Carving The Mountain

I have always wanted to visit Mount Rushmore and am finally here. The feeling of pride when I saw the avenue of flags was breathtaking as I see Mount Rushmore behind the flags.  I read that the avenue of flags was initially put up in celebration of the United States celebration of Bicentennial in 1976 as a request from a visitor.

 

I'd like to start and give some history about the final location of where the carvings are.  The mountain did not even have a name until Charle E. Rushmore asked his guide, William Challis, "What is the name of that mountain"?  Challis is said to have replied, "It never had one, till now... we will call the damn thing Rushmore".  

Mount Rushmore was thought up by Doane Robinson in 1923.  He was a South Dakota historian.  He wanted to find a way to attack tourists to the state.  At first, he wanted the carving to reflect Western Heros like Red Cloud, Lewis & Clark, and Buffalo Bill.  He also wanted the carvings to be at the Needles.  Robinson started looking for someone who could make his dream come true.  A Danish American sculptor named Gutzon Borglum was enlisted to help with the project.  At the time, he was working on a massive carving at Stone Mountain in Georgia.  Borglum left that project and went to work with his son Lincoln.

The project began in 1927 and was finished in 1941.  The actual carving was done by a team of over 400 men.  This is remarkable but no one died during the construction.   The final figures to be carved on Mount Rushmore were George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. Marlon and I walked around the base of Mount Rushmore and stopped at the studio to listen to the Ranger talk about the history of Mount Rushmore.  It was very, very interesting.

This is what the sculptors sat in while sculpting Mount Rushmore.

Mount Rushmore 

We left here and drove to Hill City to chat with some people we had met at Texas Roadhouse.  They own 3 stores and a hotel in Hill City.  Went into Exxon gas station where he had told us one of his stores was.  He just happen to be there, we bought some beverages and talked with him about the local sights to see.  We are on our way to The Needles. Going to the Needles is an awesome Fall viewing. the roads are lined with Ponderosa Pine and yellow Aspen trees.  The Aspen leaves are fluttering in the wind.

Loved watching the longhorns in this field.  Their horns amaze me with how long they are.

love the red berries as he backdrops by the prairie dogs

We drove down this gravel road for miles looking for wildlife.  We see a big herd of buffalo and need to get down the road right where they are.  Marlon continues and takes it slow as we get closer to them.  The buffalo were crossing the road right in front of us.  We waited our turn to get down the road.

check out this little one, I think he's thirsty. His tongue was hanging out.

This buffalo calf is cleaning up before he moves out of the way.
These two calves decide to fight while mom just watches them.

We are done for the day and are back at the hotel.  Decided we would go to Firehouse Brewing Co. for dinner.  Everything was delicious.

Custer's Last Stand Little Big Horn Sad & Memoriable

We are staying at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Billings Montana. This hotel is within walking distance to downtown.Up early and ready for our adventures for today.  Left DoubleTree hotel in Billings MT, walked through the tunnel and over to Stella's Kitchen & Bakery.  Once there we placed an order for some coffee and breakfast sandwiches to go.  Waiting on our food we could smell the aroma of all the fresh-baked bread and pastries.  We decided instead of lunch we would get coffee and split the huge cinnamon roll :-)

On the road eating our breakfast sandwiches and sipping on some hot coffee.  We are so happy to be on this journey together.  As I look out the windshield I can see all this open land with miles and miles of highway the sun is upon the horizon. 

As we arrived at the entrance there is a car ahead of us waiting for  Little Bighorn to open.  I saw 3 guys dressed in military attire trying to get their pictures in front of the sign.  I jumped out of the car and told them I would take pictures for them.  Once inside the area, we parked and saw all the tombstones in Custer National Cemetary.

I spotted a big bird I didn't know what it was I didn't have my camera so I told Marlon to sneak over and get a picture.  The bird sat still while Marlon got its picture.  Wasn't long and the bird noticed another person come over and scared it off.  This bird is called a Sharp Tailed Grouse.  It is a rare bird and so we were very very lucky to get these pictures: -)

We noticed a museum and entered.  We toured around the museum and read all about the Last stand of General Custer and how the Indians defeated them. 

