Corn Palace in South Dakota, and Omaha

On our way to Corn Palace, and about an hour after leaving the Deadwood area, we suddenly realized we were passing a "Dances with Wolves" film set - a fort on the side of the road. I can't remember which one, and I'm not willing to watch the movie again, to find out. Maybe you'll recognize it from the picture... (I didn't love the movie - sorry! I am sorry for those of you who may have. If you really want to know why, I can tell you.)

Anyway - we didn't go look at the film set. I'm not a fan.

Besides, I was really anxious to get to The Corn Palace, in Mitchell SD! I mean - how can that not be intriguing!? It is, after all, the World's One and Only Corn Palace... (as per the Visit Mitchell website.)

I guess it's ridiculous to assume that someone just shows up every year with a wheelbarrow full of corn, and makes a picture by gluing corn on the side of the building and hoping for the best!

In actual fact, a local farmer grows all of the corn (12 different colors), the design team (The Corn Palace Committee) starts discussing and planning the theme months in advance, a local artist designs the mural and numbers each section according to the color of the corn, draws it onto black roofing paper, which is nailed to the wall, and then a design team nails the corn to the wall, according to the number scheme. (It's a new display every year, and the old one stays in place until they are ready to put up the new mural, at the end of August.)

Interesting. Although I was kidding about the wheelbarrow full of corn and the glue, it's still much more complicated that I originally imagined.

Originally called The Corn Belt Exposition, the tradition of the Corn Palace was established in 1892, when the farmers would display their harvest on the building to "prove the fertility of South Dakota soil." In 1921, the first festival was held at this current existing building.

As if Corn Palace isn't enough! We had the fortunate timing of visiting

Mitchell while they were doing repair work on their streets. Really, it is a pretty good idea, isn't it? to cover the fresh tar with biodegradable toilet paper, so the tar doesn't get stuck to your car!? I can't believe I've never seen this anywhere before!! BRILLIANT!

After we left Mitchell, we went over the state line into Nebraska, just to cross Nebraska off our list of places we hadn't been before. The plan was: Go to Nebraska, and do a U-turn, and come straight back out, travel across the bottom of South Dakota, through corn fields, to Iowa, and then take the I-80 across to Winterset (where the Bridges of Madison County are - this was after choosing to go to the Bridges instead of crossing across Minnesota to see the Jolly Green Giant - and we chose the Bridges, because they are old and could, potentially, fall down..over time, and we could miss our chance to see them at all!)

However, what ACTUALLY happened was: The car died. We made it safely through the corn fields (which was a relief since we passed absolutely nobody the entire time we were out in those cornfields.) The car died somewhere around the Junction of Highway 29 and Interstate 80..about 5 miles before the junction, the car completely died. So, after refilling the transmission oil, we decided to do what you are supposed to do - don't go forward, go back to where you last saw civilization - which was about a mile back at an old gas station.

When we got there, Peter wanted to see underneath the car, so he - I don't really know how to explain this - but he drove into the curb so that the car popped up and the front wheels were on the curb and the back wheels were on the dirt... so it was lifted up and he could see underneath.

Once we got the car back on the road, and turned onto the I-80, there saw a sign that said: "Next gas station, 140 miles." Yes, that DID seem adventurous, but Peter was pretty much finished with adventure that day, so we started to consider a Plan B.

On the side of the road, we decided to call U-Haul, and see about renting a little truck, camping in it, and returning it on the other side of the country. $3000!!!!! THAT was the quote!! and we had to be there (in Council Bluffs in 6 minutes.)

$3000 seemed like a lot, so we decided, instead, to just rent a car, and since we were passing a sign that said "Omaha Airport" - that seemed like a good start!! Not having "Google" back then, we didn't really know who to call, but just then! out of nowhere, I remembered the jingle to "1-800-go-Alamo"!

This is kinda crazy because we had never actually rented with Alamo before, but you know how some things seem to just work out too wonderfully? well!

THIS is amazing AND, though it was a long time ago now, has always been one of my favorite memories.

1) when I called (thanks to modern technology - even though we didn't have Internet on the cell phones yet, we DID have a cell phone!!), the man from the call center transferred me to the Omaha location, so that the nice man at the Alamo airport location could talk to me as we drove in - "about now, you should be passing a trailer park up on the hill" - and we were!!!

2) when we arrived in the airport, we passed a few car rental locations we had previously used, and actually went over to get quotes, even though the Alamo guy was holding a reservation for us.

