Thinking about how it was…at Mt. Rushmore

When my son’s spring break “Dad & Son Adventure” to Orlando’s Universal Studios didn’t work out (flights home were booked), I asked him where he wanted to go. “How about Hawaii Dad?” “Ahh…we’ve got three days pal.”  To my surprise he asked, “OK. How about Mt. Rushmore? I’ve never seen it.”

Neither had I. So here we are in surprisingly warm Rapid City, SD (76 degrees today).

We’re staying in an old historic hotel downtown (with free wireless internet and a lot of character) and we just got done talking about our next two days here. We’re going to the Mammoth Site, Custer State Park, Jewel Cave and a bunch of other attractions (oh yeah, and Mt. Rushmore).

We also talked about how it was before Mt. Rushmore, Rapid City and the interstate. 60 million bison roamed North America before they were killed for fun from the iron horse (train) as well as to remove the primary food source from the natives. The Sioux and other natives were living peacefully a couple of days horseback ride away from where we are right now (in Wounded Knee, SD).

Not all was well in this part of the West. Seems the Sioux were performing a “ghost dance” to bring snow (and cover the white man) as well as protecting them from the calvary soldier’s bullets. Settlers were quite afraid and called in the calvary. The result was a single shot during a sitdown that gave the soldiers justification for a horrific massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890 and the last “official battle in the Indian wars”.

Much has changed. Much stays the same.