After touring the museum we were told about how to hook up our phones for the auto tour. Each stop is numbered and there are 30 stops.
Custer's Last Stand - Little Bighorn Battlefield

We walk up the hill to view the Memorial of Custers Last Stand. June 25, 1876, 262 troopers were under the command of the US Army's 7th Cavalry. This was the worst military defeat in US history.

INDIAN MEMORIAL- After reading the information on the monument we walked over to the Indian monument.  The first thing we see is a metal ironwork outline of 3 Indian horsemen in battle.  An Indian woman runs alongside one, handing him a shield.  The monument is supposed to send the message "PEACE THROUGH UNITY". 

Red granite markers at known Cheyenne and Lakota warrior casualties have been placed throughout the battlefield approx 60-100.  249 headstones of General Custer's men that perished have white markers placed where they fell in battle.

While touring and hearing about what happened in this battle. I look out and the stillness with the wind gently blowing through the grass, you can almost hear the cries of inspiration from wounded men and horses. Check out all the wild horses and all the colts.

When we were finished with the driving auto tour we stopped and there was a ranger talking about the history of this area.  We listened to the guide and he was very good at telling us what happened in this battle. 

 When we were leaving Little Bighorn across the road was a Trading post.  I ask Marlon to please stop so I could go in.  This place has a nice little cafe and a wonderful shopping experience for souvenirs.  

Sunset was blocked by this hotel but I'm sure with all the amazing color it was beautiful.

Before we left Billings Montana we ate breakfast at Sassy Biscuit Co.  The decor and food were super delicious.  My gravy had rosemary in it with a touch of garlic.  Yes, it was good as were the biscuits.

Wildlife in Every Direction - UP-Down-ALL Around

 

Park opens at 8am. We ate a good breakfast at the hotel and watched tv.  Hurricane Ida sure did a lot of damage in Néw Orleans.  Much flooding is also being reported in Tennessee.  More than 1 million homes and businesses in Louisiana and Mississippi — including all of New Orleans — were left without power as Ida, one of the most powerful hurricanes ever to hit the U.S. mainland, pushed through on Sunday.    

We had to get lunch for today so we went to Subway and got an Italian sub, we already have barbecue baked chips and Coke Zero.  Now it’s time to get to our destination which is in Modera North Dakota.  We are at our exit to the Painted Canyon Visitor Center.  They don't open till 9am and it's only 8am.  We toured around the backside of the center and the view from there was jaw-dropping.

Time to get to our next destination of this journey.  The Theodore Roosevelt Park South Unit.  I will say the visit to this National Park was very interesting. We ran into 3 herds of bison, pronghorns, wild horses, and a prairie dog town.  Please enjoy the pictures of the scenery and wildlife.

It's early morning and we see a prairie dog town.  I have never seen anything like this.  Hundreds of hills with 100's of prairie dogs.

Our first overlook was the Boicourt overlook.  The scenery was amazing. We enjoyed walking out at Boicourt Trail and seeing the beautiful scenery.  There were benches along the path to sit and view the beauty. In the car and heading towards our next destination. This is some of the scenery along the road.

The road was blocked with bison and lots of calves.  We waited on the leader to get his herd down the hill to the watering hole.

The next stop was Buck Hill.  Wow, this was a challenge to get up but I made it with some rest stops. I spotted some wild horses in a distance on the top of the mountain.  I sat down and propped my camera on my knee and started taking pictures.  I wish you could feel the wind up here.  It's totally unbelievable.  The wind took my cap right off my head.  Thank goodness Marlon caught it before it went over the edge.

I tried my best at getting the shots of these horses before they notice me and take off.

From what I have read there was a controlled burn in 2018.  The black lines you can see in the mountains are coal.  Some areas are still smoking today as Marlon & I got to witness.  You can smell the smoke.  You only report if you see fire not smoke.

The last wildlife we saw today was a flock of turkeys.  Not very good pictures but you can tell what they are.

On the way out of the park, I saw a Prong Horn on top of a butte. No sooner than I saw him he was jumping down the butte.  I barely got a picture of him before he was out of sight.

As we left the park we drove through a town called Medora ND.  This place was an amazing town with lots of shops, places to eat, saloons, and places to stay. 

End of a beautiful windy sunshiny day.