Carved in Stone

View from KBarS Lodge

Carved in Stone Day #7

Breakfast in Keystone, SD report –

Plastic utensils of a better quality , paper instead of Styrofoam plates, a premade mini-egg omelet with cheese , better than the usual , fresh fruit, Douwe Egbert (?) coffee which is a plus. No TV. And we watched wild turkeys out the window. Highly recommend the K Bar S Lodge for accommodation.

We contemplated a flyby of Mt. Rushmore- the faces visible from the road, a quick photo and on we go. But we paid the $10 parking fee and went in…..wonderful video on the carving and small museum that was terrific – I almost became patriotic.

They’ve gone a little over the top with the entrance – granite columns, arches and flags on way to viewing area.. I think the majesty of Nature paired with the creative and noble efforts of Man need no embellishment. A gravel path would have been nice. The vision and determination of the sculptor something to ponder.

You can imagine the photo-taking at the viewing area. The Chinese/Asian visitors put on quite a show, posing in front of the faces. I was hoping for a busload of Japanese tourists.

Then down the road we find Chief Crazy Horse emerging from a similar block of granite – only bigger – much bigger. This “project” became the passion, the reason for living to Ziolkowski a sculptor from Boston , who was asked by a Lakota if he would honor their chief. … .maybe to restore Native American honor after all the insults heaped on them by the White Man. With no money he started dynamiting and chiseling, mostly by himself – raised a family of 10 children – who are involved today in finishing the project. They will not accept government money, because the sculptor believes government should not spend taxpayers money on such a project. …that those who care about it should support the project. The next part to emerge will be his horse. They work on it as money comes into their private foundation.

A Lakota quote: “When legends end, dreams will end, and when dreams end, there will be no more greatness.”

Lewis and Clark entering unknown land, beyond the edge of territory that the French trappers have traversed. ..more or less just into Montana. They describe huge herds of all manner of animal and are hunting-crazed. Each of the expedition’s men is eating 9 pounds of meat a day, meaning the hunting parties they send out must bring back 300 pounds of meat. The Indian woman with them is proving her worth, finding berries and Jerusalem artichokes to supplement their diet. To get the artichokes (it is a wild sunflower, still growing along the roads) she finds the burrow of a prairie mouse, who collects and stores these for winter. The Native tradition is to leave something in return – some other food item.

Fox news – 4 of 4

Mozz stix – 3 of 5

Local Miles City Star (MT), population 8,000 - The paper picks a garden of the week and publish photo and a short gardening philosophy.

its the scale

New Englanders tend to think they are the center of the universe. After all, New England wrote the history of the birth and growth of America. Just ask the indians, the winners write it the way they see it, the losers have to accept defeat.

I used to think of New England as a fairly respectable chunk of real estate until I read that Lincoln County New Mexico, a county in New Mexico, is larger than all of New England. (well, they changed Lincoln county's boundaries since) but the fact remains, New Englanders are a miniscule part of the US.

Today, I went to Mount Rushmore, a huge impressive granite carving of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, T. Roosevelt, and George W. Bush. It is impressive.

After leaving Rushmore, I went to the work in progress of Crazy Horse just a few miles away, a privately financed pursuit which will ultimately depict Crazy Horse (the Lakota war chief) on his pony. In the movie they compared Mount Rushmore to the Crazy Horse scultpture in size. They said that the entire 4 presidents sculpture of Mount Rushmore would fit on the head of the Crazy Horse monument. We took the bus closer to see first hand, but I still can't comprehend it. The picture of Crazy Horse has a large crane in it about halfway up the mountain to show scale, but I doubt you can see it.

Don't despair New Englanders.

A Bad Poem (mllg)

South Dakota is Bad


Three major S. Dakota industries (Agro, Alky, Lotto) in 1 shot, not bad for starters.

Then we segue from Sioux fantasy (on Harley haunches) to the bad Sturgis bound gang preparing for their national bike rally.

That brings heft, chrome, noise and attitude . . . bad amounts of each.

Finally or originally, the Bad lands.
_______

Is that poetry or what?

You can’t help getting
philosophical when you travel.

Eau du Hay to Eau du Pine - Day 6

Pierre to the Badlands

Started day with biscuits and gravy – tasty - tho eating with the flimsy plastic utentsils was off-putting…and the Fox news people were shouting at me. Pierre somewhat disappointing – not much of a town, tho it does have a fancy and well-stocked hobby shop.

Wall drugstore the next stop – another completely artificial tourist attraction with every souvenir item you could ever imagine. ..entertainments for kids, stuffed animal heads, jewelry, and…. A world-class bookstore, focusing on the West. Mott took notes while I watched my fellow Americans.

Badlands the next stop. A big WOW – dramatic, but we didn’t see any bison., as was our hope. The shades of green in the grasslands were out of an impressionistic painting - the rock formations, a moonscape.

I have ordered my last buffalo burger – tho my disappointment may have more to do with the cooking technique than the raw materials. Dry – and char-broiled so as to have that fake taste.

To Keystone in the Black Hills – in a very nice lodge – with a balcony view of a profile of George Washington….everyone else in shadow. The town couldn’t be kitschier. A done-up frontier town, with Buffalo Bill show, bars, t-shirts etc. etc. Is this all travelers want? And it is full of motorcycles and their riders. We are near Sturgis, where there is about to be a Harley round-up – world-famous – but I think generally this part of the country densely populated with these two-wheelers.

Taking the Pulse of America

Fox news onTV 4 out of 4

Mozz. Sticks (actually Stix) 3 of 4

Local Paper items -Rapid City, SD –

The Hispanic/Spanish traditon of “quinceanera” came from Native Americans- their child becomes a woman ceremony – both spiritual and celebratory - and the Spanish took it back to Spain giving it a Christian slant.

