world with a bar.” 

We will be visiting another historical site related to this story:  Little Bighorn Battlefield in Montana.

We didn’t have enough time, but I think visiting the Broken Boot Gold Mine would be fun, too!

SD SIGNS

From Wall, SD, to Rapid City, SD, and other areas, the speed limit is 80 mph on I-90!

Watch out for Bighorn Sheep!