Day 13-Bowman, ND to SD to Bridgeport, NE

Day 13/Bowman, ND to SD to Bridgeport, NE  
Distance today: 369 miles

Saw this sign & a sign below
it saying "for the next 13 miles"! Wow!

Total to date: 4559 miles

Today we travelled through 3 states (ND, SD & NE) on secondary roads. Was a great ride with more inspiring scenery! The landscape went from forest to plains & then back to forest & to plains again. 

We started off traversing the ND plains. Saw many animals, since it was fairly early. Saw antelope, grouse, & Robert saw a ring-necked pheasant, in addition to the domesticated sheep, cows & horses. Was kind of wild seeing no cross-fencing so guess they still just turn them loose. Didn't think people still could do this but apparently so. Saw alot of ranchers on their ATVs with cowboy hats on, checking their livestock. Makes me wonder how much acreage these folks have!?

One really great surprise was that we drove by the Crazy Horse Memorial. Didn't know we were going by way. A friend of mine had suggested seeing the "Devil's Tower" but we didn't go by there & I was kinda bummed about that, considering we ARE in SD. But when I realized that we were going by the Crazy Horse memorial, well I just had to go see this & pay my respects. Screw Mt. Rushmore!  

Aerial shot of current state
of the memorial

Final version of memorial

The Crazy Horse Memorial is a monument carved into stone & is under ongoing construction on privately held land in the Black Hills. It depicts Crazy Horse, an Oglala Lakota warrior, riding a horse and pointing into the distance. The monument has been in progress since 1948 but is far from completion. If completed, it may become the world's largest sculpture.

The memorial was commissioned by Henry Standing Bear, a Lakota elder, to be sculpted by Korczak Ziolkowski. Ziolkowski started blasting for the monument on June 3, 1948. When he began his work, Korczak was almost 40 years of age and worked until his death in 1982. During that time, he endured many hardships such as racial prejudice, financial burdens, and injuries from the work.  The monument is being carved out of Thunderhead Mountain on land considered sacred by some Oglala Lakota & is between Custer & Hill City, roughly 17 miles from Mount Rushmore.

Final version of memorial 

Note drawing of future horse's
head in white on face of rock.

I spent quite awhile looking around in the onsite museum, watching a video on how the memorial came to be & took a zillion pictures of some really intricate beading & other artifacts. Some of these pics are below. But the story behind this memorial is very interesting. Check out the history of the Crazy Horse Memorial  if you are interested!

Painting of final resting place

Great artwork!

More great artwork!

Never saw knives before!

Incredible specimens!

Very detailed scultures

Chief Standing Bear at sculptor
Ziolkowski's home in 1947

 

Can you imagine how long one would
have to work on this!?

Absolutely stunning against white leather!

So we cut further south, thru the Black Hills National Forest, which was another beautiful area. And got waylaid by more road work. You wouldn't believe how many sections of road that we traversed is being repaved & how many times we had to come to a dead stop & wait but all part of the adventure. Wasn't a big deal really.

Pactola Dam lake

And we also discovered the Pactola Dam Lake in SD! I have never even thought about a lake in SD! When I think of SD I think of rolling grasslands. But today we drove past this lake formed by Pactola Dam! And discovered that this west side of SD has coniferous forests. 

Further down the road we passed thru another town named Hot Springs. The Sioux and Cheyenne people were in this area, & utilized the warm springs. According to several accounts, including a ledger art piece by the Oglala Lakota artist Amos Bad Heart Bull, Native Americans considered the springs sacred. European settlers arrived in the second half of the 19th century. They first named this city as Minnekahta; it was renamed in 1882. The present name is a translation of the Native American name. A variety of health resorts were built on the basis of the springs.

This town supposively has around 35 buildings made out of red sandstone, which is plentiful in the area, in the red rock faced bluffs. Many had carved detailing on the face of the stone. Very neat building material & no maintenance!!  

Note carvings in stone

 Stayed at another Mom & Pop place, which did not have very good internet service. I've been frustrated at my attempts to remain current with this blog, because of the slow or nonexistent service! Small fly in the ointment for this trip however! Just grateful to NOT pick up any bed bugs or roaches on the trip!

Tomorrow we get to Kansas, which is Robert's home state. Won't be long now.....