A day with the animals

Rushmore and Crazy Horse

PSYCHE!!! No, George W. Bush has not been added to Mount Rushmore. These three busts were at a roadside stop on the way the granite wall with Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln.

This is what we know and see today

This is what was planned, however due to the fact that the type of rock changed, Mount Rushmore was left without the neck and chests being finished.

Mount Rushmore is iconic. The Black Hills, considered sacred by the Lakota, were left to the Native Americans in the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie. However, when gold was found in the Black Hills, the Americans wrested back the area in the Black Hills War. The Battle of Little Bighorn was one in an ongoing battle the Native Americans had with settlers and the American goverment. The carving of Rushmore was started with congressional funding in 1927 and was finished in 1941.

After 60 years, this is what has been finished of the Crazy Horse Monument. The white line outlines what will be the head and the hole will be increased in size to become the space between the arm and to horse.

In a direct response to the glorification of these American presidents, the Lakota Sioux commissioned the building of an even larger monument honoring all Native Americans by carving a HUGE representation of Crazy Horse riding a horse. In direct contrast to the federal funding given to create Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse monument relies solely on private funds ($10 a person to enter the complex even though you can see it from outside the gates, which makes it an INTERESTING example of the concept of public goods in Economics). The work is carried on primarily by the Ziolkowski family, mostly the sons and daughters of the original sculptor.

The ultimate goal is to have a huge complex for Native American housing, a museum as well as a Medical School to train Native American doctors. My guess however, is that this isn't going to happen in my lifetime.

Two George's

The drive from Billings, MT through southeastern Montana right by Little Bighorn, the site of the George Custer's Last Stand. In the context of American history it was the the Native American's winning the battle against the manifest destiny mindset of the United States government, but as we all know, the Native American's ultimately lost "the war" and their way of life is now confined to reservations across the United States.

The headstones where Custer's men perished while battling the Lakota. (Yeah, they died trying the grab this piece of real estate!)

The Monument in honor of Custer and the 7th Cavalry as created by the United States Government

In 1991, the first President Bush signed a bill allowing the Native Americans to have their own monument be built here at the Little Bighorn. This is what they chose to create.

The site also is the location of a National Military Cemetery. These headstones mark the location of many of the young men, and their families, from the region who perished as a member of our military.

George Mickleson is the second George of this post. He was the Governor of the state of South Dakota from 1987 until his death in a plane crash in 1993. He was a driving force behind turning an abandoned railway in the Black Hills into a 109 biking trail that has its northern terminus in Deadwood and Edgemont in the South. I rented a bike in the middle in the town of Hill City and biked 34 miles round trip. As you can see from the photos, the surface is crushed gravel. There are many wooden bridges that have been restored, but the highlight is biking through the tunnels that the trains used to travel through. It's spooky to be in this dark, damp tunnel and then moments later blinded by the sunlight.

The Black Hills of western South Dakota

Geologic History of the Black Hills

The George Mickleson Bike Trail

Peter S. this one is for you!!

Bull Riding

No, I didn't actually ride a bull. But, continuing my attendance at Montana fairs, I attended the Montana State Fair in Billings to watch professional bull riding. I did learn that these men have to stay on the bull for a certain amount of time before they get a score. How that score is determined, I have absolutely NO CLUE. I do have to admit that when a rider stayed on the bull more than a couple seconds there was a magical buzz that filled the arena. In addition, each bull had a completely different personality and which bull a rider drew was a significant determinant of their overall success.

The lighting in the arena was difficult to take pictures in therefore the quality of photos are pretty bad, but they convey the sense of the action.

The people of Montana are quite proud of being American's and always make comments about the men serving our country in foreign wars.

Each rodeo apparently has a clown which provides entertainment. This Michael Phelps look-a-like I found funny until he made a horrific Brokeback Mountain crack that drew silence from the crowd. Did they not understand the reference or did the crowd also not find the joke worthy of response? My bet is the latter.

Beartooth Pass

Southwest of Billings, MT runs Montana State Highway 212, or more commonly known as Beartooth Pass Road, a spectacular road that links Billings to Yellowstone National Park. Keith took a work day here in Billings, so I drove up to the top of the pass, which is located ABOVE treeline at 10,947 feet above sea level. Again, I'll let the pictures do the talking.

The New California

I remember when I was younger, even up to just a couple years ago, it used to seem when you were on a road trip, there were cars with California plates everywhere. Perhaps it was due to the sheer number of California residents but it always seemed that it was a California plated car that filled the parking lots. Car driving like they own the road? California.

However, on this trip, those plates are now replaced by cars from the state of Washington? Being a native of Washington state, I used to get so excited when I saw a plate with plates from Washington. Now? Get those things out of my sight.

A Long Time Obsession

Written by one of Montana's favorite authors, its native son, Norman MacLean

About a decade ago, I read the above book, and like many people, for some reason, became obsessed with the story of 13 young men who lost their lives in 1949 in Mann Gulch about 20 miles north of Helena, MT. These were smoke jumpers, just three years after the inception of the program, who jumped out of a plane around 4PM one August afternoon and by 5:45PM were dead because the fire overtook them as they ran up the slope trying to escape the fire. 3 men survived, two because they actually managed to outrun the fire and 1 man, who because he set a fire in front of him, and thereby denied fuel to the Mann Gulch fire itself, survived. Because of this tragedy, fire science was made a priority and a research lab, such as the one I visited in Missoula, came to be.

Mann Gulch is located on the Missouri River in an area called Gates of the Mountains. This gorge was named by Lewis and Clark during their Corps of Discovery. They say these high walls and believed them to be the "gates" to the Rocky Mountains. I boarded a tour boat and went on a two hour ride into the Gates of the Mountains.

At the downstream end (Northern end) of the Gates, on the East side is Mann Gulch. A one and a half mile hike from the sign takes one to the two headstones and crosses that mark the location of where the majority of these men perished. The thirteenth is near the top of the Northern ridge line where one of the men nearly outran the fire. Only one of the three remaining survivors of the Mann Gulch tragedy still lives.

A sign commemorating the historic event/tragedy that happened on this site

Looking here at the Southern slope where the fire started due to lightning. The gulch takes a dogleg to the left and when the fire jumped from one side of the gulch to the other, it was the beginning of the end.

Looking here at the Northern slope of Mann Gulch. Although this is nearer to the river, the steepness of the ridge here is also what is found further up the gulch similar conditions upon which the men ran.

The names of the thirteen who died in the Mann Gulch fire.