MOUNT RUSHMORE, CRAZY HORSE, BLACK HILLS AND BIGHORN NATIONAL FORESTS

Another day and yet another amazing National Park.  We enter into the spectacular Black Hills National Forest, home to a National Monument that has been seen by billions of visitors from USA and around the world, Mt Rushmore. The heads of the Presidents George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Thomas Jefferson are carved into the granite mountain.  Gutzon Borglum, a sculptor who had studied with Rodin, started the project. These heads were actually mostly dynamited out of the rock, about 90%. In fact after 18 months of work on Thomas Jefferson it was decided to dynamite him away and move his position.  The whole work was completed in 14 years for the cost of just under $1,000,000.  Borglum’s son, Lincoln, often supervised the work as Borglum himself was often away. It is quite inspiring to stand below these powerful faces of history.  We opted to not pay the high parking price to get right to the base, as do many that visit this site, they are quite big enough to admire from the roadside.

Having taken it all in we move on to a new work in progress, that of a carving of Crazy Horse just a few miles further into the Black Hills near Custer. This memorial, to honour the North American Indian, was the brainchild of Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski and Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear. On June 3, 1948 work began on this most impressive granite sculpture of Crazy Horse, an Oglala Dakota warrior, riding his horse and pointing in to the distance.  This complex is not just the worlds largest rock sculpture, all be it a work in progress of now 66 years, but a complex with a museum, and an education and cultural centre dedicated to the North American Indian, an Indian University and when possible a Medical Training Centre for Native Indians is planned. This is a life long project that shows the power of devotion and dedication. Korczak lived and breathed this project until his death in 1982.  During his life, together with his wife Ruth, he had educated and inspired his 10 children, 7 of whom, together with the grandchildren, are still working to achieve this most amazing dream.  This is a success story of mammoth proportions.  Hopefully one day we will come back to see the finished project, but perhaps the magic of Crazy Horse is the journey.

The surrounding mountains are just spectacular to view with their massive granite spires and deep, tree filled gorges and ravines. It’s worth visiting regardless of seeing Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse.  We love our time in this area and soak up the rugged beauty before moving on through Wyoming.  These North Highland Plains are just awesome, so beautiful with rich colours and rolling hills.

We move on to an area in the north of Wyoming, stretching up into Montana, the Bighorn National Forest. It is truly the wild, wild west and one of the most gorgeous areas we have come to so far, a range of spectacular mountains. The route we take traverses along the west side of the mountains and then a winding road that takes us up and over the range. We find out later that this road is usually closed in the winter and our day there shows us why.

We have an interesting journey over the higher reaches with steady snowfall. The snow on the ground has been ploughed earlier but the fresh fall sees us making a slow and careful crossing of this beautiful land. The road to the Medicine Wheel, an ancient Indian sacred place likened to Stone Henge, is beyond our reach as the snow is thick on the ground so this is one spot to come back to another time.

As we make our descent into the valley and we snake our way down through magnificent cliff faces, sunshine comes out and the temperature goes up. We pass a logging truck and marvel at how they drive these vehicles on such winding roads with certain death if ever they plunge over the edge. We stop to take in the view and watch two of these vehicles meet and cross paths and negotiate on a bend below us, careful boys. We descend into a wildlife reserve area around a massive lake and the Bighorn River.

We see many signs for opportunity to watch the wildlife at night and realize what a rich variety there must be. We stop at the visitor centre nearby and meet a very helpful young woman who shows us that we have not finished our adventure in this area. She sets up a movie for us to show us the Bighorn Canyon and all the wildlife that abounds in this area and we are very lucky to see what time does not permit us to stop and experience ourselves. We have mentioned that our ultimate aim is to reach Glacier National Park and while we are watching our movie she does some extensive research for us and gives us very valuable advice that we will be very grateful for in the coming week. Thank you so much to this lovely girl, I think she was just pleased to have something to do as we were her only visitors.

Our lunch break is over and we head off to the Bighorn Canyon. We thought we had already experienced the magnificent sights this area has to give but we were wrong. The canyon is a series of jaw dropping views over the gorges carved by the mighty Bighorn River. Below is the water that is dammed further on through the gorges It is a clear green colour and is so far down below us, with towering rugged cliffs of rocks of many colours bordering its sides. We try to throw stones to reach the water but I think so many have done this that a beach of rock is formed and the water can’t be reached. In some spots one can see the animal trails snaking there way down to the waters edge, a dangerous journey. Our only wish was to be able to jump in a boat and take a tour along the snaking waterway to experience the view back up. No boat available right now so something else to come back for.

