It’s a thin, dark shadow on the edge of the horizon that can be seen well over a hundred miles away. As we drove North, still amongst the treeless, rolling hills of Nebraska, that dark shadow came more into focus and began to reveal a land ahead both sacred and maybe cursed, the Black Hills of South Dakota. These hills the Lakota called – Paha Sapa – the heart of everything that is. It definitely had gold, discovered in 1874 during an expedition into these parts, led by none other than George Armstrong Custer. The ensuing stampede of fortune seekers encouraged the United States Government to lay claim to these hills, breaking the previous Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868. The Sioux Treaty established the Great Sioux Reservation and specifically gave ownership of the Hills to the various bands of Lakota Sioux and their allies. Strong Arm negotiations failed and yeah, a shit storm exploded on the plains in 1876, culminating in the crushing defeat of Custer and the 7th Calvary at Little Bighorn. I am not going to get into it here but following this battle it didn’t exactly end well for the Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Pawnee, Crow, etc.
You probably knew that though. I did but I wasn’t quite prepared for the actual Black Hills themselves.
Those are real, live, wild North American Bison near Hot Springs, South Dakota. Who knew? These hills are steep, wild and rugged, covered in grass and Ponderosa pine and if you are wondering, yes they are most certainly beautiful. I was also surprised at the amount of human habitation. There are decent size towns interspersed throughout like Custer, Hill City and Keystone and many ranches and acreages in between. There is also plenty of camping, lakes, hiking trails, and oh, side by sides – they drive them on highway up here, fucking crazy!
That is indeed a dog riding side saddle, I shit you not, the dog was wearing goggles. Now THAT is FUCKING AWESOME!!!
The Crazy Horse Memorial, as seen from the highway in Custer County, Black Hills, South Dakota. This monument has been under construction since 1948 and is nowhere near complete. When finished, it will depict the Ogala Lakota War Chief on a horse, facing traditional Tribal Lands.
That’s right, we have this in The Black Hills as well. Now don’t get me wrong, Mount Rushmore is definitely cool to see. Would I come back just for this? Probably not. Truth be told, my biggest concern with visiting here was parking. Anthony is pretty small as an RV but it isn’t exactly a Cooper Mini either and sometimes these places can be a complete shit show for parking. Mart doesn’t do well with either crowds or traffic jams so I consider my concerns legitimate – nobody needs to see me have a freak out – there are families here after all. Turns out, parking was a piece of piss, we were in and out of there slick as …. Well, you know, right? Easy! One problem only – no dogs past those arches you see. Dickheads! They obviously had no idea that Bodhi Badass was on route. How can this happen? We couldn’t even get in a photo shoot with him and his t shirt. Not a fashion accessory by the way (the t shirt), even though that is what everyone thought. He was bitten by a dog just before we left for the trip who was obviously not enthralled by his stylish good looks. The Bodester was heavily inclined to lick the stitches so we gave him a sporty new look while also covering the wound.
That is Historic Main Street, Deadwood, South Dakota and yes, its one of those towns in the Black Hills as well. It was founded in 1876 by gamblers, whores and drunks as well as gold miners and judging by what I see, not much has changed. Pretty much all you get here now is bars, casinos and souvenir shops. In case you are wondering, this is the town where Wild Bill Hickok was shot and killed during a poker game and if you look real close to that sign to the right of the STOP sign – you would be looking at the establishment where allegedly the murder took place. The guy that shot him, Jack McCall, reportedly still haunts the Fairmont Inn (which is just down the street from where this picture was taken and is reportedly the most haunted hotel in South Dakota). Why do I always find out the cool stuff after I leave?
Devils Tower, Black Hills – but now on the Wyoming side. Anthony is looking rather sharp in this shot, I must say. “Close Encounters Of the Third Kind”, heard of it? The movie? Quite a bit of it was shot here apparently. I might be one of the only people my age who hasn’t seen this film; I could have watched it while we stayed here because the campground shows the movie every night at 6 pm. Yeah, well you know, I was kind of busy eh? Didn’t quite make it over there to watch.
Bodhi met a couple of full Australian shepherds while we stayed at this KOA and just prior to us leaving got a chance to show them that he was “fast as fuck!” He also stole their food and threw it all up mid-stride while tearing around the campsite. We were all very impressed!
Next stop, Livingston, Montana!