Black Hills, SD

After leaving Grand Teton, we traveled across Wyoming on blue highways ending up in Lusk, WY, almost at the SD border. The next morning we headed to the south end of the Black Hills. Our first visit was to Wind Cave National Park (the seventh national park). Wind Cave was discovered by two guys out checking their cattle whose hat was alternately blown off and sucked in by the approximately 1' diameter hole in the ground. Caves breathe in order to equalize the atmospheric pressure with the outside world. Wind Cave is the fourth longest cave in the world (after Mamoth Cave, KY, Jewel Cave, SD, and a cave in the Ukraine). So far 136 miles of cavern have been discovered in various levels within the space of approximately one square mile. Based on calculations related to the atmospheric pressure, geologists estimate that only 5% of Wind Cave has been discovered. Every year more miles are added (2 miles were added last year). In addition to the cave, the national park serves as a refuge for various charismatic megafauna, including the buffalo above which is eating dirt in a mineral lick (something they do in the spring when they are nursing).

Wind Cave is the home of 95% of the world's boxwork, which is created when calcium leaks into the minute cracks in the limestone and the limestone is dissolved away. The Black Hills used to be 14,000' tall and there is a 300-600' thick layer of limestone, laid down by multiple inland seas. As the tectonic plates pushed into the west coast of the US, the Black Hills were pushed upwards and fractured. The cave doesn't have any real stalagtites or stalagmites or large rooms. Most of the way is in narrow passageways, filled with boxwork. The water level is at 450' below the surface. Very few people, us included, know about Wind Cave. It was viewed as sacred by the Native Americans who would not enter it.

We camped at Pactola Reservoir, about halfway up the Black Hills after taking the Wildlife Loop in Custer State Park and seeing lots of buffalo, pronghorns, wild burros, whistle pigs, birds and other wildlife. The second day we drove to Spearfish, SD for Bob to play a disc golf course at Black Hills State University via the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway. It's a remarkable canyon with a relatively small Spearfish River in it and a few waterfalls. While he and Darwin were doing that, I drove back to Lead (pronounced LEED), SD, the location of the Homestake Mine, the largest gold mine in the US. The mine was discovered by two guys in 1876. Due to the erosion of the Black Hills, the quarts, which holds the gold, was exposed and was washed into various streams in the Black Hills. That lead to a gold rush which caused many whites to enter an area which had been granted to the Native Americans and from which they were to be excluded. Gen. Custer tried to remove them shortly before his end at the Battle of the Big Horn, but was unsuccessful. The claim was ultimately bought by George Hearst (the father of William Randolph Hearst) for $70,000. He also bought various surrounding claims. George Hearst owned the Ophir, CO and Anaconda, Montana mines also (he had a head/nose for good mines). The Homestake Mine operated until 1998, producing 50,500,000 ounces of gold from both underground works (down to 8,000') and two huge open pits, one 1,200' deep. There was little labor unrest in Lead as the mine treated its workers fairly. Hearst's wife built the first Carnegie library west of the Mississippi and a 1,000 seat opera house and recreation center. The Homestake Mine (so named because you could earn enough to stake yourself to a new home) also built three hospitals which provided free medical care for workers and their families. At the end of its run, it was extracting gold via cyanide heap leach mining (yuck!). The mine has been sold to another company and demolition and rehabilitation is under way. The huge stamping operating is still visible. Lead is pretty down on its luck now.

After picking Bob and Darwin up we drove down to the Crazy Horse Memorial. The sculptor, a Polish emigree living in Boston, left Boston at the age of 16 and worked on Mt. Rushmore. He made a name as a sculptor and the Lakota elders asked him to build a memorial to Crazy Horse. After securing the property, he began working in 1947. He has never taken any money from the federal or state governments and he and his wife had 10 kids (they were good Catholics). He died in 1982 and seven of the kids and his wife are continuing the work. In addition to the monument, which shows Crazy Horse on a horse pointing to where his people are buried, there is presently a museum containing Native American memorabilia from multiple tribes (including 16 of the original trade beads used to purchase Manhattan Island), the sculptor's home and an area where Native Americans can sell their crafts. The ultimate plan is to have a Native American university and medical school along with the museum and other facilities around the monument. It will be much bigger than Mt. Rushmore. Makes me think a little of our work at the Cottage (though hopefully we won't be at it for more than 60 years).

These two photos show Crazy Horse's head, which was unveiled in 2000, the tunnel underneath his outstretched arm and the outlines of his arm. Work continues all year long and quite a bit of the explosives and large machinery is donated. It's a very impressive undertaking.