3) the Alamo guy could see us meandering through the airport, getting quotes, and knew (somehow) we were the people with whom he'd been talking

4) the Alamo guy was very helpful about finding a tow truck to come pull our disposable car out of the parkade... but, as we were trying to figure out what to do and how to do it, with the car disposal issue, Peter said, "Unless, of course, you know someone who wants a 1984 Ford Marquis". He said, "A WHAT?? No! I don't need a car, BUT - HOLD ON!! FRANKLIN!!"

Franklin came out from the back, and the Alamo guy said, "These people have a 1984 Marquis to give you, if you want it...?"

OH GOODNESS! Franklin started to cry. Apparently, he was a new father, in the less affluent part of Omaha, and was having a really hard time getting to work and transporting his family around, and had just been saying "if only he could afford to get a car" and happened to (of all the craziest things!) love the Ford Marquis. (Seriously! I am NOT making that up!!)

We sold it to him for the appropriate $1, and threw in all of the stuff we couldn't fit in the rental - including the remaining transmission fluid and a barbecue (remember, we were camping.) (Also, he'd be driving inner-city, so, as you recall, it was fine under 30 miles (50 kms) per hour. He might never even need the transmission fluid.)

By the time we were driving away in our rental car, he was leaving to go home to show his wife his new car ...

How ironic, too, that I planned to avoid Nebraska, except that little trip in and out that we made earlier, for the sole purpose of crossing it off The List  - only to have one of my best memories of all time, take place BACK in Nebraska a few hours later!!!

...

With a brand new and fast car, we headed off in record speed to Winterset, to see the Covered Bridges!! More on Sunday.

PS. It looks like the first Iditarod musher is coming in Nome maybe today. Mitch Seavey (who I didn't mention, I don't think...?) He's an Iditarod icon - his whole family has participated in the Iditarod - his dad, his sons, and him. As a family, they've had over 30 Iditarod finishes. THIS year, his son, Dallas, is currently 4th.

Right on his heels (according to an 8pm report for March 12th, 24 minutes behind.), is Aliy Zirkle. HER website tells us: "In 2000 she was the first and only woman ever to win the Yukon Quest -- "The World's Toughest Sled Dog Race." Including her first Iditarod in 2001, Aliy has completed the 1,000+ mile race tweleve consecutive years. In 2005 and 2011 she received the Iditarod's "Humanitarian Award" for supreme care of her dog team. Her best finish was 2nd place in 2012."

(Addendum, 8 hours after publishing this blog: Not only did Mitch & Aliy finish the race (and, it seems, probably around the time I was typing, they were coming into Nome), but 9 others also did! Congratulations to all the finishers!)

To Deadwood, South Dakota, in a Disposable Car

Once upon a time, and as I have mentioned a few times throughout my previous blogs, we decided to go on a big long roadtrip - the furthest we'd ever driven one way! From Calgary to Halifax, Nova Scotia, but primarily through the United States.

 

The problem with roadtrips is backtracking...in my opinion... The roadtrip is really fun and exciting the entire time, UNTIL it's time to come home, and then I just want to be home. Instantly.

 

 

So, we decided to by a "disposable" car. It was 1984 Ford Marquis, purchased for $400. It was SO comfortable - it passed inspection - perfect! Our plan was to drive it one way, and, if it made it in a decent shape, donate it once we were ready to come home, and then fly home.

 It was mostly a great plan! The only downfall was that the inspection we had done was "inner-city", so when the mechanics drove it, it never made it over 50 kms (30 miles) per hour. It turns out that at about 50 MILES per hour (80 kms), it started spewing transmission fluid.

 

We didn't know that until we "died" in Great Falls, Montana. Well, on the side of the road going into Great Falls. Once we got the car going again (and by "we", I mean "Peter), we loaded the entire trunk with transmission fluid.

 

Originally, I thought Daisy could come with us, too, but at the last minute, we decided she wouldn't enjoy flying, so one of her favorite people (Shelley) came and stayed with her. (We didn't have Coco yet.) Well, I was soooooo sad to leave her! So another one of my friends gave me a little "mini Daisy" (a little stuffed toy dog, which you may have read about in my March 6 blog about the Iditarod) - to bring in her place - I call her Daisy Deux. (We also have a little "Coco" doll, called Coco Two, that we now also bring along, when the real little girls can't come...)

 

The first few days, we visited some of the places that we later repeated, and I've already written about: The Battle of Little Bighorn, Devils Tower, Crazy Horse Monument, and Mount Rushmore.

 

The route we chose between Devils Tower and Crazy Horse, though, went through Deadwood, South Dakota, and I haven't talked about THAT fascinating place yet! (The easier route is through Rapid City, but I really wanted to go to Deadwood, because it's where Wild Bill Hickok was murdered and is buried.)

