Journey to the Great NorthWest
Northwest United States
I recently had the good fortune to experience a two week road trip through the Northwest United States. This part of my country was one of two to which I had never been (New England being the other).
The journey proved to be far more interesting and pleasurable than I had anticipated. I shot many rolls of film during the excursion. I would like to share what I saw if you will come along with me.
Corn Palace
The Corn Palace is a folk art icon in Mitchell, South Dakota, which receives more than a half a million visitors each year. Mitchell is home to 15,000 people, among them George McGovern.
The Corn Palace was built in 1892 to showcase the local harvest—on the building itself. The current Corn Palace was constructed in 1921.
Each year since, a local artist has completely remade the facade with murals made of corn, framed by native grasses. 12 different colors of corn were used in this year's mural, which was created by the art teacher of nearby Dakota Wesleyan University, Cherie Ramsdell.
The Corn Palace is used for basketball, concerts, exhibits, community events, and Ultimate Fighting bouts.
The Badlands
The Badlands of South Dakota is a National Park designated as a wilderness area. The Lakota Indians named this place The Badlands. I could hardly believe how deserted it was—and how beautiful.
The Badlands features a stunningly unusual and colorful landscape, filled with bizarre natural land forms. It is an eerie, spooky place. The few hours I was there I only saw a handful of people. The Badlands was used as a bombing range during World War II. It is today considered one of the world's most fabulous fossil beds.
On my way out I encountered a strange little hamlet called Scenic. I thought it was an abandoned movie set at first, but then spotted a few people at a gas station around the corner. It was about then that I decided to find my way back to civilization.
Rapid City, South Dakota
Rapid City, South Dakota, surprised me. I didn't know what to expect, but Rapid City impressed me deeply. It is the kind of city I could see myself living in.
The "Gateway to the Black Hills" has about 120,000 residents in the metropolitan area, 10% of them Native Americans. There is the danger of floods—250 people died in the 1972 flood—and wild fires (due to the dry air). The downtown is thriving commercially and artistically.
Tourists buy Black Hills Gold in Rapid City, and enjoy incredible sculptures of the American Presidents scattered around the city center.
From the 1960s to the 1990s the area was home to over 150 missile silos. Rapid City holds two remarkable weather records: fastest temperature rise of 49 °F in 2 minutes on January 22, 1943; and fastest temperature drop of 47 °F in 5 minutes on January 10, 1911. The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally brings nearly as many visitors to the area each August as South Dakota has population.
The Black Hills, Mount Rushmore, and Deadwood
Mount Rushmore draws two million visitors annually to see the six-story high faces of four American Presidents—George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt—carved into the granite mountainside. The massive sculptures took 15 years to complete.
The nearest town to Mount Rushmore is Keystone, which itself is a pleasure to visit.
Also nearby is the city of Lead. Lead was founded around the Homestake Mine—the largest, deepest, most productive gold mine in the Western Hemisphere for 100 years before it closed in 2002.
The twin city with Lead is Deadwood, which inspired the eponymous television series. Deadwood is famous as the town where Wild Bill Hickok was murdered. Hickok and Calamity Jane are buried there. Back in the day, Deadwood was full of miners, gamblers, prostitutes, gunslingers, and outlaws.
On my way out of the Black Hills, I drove alongside Spearfish Creek, which is unusual in that it freezes from the bottom up.
Devils Tower
We drove through the northeast corner of Wyoming on my way from South Dakota to Montana. we stopped in the town of Sundance, famous for its film festival, but there isn't much to see there. So we drove on to see Devils Tower, which was featured prominently in the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
American Indian tribes had many names for Devils Tower (including its present name), most commonly Bear Lodge.
President Theodore Roosevelt named it the first American national monument in 1906. 4,000 people actually climb the thing each year. There is also a very cool Prairie Dog village nearby.
Moving to Montana Soon, Going to be a Dental Floss Tycoon
My first stop in Montana was the Little Big Horn National Monument where General George Custer made his last stand. Several thousand Lakota and Cheyenne warriors joined forces here under the leadership of Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse in 1876 to kill—and ritually mutilate the bodies of—all of the 210 American soldiers under Custer's command.
Next, I visited the very nice city of Bozeman, which sits 75 miles from Yellowstone National Park. Bozeman is the fastest growing city in Montana. The popular movies A River Runs Through It and The Horse Whisperer were both filmed there.
Home to Montana State University, Bozeman is the city from which hailed the actor Gary Cooper.
Butte is an interesting place to visit. I was surprised by the number of oil derricks right in the city. Butte was once among the most prosperous cities in America due to copper mining. Between the two world wars it was the largest city for hundreds of miles in all directions.
Butte was well known for labor unions and socialism, as well as its hundreds of saloons and brothels. Some of the whorehouses continued to operate until the 1980s. The daredevil Evel Knievel was from Butte.
Comments
Where has the time gon? I've been so busy lately, I've been missing some great hubs. I was impressed by the blue dinosaur. Now THAT's clod.
