January 2020 – A Traveling Fool

January 26, 2020

From the Big Horn Mountains, to Shell Falls, Cody, Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons and Jackson Hole, Wyoming

The Big Horn Mountains in northern Wyoming and southern Montana have a long Native American history. They have been home to the Shoshone, Crow, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Lakota. The Medicine Wheel in the northernmost area of the mountains is considered to be quite sacred.

It was in the Big Horn Mountains where I finally saw my first moose. It was from a distance and was a young, male moose without a rack. But it was still exciting to finally see one after years of traveling to areas where they are prevalent only to have them be elusive when it came to a sighting. I got a couple of blurry photos.

Shell Falls is located in the Big Horn Mountains and is a wonderful grouping of waterfalls cutting through the rocks of Shell Canyon. The canyon and waterfalls get their name from the large number of fossils of hard-shelled creatures that exist in the area. The rumbling of the water surging over the falls can be felt in your feet.

Cody, Wyoming was named for Buffalo Bill Cody, who was one of its founders. A large museum, called the Buffalo Bill Cody Center of the West, is really a conglomeration of several museums – the Buffalo Bill Museum, the Plains Indians Museum, the Whitney Western Art Museum, the Draper Natural History Museum and the Cody Firearms Museum. I managed to explore all five museums, starting with the Plains Indian Museum, in the time we had there.

We traveled through the Shoshone National Forest on our way from Cody to Yellowstone. It was quite wild and beautiful – a great entry to Yellowstone. We came into Yellowstone National Park itself through the East Entrance. Immediately we began to see bison, elk, and a mama grizzly with cubs. The bison in Yellowstone are much larger than those at Custer National Park. This is because Custer National Park manages its bison herd (including culling) while Yellowstone just lets nature take its course.

Soon we began to see the indications that Yellowstone, although classified as a dormant volcano, is active enough, starting with a mud volcano. We encountered the Dragons Mouth, which moaned and groaned and smelled like sulphur. When Yellowstone decides to blow, it will take everything within a 300 mile radius with it. As of 2013, it was still content, after thousands of years to just keep bubbling, gurgling, and shooting water from geysers. Possibly, since there are so many ways of “letting off steam”, it could remain content not to erupt for thousands more years.

After skirting Yellowstone Lake, we headed north towards Mammoth Hot Springs, where we spent the night in some cute little cabins. My cabin had one room and a bathroom. I had no bars for my mobile phone inside, but had three bars out on the front porch. So I made some calls and sent some texts while gazing across some other cabins at the Mammoth Hot Springs themselves. After dinner in the main building of the hotel, I headed back to the cabin to turn in for the night.

The next day, we explored the Hot Springs themselves. Although outside of the caldera, the hot springs bubble away and have created a large field of travertine. In the years since my 2013 visit, some earthquake activity has shifted some of the hot springs so that parts of the travertine are now dry.

We spent the entire day in Yellowstone, visiting such features as Tower Falls, Washburn Hot Springs Overlook, the Brink of the Upper Falls, Artist Point for the Lower Falls, Gibbon Falls, Firehole Falls, Fountain Paint Pot, the Great Fountain Geyser at Lower Geyser Basin, and Old Faithful. In order to get a good viewing seat for Old Faithful, we needed to get there well enough in advance to not have enormous crowds as of yet. When it finally did its thing, I kept going long enough for me to be able to take some video as well as photos.

We spent the night at the Old Faithful Inn, which was built in 1905. Old Faithful could be seen from the Inn. We had dinner in the dining room of the Inn. My room was on the opposite side of the Inn from Old Faithful, but had several smaller geysers just outside.

The following day, we visited Isa Lake, which sits on the Continental Divide and drains in two different directions. It is one of the very few lakes in the world that does this.

The West Thumb Geyser Basin is on the shores of Yellowstone Lake. One of my favorite features of this geyser basis is the Abyss Pool. It is a gorgeous turquoise color and appears to be completely bottomless.

On our way out of the park down to the South Entrance, we passed Lewis Lake, Lewis Falls and the Lewis River in Lewis Canyon. Lewis & Clark skirted Yellowstone as they felt it was too rugged. Lewis still managed to get all of those places named after him. But what about Clark? Didn’t he deserve at least a waterfall?

