July 26-29, 2017 That Medora is a tourist-oriented town is evident in comparison of its population and its theater seating: 210 to 2853, respectively. Besides Theodore Roosevelt National Park, we took advantage of two productions. Joe Wiegand portrayed Teddy Roosevelt in “A Teddy Roosevelt Salute to Medora”. He was enthusiastic Read more…
July 23-26, 2017 One of the first things we noticed at Theodore Roosevelt National Park near Medora, ND was the amazing layers of different sedimentary rocks. The black layer is lignite, a soft coal that was formed 60 million years ago when this area was Everglades-like swamp. The blue-green-gray layer Read more…
July 23-26, 2017 Theodore Roosevelt had hunted bison and raised cattle in the area around Medora, ND. Those were among the experiences that led Roosevelt to pursue the preservation efforts that brought us the National Forest Service, 18 national monuments, five national parks, 150 national forests, and dozens of federal Read more…
July 15-19, 2017 High Plains Western Heritage Center This non-profit museum was founded in the 1970s to honor lifetyles on the high plains of Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. It offers exhibits about pioneering, cattle and sheep ranching, rodeo, transportation, American Indians and mining. There is a Read more…
July 12-13, 2017 We enjoyed exploring towns and sites that until now had just been names. Lead, South Dakota We started in Lead (pronounced “Leed”), home of the Homestake Mine. Gold was discovered there in 1876 as part of the Black Hills gold rush and the mine was the largest Read more…
July 12-17, 2017 Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway Spearfish Creek flows 1000 feet below the limestone cliffs it carved along the 20 miles between Spearfish and Lead, S.D. Several waterfalls grace the canyon. Scenes for the movie Dances with Wolves were filmed in the area. At the top of the canyon is Read more…
July 11, 2017 It’s less than 90 miles from Custer to Belle Fourche (pronounce bell foosh) but we found so much to do in Custer that we decided to extend our stay in the Black Hills and reposition ourselves to take advantage of the sights to the north. Belle Fourche means Read more…