James that's not correct, it was supposed to be but 20, even two finger punching I got it wrong. Maybe I should reread. 50
Nice ride James, I have to say on my cycle trips the Bad Lands tripped my trigger the biggest on my first years of 30 making that ride to Sturgis, It wasn't about being there after 10 it was about getting there, as we rode old rat trap hogs with plenty of bailing wire. We used to get stoned and or drunk and sit around doing intelligent stuff like counting hose clamps and bailing wire, oh and duct tape repairs to see who had the rattiest rat bike of all. On the road to sobriety which I have to admit maybe highly over rated since I have found Peyote growing wild, a hog that makes the trip with out 2 or 3 gallons of oil and 6 hours of repairs is more desired, it may have to do with an odometer on my ass getting to be quite high in mileage as well. I made the 50th anniversary and called it my last but carried on to make an even 20th year run, If I can find a human to watch the dogs I may try and make the 70th anniversary this year on my '54 Rat-trap Jock shift Hydra-Glide parts bucket bastardized Muther F_cked big inch Pan Head, another time, and include the Bad Land trip as well. Back when I started going it was still a "true Biker" event and 1976 my first was a colorful year for the run. It has since eroded into a disappointing truck and trailer commercial event with much family oriented content that has disrupted the true meaning of we socially unacceptable dirt bags. Oh, I've rambled off topic but It was your fault for presenting such a memorable journey of your own. Thanks, James, it is one thing lost to my life style, no neighbors to watch my junk while I go away for a few weeks. 50
James A. Watkins, Wonderful hub! Thank you for sharing your travels of the Great North West! Beautiful natural landscape photography! Mount Rushmore looks quite remarkable... So glad you had a great time!
Peace & Blessings!
Thanks for this mini travel guide, James. I've always wanted to go to the States and these places are beautiful. I will get there someday!
Very good!
Things are not very well in Greece,because of the economy. For 30 yrs everything was built on the sand.And now only one song can describe the situation.....Dust in the wind....
I hope that stops next months.
Very interesting and informative. Thanks for sharing your trip with us.
Very nice hub thanks for lovely pics u have put here
Amazing James,photos are perfect.So i think is North West
It would seem that you will be attracting a great many people who may wish to visit this wonderfully scenic part of our country with what you have written in this hub. Congrats! Thumbs up!
James ! Where does all your hate come from ! Please be a little loving......jandee
Mr. Watkins!
Thank you for the quick reply.
That creek would be a real trip to see after a week or so of freezing.
And Yes, waiting for October is for the leaves. New England is beautiful year round but spectacular in mid October.
Bob
James, as a resident of Idaho and the Northwest, certainly, I have deep respect for our neighboring states, however, it is my honest opinion, until you've seen and experienced Idaho, you're only experiencing second best.
But again, I am a 4th generation Idahoan, and loyalty runs deep.
- Harlan
A part of the country I have never visited-- but you make it sound very tempting. .... especially the Black Hills. Well, I've had a lovely armchair trip anyway. Thanks:-)
Thanks for Gutzon Borglum's name. Now I'll look him up. And also the way to pronounce Lead. I'm glad there was no gunfight at that saloon in Scenic.
Just reading your hub was like taking a mini virtual vacation. I look forward to reading about the rest of your trip!
Wow! What a fascinating place! Your pictures and write up made me wish I could visit too!
Thanks for sharing James!
wow; looks like a really fun trip, and you captured some great pics, James!!!!
America the beautiful. Great road trip like I long to take. Have never been to that side of the country. Thanks for sharing great information and striking photos of each stop.
Great hub as usual James, and wonderful pictures. USA are so full of beauty, who knows, maybe one day I'll be able to see some of it with my own eyes. But for now your hub has done the job. Thanks. :)
This was a really great hub. I enjoyed reading about your trip. It sounds like you had a really great time. I really enjoyed all the wonderful pictures.
Hi James!
Very nice travel log!
Love the pictures!
That is a very nice area of the country. I have been sent to Sioux Falls a handful of times. It is a neat old city and the falls are a great touristy thing to go see.
I hope you get to tour New England soon. Growing up on Long Island with relatives in Vermont I have seen quite a bit of New England and I am sure you will enjoy that also. If you can choose you should aim for the second to third week of October.
I would love to know the chemistry behind that creek that freezes from the bottom up.
Can't wait for the next installment!
Seriously....
James - I enjoyed reading this as I have been to many of the places, although many years ago. I did not know about Bridal Veil Falls in SD and added mention of it to my hub "Waterfalls, USA", which I invite you to visit sometime.
Lovely informative travel hub, thanks and the pics too are good. Juliette.
Oh, the pictures were so great, and your writing so informative. Enjoyed every bit of it. I'm a New Englander, and hope you make it here for a visit. In many ways it's the opposite of the West, no sense of wide open spaces. But there's lots to enjoy. When you're planning your trip here, let me know and I'll tell you about some wonderful sights. How about whale watching? Moose Alley in NH? The rocky coast of Maine?
Magnificent, Mr. Watkins...just beautiful! I only hop that someday I could take a trip like this one with my husband.
Great hub, and thank you for sharing.
God bless and keep you,
VKA
James
Another great hub; these were some amazing photos of country I had never seen before but read about. Some of the little towns nestled in or at the foothills of the mountains reminded me of Swiss Chalets. Thanks for sharing!
James, What a lovely hub with all the great information and I really loved the pictures. Great hub!
Absolutely marvelous, great website structure, pictures were very appealing. Overall nice job man, I got some related content check me out :) RomperHubber
Another great travel hub, James! I love learning about places I've never been to in my own country!
Wow....just beautiful.
Wow....I can't say anything, James. This was totally beautiful. I really enjoy all your information you gave to me. Good description with fascinating pictures. I'll go to there someday. Thumbs up and I rate this hub. Prasetio :)
Lovely tour of some cool places James! I couldn't help thinking about Hitchcock's North By Northwest while humming Rocky Racoon! Great photos too. Glad you had a fab time.
Great hub. I hope I could visit those great places one day. Thank you for sharing it here at Hubpages. Remain blessed always.
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