We entered Grand Teton National Park from the John D Rockefeller, Jr Memorial Parkway. Rockefeller had purchased most of the land from Jackson Hole to Yellowstone to create Grand Teton National Park. Several glacial lakes exist at the base of the mountains. We had lunch at Jackson Lake Lodge.

In the Jackson Hole area, we encountered another young, male moose a little closer up. I managed a couple of decent shots of him as he stopped to watch us go by.

The town of Jackson is located in the Jackson Hole Valley. There is a National Elk Refuge nearby. The town still has some of the original buildings from the late 19^th century. The town had a lot of art galleries, antique shops, and gift shops – some with Native American-made pieces.

We spent the night in Jackson at the Rustic Inn, which had several buildings with front porches, high ceilings in the room, and pretty amazing amenities. There was a grocers a short walk away and a fridge in the room. The shower was the fanciest I had ever seen in real life, with multiple shower heads overhead and coming from the sides. It was fun to figure out, but I nearly drowned myself at one point.

Next time – from Jackson Hole to Afton, WY, Montpelier, ID, Salt Lake City, UT, Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park, and back to Las Vegas, NV.

January 20, 2020

Deadwood & The Devil’s Tower

For those who have seen the television series “Deadwood” the Wild West was never wilder. The thing is, that TV series was based on a real town, real people (though some characters in the series were fictional – such as Alma), and real events (including the deadly small pox epidemic).

Wild Bill Hickok really was murdered at the No. 10 Saloon by Jack McCall. Calamity Jane lived in Deadwood and was buried next to Wild Bill (whom she adored) when she died.

Seth Bullock and Sol Star owned a hardware store. When it burned down, they built a hotel on the site, which still stands today. Bullock was also the Sheriff of Deadwood (once Deadwood became a legal part of the US) and was friends with Theodore Roosevelt.

Charlie Utter was a real person as was Al Swearengen. Swearengen owned the Gem Theatre, which was the most prominent of Deadwood’s numerous brothels. In the part of the town referred to as “the Badlands” were most of the brothels , which were also called “cat houses”. They got the name due to their owners purchasing cats to keep customers from shooting at the rats and mice.

There was a large Chinatown in Deadwood and there is a sizeable section in Mount Moriah Cemetery where they once were buried. Many of the bodies have since been taken back to China and re-interred there, so not too many of the Chinese residents’ remains remain.

The first thing we did when we arrived in Deadwood was to park in front of the Midnight Star Saloon where we met up with the Original Deadwood Sightseeing Tour. I highly recommend this tour! It was probably the funniest tour I have ever been on. We all laughed so hard throughout and had a wonderful time. The tour did include a brief stop at Mount Moriah Cemetery. It was so brief, however, that I was glad I had been there a couple times before when I had more time to explore.

We had lunch at Diamond Lil’s Restaurant at the Midnight Star Saloon, all of which is owned by Kevin Costner. The restaurant was decorated with a large amount of memorabilia from Costner’s movies. It was fun to take a look at all that while waiting for our food.

We had some free time after lunch, so I wandered down Main Street to the former Badlands and Chinatown areas to see what might still be there. After walking around a bit down there, I sauntered back up Main Street on the other side of the street.

Mom and I had been to Deadwood back in 1987, when the town was rundown, but what was still standing was totally historic. After “Dances with Wolves” much of the town was bought up and turned into gaming houses and bars. So when my entire family returned in 2005, I was not happy to see the historic bits seemingly disappearing in favor of the gambling. But, by 2013, the TV series “Deadwood” was popular and people were interested in the history again.

The real Deadwood was settled illegally on land belonging to the Lakota people, just a couple years after General George Armstrong Custer and his men discovered gold along French Creek near the current town of Custer. Charlie Utter and his brother, Steve, brought a wagon train full of supplies, prostitutes and gamblers to what was then known as Deadwood Gulch in 1876. Pretty soon Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, Seth Bullock (and his wife, Martha, and their daughter), Sol Star, General George Crook, and others were in the town. Al Swearengen, who controlled the opium trade, opened the Gem Variety Theatre and the illegal, lawless town was off and running.

