South Dakota – Part I

August 28 – September 11, 2021

Spearfish

The next stop along our journey was Spearfish, South Dakota. Located in the Northern Black Hills of South Dakota at the mouth of Spearfish Canyon and between Mount Rushmore and Devils Tower, we thought it might be an ideal spot from which to base our exploration.

Spearfish/Black Hills KOA

Our first choice campground in this area was already full when we were making reservations so we settled for the Spearfish/Black Hills KOA Holiday. Although KOA’s allow you to make reservations for a particular type of site (full hook-up pull-thru for example), they do not allow you to reserve a particular site. When we arrived, we were assigned a short site directly under a tree. We implored them to allow us to move to one of the empty long sites in the row directly behind our assigned site. They refused, telling us they would give a full refund if we chose to leave. (Where were we going to go over Labor Day weekend?) So, we stayed. We parked the truck as best we could, partially in the road, and we went without satellite TV. Fortunately they had decent cable and the internet speed was sufficient for streaming. (Priorities you know). We were entertained during our stay watching them stuff large rigs in short sites and short rigs in long sites.

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Iron Mountain Road

After a relaxing Sunday with a brief hike along Spearfish Creek, we set out on Monday for Mount Rushmore via the Iron Mountain Road.

The Iron Mountain Road is a work of art in itself. The highway connects Custer State Park and Mount Rushmore National Memorial and passes through some of the most beautiful scenery in the Black Hills, including three tunnels that frame Mount Rushmore in the distance. The road is famous for the “Pigtail Bridges” that allow travelers to drop or gain altitude quickly.

The highway was constructed in the 1930s under the direction of Governor Peter Norbeck, “this is not meant to be a super highway, to do the scenery justice you should drive no more than 20 mph and to do it full justice you should simply get out and walk.”

scenic drives

Known as 16A, the Iron Mountain Road is 17 miles long with 314 curves, 14 switchbacks, 3 pigtails, and 3 tunnels. We really enjoyed this drive. At least I did. Bill may have a different opinion.

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Mount Rushmore

Let us place there, carved high, as close to heaven as we can, the words of our leaders, their faces, to show posterity what manner of men they were. Then breathe a prayer that these records will endure until the wind and rain alone shall wear them away.

These four presidents were chosen to commemorate the founding, growth, preservation, and development of the United States of America.

Gutzon Borglum

A Brief History

1923 South Dakota historian Doane Robinson proposes carving Old West heroes in the Needles – spikelike granite formations in the Black Hills. Robinson approaches sculptor Gutzon Borglum, then at work on the Confederate memorial on Stone Mountain, Georgia.

1925 Federal and state legislation authorize carving of the memorial in the Black Hills. Borglum quits the Stone Mountain project and goes to South Dakota. He chooses Mount Rushmore as the site because of its size, light orientation, and fine-grained granite. Borglum proposes US presidents as the subject and fundraising begins.

1927 President Calvin Coolidge spends the summer in the Black Hills and dedicates the memorial. Carving begins.

1929 Mount Rushmore National Memorial Act provides matching federal funding and creates a commission to raise funds and oversee operations. The stock market crashes in October and threatens the collapse of the project.

1930 The Washington head is dedicated on July 4.

1933 President Franklin D. Roosevelt places Rushmore under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service. After 18 months of carving, the Jefferson head is relocated to Washington’s left because of flaws in the granite. The original Jefferson figure is blasted away. Gutzon’s son Lincoln Borglum begins working full-time at Rushmore.

1936 President Franklin D. Roosevelt attends the dedication of the Jefferson head on August 30.

1937 A bill is introduced in Congress to add Susan B. Anthony’s portrait to Rushmore. Separate legislation requires that money be spent on only those figures already begun, thus ending the Anthony proposal. The Lincoln head is dedicated on September 17.

1938 Work focuses on the Theodore Roosevelt head with details of Washington’s neck also in progress. In the granite behind the heads, excavation begins for the Hall of Records, Borglum’s planned storage vault for important national documents and an American history time capsule.

1939 The Roosevelt head is dedicated on July 2. The Memorial is officially transferred to the National Park Service. Work ceases on the Hall of Records.

1941 Gutzon Borglum dies on March 6. His son Lincoln oversees the carving until its completion on October 31.

1991-98 The Museum, Grand View Terrace, Avenue of Flags, restaurant, gift shop, and parking decks are built.

Upon arrival at the Memorial, we walked down the Avenue of Flags to the Grand View Terrace which provided a great view of the Memorial. Below the Terrace we entered the Lincoln Borglum Visitor Center to explore the exhibits.

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From the Visitor Center, we followed the 0.6 mile Presidential Trail leading to viewing sites near the rocky slope of the faces.

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Along the Presidential Trail is the Sculptor’s Studio which was built in 1939 as a second on-site studio for Gutzon Borglum. This is where he worked from 1939 – 1941. The Studio contains a 1/12 model of Mount Rushmore.

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After leaving the Memorial, we stopped in Keystone for a late lunch. On our way back to the RV we encountered a heavy rain storm complete with hail. We watched as the motorcyclists scurried for cover.

Spearfish Canyon

A couple of days later we drove Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway. Thousand-foot-high limestone outcroppings in shades of brown, pink and gray tower on both sides of Highway 14A as it twists through the 19-mile gorge cut by Spearfish Creek. Along the way, we stopped at three waterfalls.

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Leaving the canyon, the road turned northeast cutting through Lead and Deadwood.

Deadwood

The discovery of gold in the southern Black Hills in 1874 set off one of the great gold rushes in America. In 1876, miners moved into the northern Black Hills. That’s where they came across a gulch full of dead trees and a creek full of gold and Deadwood was born.

Practically overnight, the tiny gold camp boomed into a town that played by its own rules that attracted outlaws, gamblers and gunslingers along with the gold seekers. Wild Bill Hickok was one of those men who came looking for fortune. But just a few short weeks after arriving, he was gunned down while holding a poker hand of aces and eights – forever after known as the Dead Man’s Hand.

Calamity Jane also made a name for herself in these parts and is buried next to Hickok in Mount Moriah Cemetery. Other legends, like Potato Creek Johnny, Seth Bullock and Al Swearengen, created their legends and legacies in this tiny Black Hills town.

Deadwood has survived three major fires and numerous economic hardships, pushing it to the verge of becoming another Old West ghost town. But in 1989 limited-wage gambling was legalized and Deadwood was reborn.

deadwood.com

We spent some time walking along Main Street, checking out the historic sites and interesting shops, and watching one of the scheduled gunfights. Then we had a late lunch at Mavericks before making one more stop on the outskirts of town.

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Chubby Chipmunk

Being a chocoholic I absolutely wouldn’t let Bill leave Deadwood without a stop at the Chubby Chipmunk. (In fact we actually returned later in our stay).

Chubby Chipmunk Chocolates have mouths watering from Deadwood to Hollywood, part of celebrity gift bags at the Grammy Awards twice, the Oscars once. But when “Chip” Tautkus opened her shop in 2005 in an old empty Sinclair Station, she was both the owner, and only employee, making up songs as she worked.

Chubby Chipmunk Chocolates Owner Mary “Chip” Tautkus sings, “We’re Chubby Chipmunk Chocolates and we’re here to fill your pockets with the bestest tasting chocolates in the world.”

blackhillsfox.com

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On the way out of town, I made Bill turn around so that I could take a photo of Deadwood from an overlook. The photo didn’t come out very well but we did happen upon a nearby herd of mountain goats.

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We’re not done yet. Check out the next post to find out what else we did in this area.