Badlands – Part II & Mount Rushmore

Sunday, May 27, 2018

We said our goodbyes to Wall, population 818, and headed to visit the site of a deactivated Minuteman Missile Launch Silos, Delta-09. Through a glass window you could look down and view the tip of what is now a Minuteman II training missile. It is the same size and specs as the original missile housed there. I don’t know how many of these things were scattered across the South Dakota prairie, but in order to make them difficult to target they were situated at least 3 miles apart.

The park ranger on duty happened to have been one of the Air Force officers (missileers) who worked on 24 hours shifts at this very missile site. He always worked in tandem with another officer and was responsible for 10 missiles. If the correct codes and commands were given, he was trained to launch the missiles. Once launched the missiles were armed and unstoppable.

After our Cold War experience, we headed back into Badlands National Park. This time we were on a dirt road that wound through interesting landscapes, but this time we spotted our first buffalo. Yes, it was a singular bison far off on the horizon, but we did see many more before existing the park, as well as other animals such as big horn sheep , prairie dogs, etc. One interesting fact we learned was that at the time of the Lewis and Clark expedition there were millions of bison roaming the plains. Within 70 years of their visit the bison were almost totally decimated.

In order not to squeeze too much into a single day, we actually forced ourselves to slow down and had a very nice lunch at the Firehouse Brewing Company in downtown Rapid City. Alcohol wasn’t in the cards so we enjoyed their homemade root beer instead.

A few doors down from the restaurant was a lovely store called Prairie Edge Trading. The store carried high end souvenirs, along with magnificent Native American Art and custom-made furniture. Dan purchased a cute yard decoration.

While in the store two people came through pushing carts full of bison skulls. As they disappeared behind a closed door I knocked and asked if I could take a photo. It turned out that the skulls were from animals that had been raised for food and were used by a well-known local artist who decorates them for wall hangings. We met the artist and his assistant, but of course I forget to get his name.

All of the above would have been enough for one day, but no, Dan and I drove on. This time to Mount Rushmore, located about 30 minutes outside Rapid City in the Black Hills. It is called the Black Hills because the numerous Ponderosa Pine trees give the hills a dark appearance.

As you drive along a winding road all of sudden, there they are: Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt. The idea of carving a huge sculpture actually came from Doanne Robinson. His idea was to carve several Old West heroes, including a Native American. He had approached Gutzon Borglum to take on the project. It was Borglum who proposed carving US presidents. The work is impressive with each subject 60 feet tall, but it is hard to comprehend its scale when viewing it from below.

After a few hours of taking the same photo over and over, we finally left Mt. Rushmore and headed back to our hotel. We unpacked. Not being very hungry, ate leftover pizza from the night before.