Today we started our tour of the local National Park Units. We started with a picturesque drive through Custer State Park. We stopped and petted the “wild” burros along the side of the road. They are descendants of Burros that were used to haul tourists up and down Black Elk Peak that were released into the park when they stopped those tours. We also got to see a portion for the South Dakota Buffalo Herd that resides in the state park when they blocked the road for an hour. The herd numbers around 1300-1400 head in the park. Their numbers are managed to the amount of range available in the park.
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| Leslie petting one of the "Wild" Burros |
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| Part of the South Dakota State Buffalo Herd |
We then went on to Mount Rushmore. The drive was twisty and windy, going through three narrow one-car tunnels, and in multiple places doubled back on themselves. Leslie was challenged by the roads but did great! Mount Rushmore National Memorial is incredible. The pictures do not do it justice. We collect passport stamp #6 before watching the history film on the memorial, visiting the Museum and Presidential Trail (at least the portion that was open). Parts of the park were closed (the sculptors studio, Borglum Terrace and that portion of the Presidential trail). The work that was done, with about 400 laborers, to create these four sculptures in only 14 years (1927-1941) is incredible. The cost for the original monument was less than 1 million dollars. Of which 85% was federal funding. The Sculptor Gutzon Borglum, died just month before it was finished.
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| Mount Rushmore (Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln) |
After a quick stop at the Wanderer to let Etta out for a walk, we drove to Crazy Horse Memorial. Crazy Horse Memorial was started in 1947. It’s completely private financing from donations and admission charges ($12 per person). The face was completed in 1987. Work is still ongoing on the outstretched arm and horse head. In scale, Crazy Horse is roughly 10 times the size of any of the Sculptures in Mount Rushmore. The Sculptor, Korczack Ziolkowski, originally worked on Mount Rushmore under, Gutzon Borglum. Ziolkowski was requested 1939 to do the Indian memorial by Chief Standing Bear. The tribes decided that Chief Crazy Horse would be the Chief immortalized in the mountain, partially due to his victory at Little Big Horn over General Custer. Ziolkowski passed away in the 1990’s. His wife and some of their 10 children are continuing the work. There is no set date for completion of the memorial. The Memorial also acts as a repository of Indian cultural artifacts and the Indian University of North America.
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| Chief Crazy Horse Memorial |
After Crazy Horse, we went back to Custer because David has been dying to try the Purple Pie Place. We decided we would have desert before dinner tonight. But once we entered the shop, we saw they also had delicious looking Chicken Pot pies, so we got dinner also. David got the strawberry-Rhubarb pie alamode and Leslie got the Raspberry-Rhubarb-Jalapeno pie. Both the desert pies and the Chicken Pot pies were fantastic. If you are ever in Custer, we strongly recommend you visit the Purple Pie Place.
The Purple Pie Place was of course painted purple. It looked like the kind of place parents might book a child’s birthday party. There was lots of pie and ice cream. Leslie truly thought David may have been out in the sun too long, but She gave him credit as he hit a home run with this one! It was a great way to top off a great day.
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