Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse and Custer State Park

Tuesday and Wednesday, July 16th and 17th, 2013

Tuesday was an easy driving morning and a relaxing afternoon spent in an RV park. We didn’t do anything but just get here. We saw what Bill thinks is the ideal setup – a Fifth Wheel pulled by a Volvo tractor truck with a Smart car loaded on the walkway space. The owner said there are about 35 of them and they have an annual rally in October in Kansas.



The first thing we saw today was Mount Rushmore, from afar and then close up. Mount Rushmore has the busts of four past presidents.
George Washington, (1st president) led the colonists in the American Revolutionary War to win independence from Great Britain. He was the father of the new country and laid the foundation of American democracy. Because of his importance, Washington is the most prominent figure on the mountain. (1732-1)
Thomas Jefferson, (3rd president) he was the author of the Declaration of Independence, a document which inspires democracies around the world. He also purchased the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803 which doubled the size of our country, adding all or part of fifteen present-day states. (1743-1826)
Theodore Roosevelt, (26th president) provided leadership when America experienced rapid economic growth as it entered the 20th Century. He was instrumental in negotiating the construction of the Panama Canal, linking the east and the west. He was known as the "trust buster" for his work to end large corporate monopolies and ensure the rights of the common working man. (1858-1919)
Abraham Lincoln, (16th president) held the nation together during its greatest trial, the Civil War. Lincoln believed his most sacred duty was the preservation of the union. It was his firm conviction that slavery must be abolished. (1809-1865).



On our way to Custer State Park we stopped at the Crazy Horse Memorial. This memorial depicts Crazy Horse pointing with the caption “My lands are where my dead lie buried”. It is privately funded and accepts no monies from the state or federal government. They are very proud of this. While at Fort Robinson, Nebraska, under a flag of truce, Crazy Horse was stabbed in the back by an American soldier and died September 6, 1877. He refused to live on a reservation and had never signed a treaty.

The last thing we did was drive through Custer State Park. It is a whopping 71,000 acres. We were rewarded for taking that drive by the sight of some magnificent wildlife. We took the Wildlife Loop Road and saw a gigantic, mean looking buffalo up quite close. He was walking down the street coming towards us. The park is home to as many as 1,500 head (of which we saw one) of North American bison, more commonly known as buffalo. Bison can grow to 6 feet tall and weigh more than 2,000 pounds. They are considered the largest native terrestrial mammal of North America. The animals have a short tail with a tassel, a hump at the shoulders, curved black horns on the sides of the head and dense shaggy dark brown and black hair around the head and neck. There were once millions of bison, but by 1900 it is estimated that fewer than 1,000 bison remained on the entire continent.




We saw Burros. The burros in Custer State Park are not native to the Black Hills. They are descendants from the herd that once hauled visitors to the top of Harney Peak. The rides were discontinued years ago and the burros were released into the park where they have become a popular visitor attraction. We saw them on the road where they came up to everyone in their cars to say hello.




We saw Pronghorns, commonly referred to as antelope due to their similar appearance. The name pronghorn comes from the buck’s large pronged horns. The horn sheaths are shed each year. The fastest land animal in North America, pronghorns can run 60 mph for great distances.