And – they killed 3 mountain lions yesterday that were hanging out in residential neighborhoods.

Badlands

Wall Drug Attraction

travel alternatives?

The Frontier (mllg)

its a big river ! the natives are technologically advanced, the architecture is classical and they do sculpture like the Etruscans.

some historical perspective (mllg)

Until the Louisiana purchase, settlement beyond the Mississippi was illegal for american pioneers. that was indian territory.

with the Louisiana purchase in 1803, Jefferson interpreted his purchased territory as all the area draining into the Mississippi. If you look at a map, you will see that the Missouri river, which drains into the Mississippi, transits all the way from Northern Idaho to the Mississippi just north of St. Louis. Jefferson had effectively purchased the entire northwest of the current US, excluding Oregon. (idaho, montana, wyoming, n dakota, s. dakota, nebraska, kansas, missouri, iowa, wisconsin, minnesota, wisconsin... did i forget any?)

Strategically, the Louisiana purchase was probably the most influential act in American history (second only to the Declaration of Independence) because it allowed a two ocean country. Spain and Britian still had to be contended with, but putting the Missippi and the Missouri under US sovereignty, allowed the passage of people and trade to the water port of New Orleans without foreign intervention.

the opening of the west was quickly followed by railway construction, the homesteading acts and the largest migration of peoples in the history of the world. people from all over came to the US to get free land and become part of the american dream.

Corn to Hay - Iowa to S. Dakota - Day 5

Dinner in Fort Dodge nothing to write home about - tired salads (who makes those cardboard croutons?) Weird flavored butters -strawberry, orange, honey- with Parkerhouse-type rolls, glazed with sugar and hard to pair with a steak – which I’m thinking is the only thing you can eat out here. I will start counting the menus that do NOT have mozzarella sticks as appetizer. And I should let you in on my food prejudices – but that is a tome.

But we’re starting to act like oldsters – ohing and ahing over the sorry, but plentiful processed, ConAgra? breakfast selections - thinking “ it’s almost free!!!! I can have all I want” I think maybe we need to find a local place for breakfast and picnic for dinner. But ( maybe another poll - does everyone in America watch Fox?) TV tuned to CBS morning show . I envision a new segment – “Taking America’s Pulse.”

The Iowa landscape reminded us of mid-Ohio. More cornfields, beautiful farms which became less beautiful as we neared the western and northern borders. South Dakota’s corn shorter, less robust – and soon gave way to pasture and hayfields. We had to see the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD – even if another tourist zoo . And Lewis and Clark were catching up with us as we hit the Missouri river. Their encounters with Native Americans - Omahas, Tetons, Sioux, Lakota - becoming problematic, requiring great diplomacy...and Lewis is very lucky to have made this journey at all. We followed the Missouri River to Pierre, a scenic byway – with somewhat fallow land.

Ate excellent Walleye tonight, the only locally produced alternative to steak – in saloon that was too dark for photos – and listened to Classic country – 70’s-80’s. “Four Walls to hold you…..” etc. And I sprang for a homemade Thousand Island dressing (presented in multiple dish server – like Indian condiments) which was just like my mother used to make.

TAKING AMERICA'S PULSE

Mozz dinner appetizer count – 3 of 3 – but that includes Canada.

Fox news count - 2 Fox – and 1 CBS ….of 3 (so far) - motels and stores included

IMAGES - except for the typical Iowa barn, all are captured South Dakota moments.

across the big muddy (mllg)

across the "big muddy", finally on to the frontier where wide open spaces without strip malls and parking lots. A small barn, a crop of corn and some peace and quiet.

Iowa ...still - Day 4 (bjg)

the day began in Chicago, with Jasmine drawing me into her magical world of fairies - I think better than Disney princesses.... glens and hollows and fairy dust - and did you know that tumbleweeds are a particular nemesis?

West we went into Iowa - cornfields, cornfields, soybeans, cornfields (I can almost taste the hi-fructose corn syrup) - still green but grasses beginning to look toasted. We got Lewis onto the Ohio River and heading for St. Louis, where Clark is to catch up with him. Dauntless is the right word for him.

We detoured into the Amana villages - touristy, but interesting - and I got my fried pork tenderloin sandwich and some German-tasting (that little bit of sweet) slaw...which was wonderful. The early settlers were conservative Lutherans, leaving their church in Germany, and coming to NY, then on to Iowa. Communal living in a closed society was how they chose to serve God and live his message. They lived in individual houses , but without kitchens, as there was a communal dining facility. Men at one table, women and children at another , and they were to finish their meals within 15 minutes and not converse. They gave up their communal ways in 1932. And I will guess that God really didn't mind.

Surprised to find that Iowa is gently hilly, with hedgerows and tree thickets - not the miles and miles of cornfields we expected to see- but we are still in the middle of the state in Fort Dodge.

podcasts and audio books (mllg)

its a long lonely way across iowa. we start tomorrow and today i'm downloading podcasts so we don't have to listen to radio ads, bible stories and the same news over and over. there is a podcast series on yellowstone park, several on bird watching, BBC podcasts of many varieties and of course the Prarie Home Companion. Funniest is the BBC friday night news quiz which is laugh out loud clever and irreverent.

Between podcasts we'll continue to listen to "undaunted courage" and i'm looking for an audio book about President James Polk and his westward expansion polices (44.40 or fight) of the pre- civil war years. Any ideas? also looking for an audio book about railroad building across the great plains and the homesteaders that followed.

any ideas would be welcome.