On my way down Main Street, I stopped to take a photo at the later version of Saloon No. 10 (Wild Bill was murdered at its original location). Back in 1987, there was a recreation of the original bar downstairs where they had it set up to look like the saloon would have looked when Wild Bill Hickok was murdered. Now-a-days they actually do a re-enactment with actors. Although the newer Saloon No. 10 was not where Wild Bill was killed, it is still over 100 years old, having been built in its current location after the original burned down in 1879.

On the corner of that block was the Bullock Hotel. It wasn’t open because it was being renovated on the inside. The hotel that was located “kitty corner” across the street was once featured in a couple of the ghost hunting TV series. The Bullock is supposed to be quite haunted as well, but more benevolently, by Seth Bullock himself. He is still looking after his guests.

A couple buildings down from this hotel was the building constructed over the location of the original Saloon No. 10. On August 1st of 1876 Jack McCall lost all his money while playing in a poker game that included Wild Bill. Wild Bill gave him back some of his money, so he wouldn’t be completely devastated. On the following day, while Wild Bill was playing in another game, but with his back to the door (instead of his usual position with his back to a wall), a drunken McCall entered the bar and shot Hickok.

This is the part of town that was known as the Badlands. Nothing remains, however, of the buildings where Swearengen’s operations were located or of Chinatown. This was also the part of town that was devastated by fires more than once when the buildings were all wooden.

Back up Main Street from the location of where Wild Bill Hickok lost his life, just in front of an establishment called Goldberg’s is the location where Hickok’s murderer, Jack McCall, was captured. He ended up being tried for murder twice. This was because his first trial wasn’t legal since the town of Deadwood wasn’t legal. He was actually acquitted in the first trail and then moved to US territory, where he bragged about killing Hickok. In Yankton, in the Dakota Territory he was tried again, convicted and hanged.

When we left Deadwood, we headed directly for the Devil’s Tower. Anyone who saw the film “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” would be familiar with the Devil’s Tower, which is considered part of the Black Hills although it is in Wyoming.

The Lakota legend behind its unique form was that a group of Lakota girls were playing when they encountered some bears. They ran to a rock and prayed to the Great Spirit to save them. The rock began to rise up to get the girls out of the reach of the bears. As the rock rose, the bears clawed at it, causing the deep groves in the sides. Scientists have several theories of its formation, but no single theory has yet won out. I think I’ll go with the Lakota legend.

There were people scaling the Tower while we were there. I went on a hike around the tower. The path wasn’t especially steep and got closer and closer to the tower itself, until it started moving away again to head back on down. From every angle, the Devil’s Tower looked different and amazing. I was thrilled to be able to see it from as close as I could get to it. The tower and its land are considered sacred by several Native American tribes, so visitors need to stay on the path and not touch any of the tributes left there by the Native Americans.

From there, we drove to Sheridan, Wyoming to spend the night.

Next time –Big Horn Mountains, Shell Falls, Buffalo Bill Cody Museum, Shoshone National Forest, Yellowstone National Park, and Grand Teton National Park.

January 5, 2020

The Black Hills

I know I have said this before, but I love the Black Hills. My mom, who grew up there, always loved it too. So this was not my first time there. It was just my first time as part of a tour group.

We checked into the State Game Lodge. I had stayed in a cabin there before, but not in the Game Lodge itself. Once I got my things into my room, I went exploring. The older rooms that were empty were open for guests to see. They were very nice.

I was feeling a little disappointed. A friend of mine in Minneapolis was supposed to join me in the Black Hills for a couple of days. But his contract was extended at the least minute on his job and so he didn’t. I had been looking forward to sharing some of the special parts of the Hills with him. But it just wasn’t going to happen at that time.

A Native American breastplate was one of the items that I had hoped to find at a price I could afford. The gift shop in the Game Lodge had a Lakota breastplate at a reasonable price. It was authentically made of bone, beads, and leather. The last thing I wanted was a plastic version. I was assured that it was bone and it felt like bone, so I was pretty sure it was bone. When I got home, my dog confirmed that it was indeed bone. He was mighty interested in it. He always showed interest in anything with actual animal bone, horn, fur or feathers.