 

 

It turns out that, originally, the area in which Deadwood was established was treaty land and meant for Indian habitation (of course it was!), but Custer (of course) announced gold and caused a gold rush (Black Hills gold). (This is a common theme of my blogs on Crazy Horse, Mount Rushmore, Devils Tower, and Battle of Little Big Horn.)

 

Deadwood sprang up practically overnight and was notorious for gambling, prostitution and murder ~ there's a reason there's a movie made about it (I didn't see it).

 

Wild Bill served in the Civil War, and followed that career with a lot of other gun-fighting endeavors. (Apparently, he even scouted for George Custer's army...) Eventually, he "settled down" in Deadwood, which, turns out, was a bad idea.

 

He was shot in the back of the head, while playing poker. His hand (good for the quick-thinking witnesses to the murder to check out his hand after he was dead and record it) is called Deadman's Hand, and was a pair of Aces & a pair of 8's - all black...(the 5th card hadn't been changed out yet, and nobody really knows what it was..)

 

Originally, he was buried in the town's little cemetery, with a wooden marker, which his friend supplied, but the cemetery filled up quickly (murder was "the norm"), and Wild Bill's body was eventually moved to a nearby cemetery (Mt. Moriah) and he now has a monument and tomb. (His original wooden marker was defaced over the years, but there's a replica.)

 

Calamity Jane is buried next to Wild Bill.

 

SHE claims that she was married to him. She claims they were in love. She claims that he is the father of her daughter... everyone else claims he wasn't at all interested... plus, he was married to someone else...

 

The people who were in charge of her burial thought it'd be funny to bury her next to Wild Bill, because she, apparently, was his Stalker. (She has other claims-to-fame, but they are their own story - mostly that she was living in a Man's World, and managed to keep up.)

 

(Incidentally, Mt. Moriah Cemetery was the second cemetery we'd visited on this roadtrip - the first being the Battle of Little Bighorn. We ended up going to two more on this particular roadtrip. It was a surprise underlying theme of the trip - which I've labelled the "Disposable Car Roadtrip.")

 

Wednesday, we are off to the Corn Palace - yes, you read that right.

Crazy Horse Memorial

Seven years after the completion of Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Memorial was started. Mount Rushmore (which we'll discuss in the next blog) took about 14 years to complete (well, as complete as it will be - more later on that). Crazy Horse is still being worked on.

 

What's the difference in delay? The main delay is financial - Mount Rushmore had government funding and sponsorship, whereas Crazy Horse is privately funded, funded by donations and by admission fees to the location.

 

In 1939, Chief Henry Standing Bear (Lakota tribe leader) wrote a letter to Korczak Ziolkowski, asking him to carve the monument. He said in his letter: ""My fellow chiefs and I would like the white man to know the red man has great heroes also."

 

Ziolkowski was a self-taught artist, born in Boston, in 1908. At one point, he assisted Gutzon Borglum on the sculpting of Mount Rushmore, and had a good understanding of working with the stone of the Black Hills, in South Dakota.

 

So, when Chief Standing Bear approached him, he accepted!

 

The Black Hills were chosen by the Chief and other Native American elders, because they are considered sacred land. Then, the challenge was finding the right dimensions, the right type of stone, etc. Once completed, the sculpture will be 641 feet (195 meters) long by 563 feet (172 meters) high! Crazy Horse's head will be 87.5 feet (27 meters) high, and the horse's head will be 219 feet (67 meters) high!!

 

Rather than try to carve an exact image of the man who avoided being photographed, Korczak said, “Crazy Horse is being carved not so much as a lineal likeness but more as a memorial to the spirit of Crazy Horse — to his people.”

 Ziolkowski died in 1982 but he passed on the commission to his wife (Ruth), saying "“You must work on the mountain-but go slowly so you do it right.”

 

The family still are those directly involved in the sculpting and the continuous progress, to finish.

 

The FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section of the http://crazyhorsememorial.org/ site explains why Crazy Horse was chosen for the honor: "He is a hero not only because of his skill in battle, but also because of his character and his loyalty to his people. He is remembered for how he cared for the elderly, the ill, the widowed and the children. His dedication to his personal vision caused him to devote his life to serving his people and to preserving their valued culture."

Talking about the Memorial is easy, it turns out, when you compare it to talking about the man! I feel I must disclaim - there is so much information about Crazy Horse, and some reports disagree with other reports, so - this is my understanding. If you hear or read or know otherwise, please don't be offended - and I'd be more than happy to be corrected!

