World United States South Dakota Spearfish

FULLTIMING WITH SUE, JOHN AND ARNIE A Surprise Trip to Idaho and Montana

Spearfish, SD and the Mountain Carvings Jul 24, 2008

Yesterday we drove through Wyoming

Passing through Wyoming

rather quickly for fear that we might run into Dick Cheney. It is a topologically interesting state with lots of wind and rolling grassy hills.

We have arrived in Spearfish, SD on the edge of the Black Hills. Being this close we, of course, had to visit the two mountain sculptures in the area.

On the way toward Crazy Horse we stopped in Lead (pronounced LEED) to tour the almost-active gold mines there. The largest open-pit gold mine in the world

The Homestake Open Pit Gold Mine

only ceased operation in 2001.

The underground Homestake Mine operated for over 100 years. We visited the museum in Lead that has a simulated mine in its basement. There were a variety of tools and equipment on display but we found this one

Miner's Port-a-Pottie

the most interesting. The actual mine is 8000 feet deep and the men and women worked twelve hour shifts underground.

We drove to the Crazy Horse site

Crazy Horse

and found a cross among an unbelievably ambitious sculpture, an Indian Memorial, and a large tourist attraction.

Progress on the sculpture is painfully slow. The chief's head is complete, but there is farther to go than has been completed.

The Loonngg Range Plan

They are currently working (although we could only see one worker on the mountain) on the horse. There doesn't appear to be any projected completion date, but the project is bringing in millions of dollars in revenue from visitors in the meantime. The good news is that those revenues are supporting many scholarships to Native Americans.

After Lunch at the Crazy Horse Monument we headed toward the more familiar Mount Rushmore Monument.

Mount Rushmore Plus One

Although the original Rushmore sculpture was a much smaller project than Crazy Horse, it is interesting that it was never completed. The combination of the death of Gutzon Borglun, the sculptor, and the commencement of World War II the project came to an end.

The Unfinished Sculpture

A visit to the sculpture studio at the park revealed the originally planned sculpture.

The Original Plan

We headed back to Spearfish having had a very enjoyable day and one filled with information.