Our heads are absolutely overloaded with sights of beauty and nature at its very best that we are quite exhausted. We drive on to Cody, a wild west town devoted to Buffalo Bill. We are lucky to find very nice accommodation with a very helpful host as we have to stop still for an extra day for Georgia to do some very important work for her return to Perth and also to get a computer glitch fixed. We are relieved to be all sorted and rested as we head for our next adventure into Yellowstone National Park, a highly anticipated event.

MITCHELL CORN PALACE AND THE INDIAN STORY FROM CHAMBERLAIN

On we go and our next stop is the famous Corn Palace in Mitchell.  This is a multi use stadium built back in 1921.  It is of a Moorish Revival design and makes an interesting canvas for mural art of, you guessed it, CORN.  It is surprisingly detailed work of different scenes of the wild west; its culture, flora and fauna, all topped by the light up, golden domes that are also decorated in corn. Though it is a little corny (haha) it really is quite a magnificent work of art.

When we are there it is a work in progress as the murals are renewed, and the inside is to being revamped to be quite a spectacular venue.  The courts have been recently resealed ready for the upcoming Basketball season.  There is much activity redoing the entrance with photos of the predicted finished project adorning the walls and it looks like it will be fantastic.  The corn murals also surround the inside of the arena, I imagine they have been here for quite a few years as they’re protected from the elements and are just fantastic.  We enjoy our time here and the ladies from inside the box office help us with information for the next leg of our journey.

Next stop, Chamberlain, an oasis in the planes.  This is a relatively small but vibrant town situated on the banks of another mighty river, the Missouri, and connected by the Highway 16 bridge to its sister town of Oacoma on the other side.  Our destination here is the Akta Dakota Museum and Cultural Centre.  This is a part of the St Joseph’s Indian School and is such a wonderful detailed look at the history of the Lakota Sioux native to South Dakota.  We are here for some hours enjoying the exhibits and learning of the history of the indigenous tribes.  The connection of the people to the land, the way of life and the culture are just so connected to all that is natural.  Why in the world did a race of people decide that it was OK to invade and destroy this way of life?  We have learned along our travels that when white man invaded they decided to eliminate the Bison and it turn the Indians would be destroyed too.  They were right and almost succeeded in wiping out a most magnificent beast and an ancient culture, all in the one stroke. It is the same the world over, greed brings war and bloodshed and we state again, when will we ever learn?

We spend a long time talking with an Indian man who is obviously an active leader within the community.  He is very knowledgeable and passionate about his people and is all about reconciliation.  He rightly believes that without education this can’t be achieved.  The young must understand the happenings of the past to move on to the future.  By reconciliation he means primarily that his people learn and forgive what has happened in the past to their ancestors, reconciliation with themselves to give healing. He was so wonderful to talk to and we learned so much from him in just a short time. He is a great achiever of his time.

His next adventure on the calender is a growing annual event, the Dakota 38+2 ride.  This event has been held since 2005 and is growing in its supporters from all over the world, joining together to try to heal and honor the 38 Dakota men who were ordered to be hung by Abraham Lincoln back on December 26, 1862, the largest ever mass execution in the USA, with many others sent to prison and two more men hung days later..  This ride is the fruition of a dream had by Jim Miller, a powerful spiritual messenger who envisioned this ride of healing and prayer for the Lakota people.  It starts on the banks of the Missouri and travels a 330 mile path to Mankato, the scene of the hangings.  From the first ride to today there has been no advertising but the word of mouth or “moccasin telegraph’ sees many riders and runners, men and women from different tribes join together with their wonderful horses to make this difficult journey, made more so by extreme weather conditions in December.

The horse is so spiritually significant to the Lakota people.  I have always had a connection to the horse as many people do around the world but to this culture they are so important. In talking about this and other ways to make a peaceful future of united peoples, no matter what colour or creed, I was inspired to research more and would suggest that our readers do the same.  Just look up Dakota 38 +2 and you will also find the Big Foot Memorial ride, a similar ride of healing for the massacre of 1890 at Wounded Knee of Chief Big Foot, Chief Sitting Bull and his horse and many men.  There is a simply made movie that can be viewed for free, Dakota 38 that is well worth the viewing. Both rides are working on the healing for all the descendants of these dark days.  Please read and learn. In time I will research more myself. I would like to think that one day I could join this ride but I am probably too soft to handle the conditions but I will add it to the bucket list and put it out there and see what happens in the future.  One thing for sure I will follow the progress of these rides in years to follow and hope that the healing process of these wonderful people will be the result. They have been suffering for years and have many social issues today and hopefully events such as these will see a change, a change that must come from within each individual soul.

We have found the whole visit very inspiring and finish with lunch on the banks of the grand Missouri River soaking up the bright sunshine and thinking of how it may have been back in the times when the Indian races were undisturbed and living in harmony with the land and the river. We can’t go back however, today is the day so make it count.