 

In the meantime: Crazy Horse was born sometime around 1840, in the Oglala Lakota tribe, and was named "Cha-O-Ha", which means ("In the Wilderness" or "Among the Trees".) His father (Crazy Horse II) was Oglala Lakota and his mother (Rattling Blanket Woman) was Miniconjou Lakota.

 

I could go on and on (and want to, but I'm too easily distracted) about Crazy Horse's family and the names of some. Their names are so curious though! One is his cousin, Touch the Clouds, who was almost 7 feet tall ~ this name makes sense to me! He had an auntie named "Good Looking Woman" (how beautiful was she, to earn that name!?), and another auntie who was called "They Are Afraid of Her." (He named his only daughter after her, but the poor little thing only lived to be 2 or 3 years old.) Then, I wondered: which name would I rather have - "Good Looking Woman"? or "They Are Afraid of Her"? and I can't decide - I think it might come down to WHY they were afraid of her?? Another family member was a woman called "Kills Enemy"! It sounds like he came from a family of very strong women! (Well, not sure about Good Looking Woman, but the other two, for sure.)

 

As far as interesting family names, Crazy Horse's mom nicknamed HIM "Curly Light Hair"....? His little brother was called "High Horse" (I'm not making that up!!) and his step-grandfather's name was "Corn". 

 

Crazy Horse ("Tasunke Witko" in Oglala) was victorious in many battles - not only against other tribes (like the Arikara, Blackfoot, Crow, Pawnee and Shoshone), but also the US military.

 

Included in that is the Great Sioux War (1876-1877). Crazy Horse, along with approximately 1,500 Lakota and Cheyenne came up against General George Crook and his 1000 cavalry & infantry, and his 300 Crow and Shoshone allies, in the Battle of the Rosebud.

 

This delay prevented Crook from joining General Custer's forces, in the Battle of Little Big Horn, and contributed to Custer's absolute defeat. (More on the Battle of Little Big Horn will be coming in a subsequent blog...and as far as Crazy Horse is concerned - his part is vague, but apparently, according to reports and quotes, he was the "bravest" and the "greatest".) 

 

However, on January 8, 1877, after fighting a major battle at Wolf Mountain in the Montana Territory, Crazy Horse decided to surrender to protect his people. It was winter, and they were hungry and cold. They went to Fort Robinson, Nebraska.

On May 5, 1877, he (along with Little Big Man and others) met with First Lieutenant W.P. Clark to take their first steps toward surrender. Crazy Horse went to live at the Red Cloud Agency, near Fort Robinson.  

In August 1877, news came that the Nez Perce of Chief Joseph in Idaho had broken out of their reservation and were escaping to Canada, through Montana. Lieutenant Clark asked Crazy Horse and Touch the Clouds to join the army against the Nez Perce, and they refused, stating that part of their surrender is that they promised to remain peaceful. (Smart men!)

Trouble was brewing at the Red Cloud Agency, and General Crook was ordered to come to Fort Robinson. Someone told Crook that Crazy Horse said that he was going to kill Crook during a meeting that had been called, involving the Oglala leadership. Crook then ordered Crazy Horse's arrest.

 

Crazy Horse fled to Spotted Trail Agency nearby, but later agreed to return to Fort Robinson with a Lieutenant J.M. Lee. Touch the Clouds and other Indian scouts also went along. Once they arrived, Lieutenant Lee had to (against his will) turn Crazy Horse over to "the Officer of the Day". Lee went to the post commander, Lieutenant Colonel Luther P. Bradley for help. But Bradley had actually received orders to arrest Crazy Horse and had him taken "under the cover of darkness" to Division Headquarters. He was then turned over to Captain Kennington, who took him to the post guardhouse. 

 

Wikipedia says "Once inside, Crazy Horse struggled with the guard and Little Big Man and attempted to escape. Just outside the door, Crazy Horse was stabbed with a bayonet by one of the members of the guard. He was taken to the adjutant's office, where he was tended by the assistant post surgeon at the post, Dr. Valentine McGillycuddy, and died late that night."   

 

This is a very sad story.   

 

At the Memorial, Crazy Horse's arm is extended and pointing. This is to symbolize the answer to the question: "Where are your lands now?" to which Crazy Horse is quoted as saying, "My lands are where my dead lie buried."

 

.....
There are some who are opposed to the Memorial, and I thought that the discussions and debates were interesting and that those opposed have valid points. But, from the perspective a tourist who didn't know anything before, other than what is in standard history books and movies, I found it fascinating, and I have researched and researched, not only this man, but also have learned (to a very small degree, I'm sure) more about the culture and art of the people.  

 

Wednesday, we'll talk about Mount Rushmore.