We all had dinner together in a special room in the dining room. My choice that evening was bison ribs. After dinner, we went for walk, turning back when it began to get dark.

The next morning we paid a visit to the Crazy Horse Memorial. The statue (which dwarfs Mount Rushmore) has been under construction since 1948. An Oglala Lakota Chief commissioned the carving and the funds were (and continue to be) raised privately. It is still not without controversy. But I won’t get into that here. We had plenty of time to see a film about it, tour the original house of the family that has been in charge of constructing it, and explore the museum.

On our way from the Game Lodge to the statue, we passed by the reconstruction of the stockade that had been built shortly after General Armstrong Custer and his troops discovered gold at French Creek in 1874. Although the US government had signed a treaty with the Lakota back in 1868 promising that the Black Hills would forever belong to the Lakota, this all went out the window the minute gold was discovered.

After Crazy Horse, we drove to Mount Rushmore. We had quite a bit of time there too, so I hiked the entire Presidential Trail and explored the studio. The model of what the carving was planned to look like was very different from the finished work. For one thing, it wasn’t just going to be the heads of the presidents, but their bodies from the waist up, as well.

This model was constructed after the position of Thomas Jefferson was changed. Originally Jefferson was supposed to be carved on Washington’s right. But the stone was not of good enough quality and the face also just didn’t look right, so Jefferson’s face was dynamited and placed on Washington’s left instead. This meant that the entire plan needed to be changed regarding the placement of the four presidents. Mom and her family were present for Jefferson’s unveiling in 1936.

We had lunch at Mount Rushmore and then returned to the State Game Lodge for some free time before joining the Buffalo Safari in the evening. Three large male bison were hanging out between the Game Lodge and its cabins. I stayed on the bridge over the creek and took my photos from there. Several others got a little bit too close for safety. People always think they can outrun the bison, but they can’t. Those suckers can really move. Fortunately, the bison weren’t at all concerned and didn’t charge anybody.

Once they left (heading up into the mountains behind the Game Lodge), I took a walk down to the General Store in the opposite direction. When I returned to the Game Lodge, some of the others had decided to take a hike up the trail behind the hotel. I figured that the bison were long gone, so I joined them.

Along a level portion of the trail, we heard a noise to the front and below where we were. We all stopped still and then saw a single, gigantic bison come up the side of the mountain and cross the path a ways ahead of where we stood. We all stayed still. It didn’t seem to notice us and he continued on his way. We turned around and went back to the Game Lodge.

The game keepers at Custer State Park have always said that the bison respect what is larger than them. So they use large vehicles that are open air, can seat about eight to ten adults and have all-wheel drive. They keep in touch with each other so they can follow the wildlife and they spend most of the time off road. This was my second time on a Buffalo Safari. Both times we rode in among the herd, which I absolutely loved.

We also encountered White Tail Deer, Pronghorn Antelope, and Prairie Dogs. We saw some Elk from a distance, but I was on the wrong side of the vehicle to get a decent photo. The deer also kept their distance. But the antelope and bison weren’t concerned by us much and had no problem with being relatively close. The Prairie Dogs were putting on a show, popping up and down from their holes and dashing around. Each time they did anything, they looked in our direction to make sure we were watching.

We briefly stopped at the grave of a baby who had died on the 6^th of June in 1902. The date we were there was the 5^th of June, 2013.

Once the safari was done, we met up with the rest of our group and some other people who had taken a similar tour from Bluebell Lodge. The spot was not far from Bluebell. The cookout included steaks or burgers, baked beans, corn on the cob, cornbread, coleslaw, and a dessert. We were entertained by some silly comedy and bluegrass music.

By the time the cookout was done and we were traveling back to the Game Lodge, it was quite nippy. Fortunately we were furnished with warm, wool blankets. Our route back included crossing Mount Coolidge. It was too dark to see much, however, which was probably a good think since my last encounter with Mount Coolidge was rather scary.

Next time – Deadwood and the Devil’s Tower.