Sorry about the delay in reporting, we have been without WiFi for several days now and we are currently sitting in the Spearfish library using their WiFi. Jason is busy reading some of his assigned schoolwork.
We stopped for the evening in a state park campground after more than 1700 miles of driving over the previous three days. Jason broke out his new fishing rod and tried to catch walleye. I can’t honestly say if I could even recognize the fish! Well, he had no luck at this lake so we continued on to the Sitting Bull Memorial at Ft. Yates, North Dakota.
Below is the “disputed” burial site of the Lakota Sioux Chief Sitting Bull. After the battle at the Little Big Horn, Sitting Bull and his followers fled to Canada to avoid retribution. He returned from Canada in 1881 and was briefly held at Fort Randall, Dakota Territory in an effort to isolate him from his people. He was eventually allowed to return to his home in Standing Rock and briefly toured with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Even though he was immensely popular in the Wild West Show, he chose to return to Standing Rock to support his people’s rights.
In 1886 his helped dedicate the Stand Rock memorial (with Chief Red Cloud) and settled with his people on the banks of the Grand River, very close to his birthplace. This rock was first mentioned in 1740 and is considered sacred among the Dakota/Lakota people. It was carried from place to place by the tribe for generations and is thought to be a women and child who were turned to stone . . for pouting? In 1886, at the urging of Indian Agent Jame McLaughlin, the stone was placed on a monument in front of the Indian Agency Building.
In 1890 Sitting Bull arranged a Ghost Dance and the federal authorities again attempted to arrest him (they thought a Ghost Dance would stir up resentment towards authority). During the ensuing fracas, Sitting Bull was killed.
This is a copy of the original photograph of the dedication of the sacred stone, Sitting Bull is on the left with the Indian Agent McLaughlin on the right.
After spending the evening near Ft. Yates, we traveled to the Badlands in the morning, making the obligatory stop at Wall Drugs, in Wall, SD. The advertisements for this “attraction” dot the highways for hundreds of miles. We managed to get out “intact”, without spending a dime!
We spotted these Bighorn Sheep upon entering the Badlands. Mother and child.
The weather was a little unsettled and we were at the tail end of a major rainstorm, which caused visible flooding throughout the area. Nevertheless, the view is very outstanding.
Jason is holding on to his hat in the wind!
After setting up “home” in Spearfish for several days we ventured in to Deadwood. A shootout was taking place on the main street and the sheriff called all of the kids together to deputize them.
After the swearing-in ceremony the children returned to the sidelines (Jason is running towards us on the left).
The infamous card game was played out right in front of us. The player in the black hat called out another player for cheating and during the ensuing shoot-out the innocent player in the white hat was shot in the leg.
Jason spotted the victim later while walking downtown and had a short confrontation, the big guy turned and scowled at Jason and menacingly asked, “you following me kid?”
He looked a little mean in the pose with Jason but alas was not really injured. Jason is sporting his deputy sheriff badge which gave him power!
We took a walk around our camp in Spearfish, and Jason got to break out his scooter for the fun. This creek (which by the way is loaded with trophy rainbows) is flowing directly behind our site.
Jason is heading up the hill . . .
And Jason flying down the hill . . .
The sun was setting as we crossed the creek, about a mile upstream from our site.
Some of the creek water is diverted from the main stream to this small, vintage 1911 hydroelectric plant. We walked around the place and Jason got to see the original wooden feed tubes and the impellers close up.
Continuing back to camp, on a trail across the creek, we came upon this ice rink. I guess we are too late for the season. It looked pretty neat, with rubber walkways and a rubber ramp down to the water. There was also a fire pit and circle, as it probably can get pretty cold in the winter.
We took a side trip to the small town of Hulett, on the way to Devils Tower. We stopped for lunch at a great little deli and decided to spend some time in town instead of trying to rush to the Tower. Jason got into a little trouble and would up in the clink along with an apparent “lifer”.
In the morning we drove to Mt. Rushmore. Jason was fascinated with the size of the sculptures and wanted to climb them. We persuaded him to stay with us and just walked in the marked areas.
Jason is posing with a bust of Gutzon Borglum, the artist who oversaw the carving of this and the Stone Mountain (GA) carving.
There was still snow piled up from last week’s snowstorm and Jason had to climb up and get wet.
While walking down the avenue of flags, Jason searched out the Georgia flag.
Thomas Jefferson is said to have had the first ice cream recipe in the Americas, so we had to let Jason try a root beer float.
We observed some wildlife on the drive. Here are the three stages of coyote. First he will ignore you, then glare at you then show you his teeth. We could have skipped the second and third stages.
We spotted an elk in the woods, and we saw eleven deer and five wild turkeys in the yard of one home. In addition, while driving through Spearfish Canyon we spotted a mountain goat halfway up a cliff near Bridal Veil Falls and came across several deer feeding near a pond where Jason and I were observing several large some rainbow trout.
Travelling with the Schinglers 
I thought I saw a blip on my computer saying that the Canadian wildfires were causing smoke where you are. Must have been mistaken because it looks clear there.
LikeLike
Give Jason mugs and kisses from me
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
LikeLike