Prairie Land



Sun flowers are wide spread throughout the prairies



We left Donn’s place early as she prepared for work and after a restful 5 days of eating, drinking and catching up we headed for the US border. Manitoba is central in the North American continent and 2hrs ahead of LA, so after losing time coming east we could now slowly start to pick it up again as we headed southwest.

 

A coyote caught prowling through the wheat fields, he quickly fled

A Pronghorn Antelope caught unawares these animals are the fastest in the western hemisphere second only to the cheetah in the whole world



And a close up thank you



 

We crossed into Minnesota at an isolated crossing point without any hassles, and quickly turned westward into North Dakota. Minnesota is renowned for its gun happy law enforcers, having just recently shot an Aussie woman who was seeking assistance. Shoot first, ask questions later, certainly applies here in this state.

A Mourning Dove found cooing for peace and harmony

After miles of prairie farmland and not a single rest area we found a small wildlife refuge a mile off the highway. The refuge was an experimental forest and was looked after by a lonely caretaker who never stopped talking. She was full of info and allowed us to camp the night for free. The refuge had an amazing number of tree and plant varieties as we found out the following morning while we hiked the 3 mile trail.

A House Finch with noice plumage

A Western Kingbird perched high up searching for insects

We left late in the day and intended to stop the night at Walmart in the next large town called Minot. Just after arriving we were abused by a woman who had more metal attached to her face than skin when we entered Walmart the wrong way (in her opinion). We tried to explain but were told to get back to Montana and stay there, BITCH!! Didn’t have the heart to tell her we were Aussie, and didn’t even come from Montana.

 



Even this guy would have been intimidated by the "Sheila from Nodak"



We moved on to the next Walmart 130 mile further west which was very accommodating with wider lanes, larger carpark and no stroppy sheilas. You have to be careful here in these states as everybody totes a gun and their not shy to use it. It’s their constitutional right to bear arms and they do!! It’s total madness, but hey it’s their country.

 



No one argues with these guys when they are in a group, it took nearly 30 minutes to get passed as they strolled along the road



Our next stop was Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Northern Section, which is considered a “Badlands” area but in fact is a very scenic valley along the Little Missouri River. Theodore Roosevelt was one of the great Presidents of America. He lived in this valley as a rancher before his presidency. After a tragic period in his life where he lost his wife while she was giving birth to their first child and on the very same day, earlier in the morning he lost his mother to Typhoid Fever. He headed west to this location and ran cattle. He said this place gave him the strength to return east and start again.

The Maltese Cross Cabin where Theodore Roosevelt lived at his ranch, very humble indeed

The canyon here is cut by the Little Missouri River over millions of years and drops away from the flat upper prairies

Looking down into the valley

Looking south from the observation hut shown above

And east along the valley

I could go on and on for ages about the forward thinking Roosevelt and his achievements during his life and presidency but we came here to view the scenery, which was spectacular and the critters which were numerous especially the little prairie dogs.

A very fat black tailed prairie dog giving warning to neighbours that humans approach



Neighbours seeking protection after the call. They live in family groups within what are commonly called Prairie Dog Towns

WOW is that a prairie dog down there, the dogs watch in awe as the hawk's sweep down on their neighbours



Keep away or else

Cute bunnies like this one will steal a prairie dog's burrow and call it home

Further south and still part of the Little Missouri River valley the South section of the TRNP is another “Badlands” region. The Badlands are named such for many reasons but mainly because the area is considered unusable and dangerous to be in. Temps are very high in the multitude of small canyons where one can easily get lost. They were created by erosion during the last Ice age 15,000 ago as the Missouri River was the toe of the continental glaciation which spread down from Canada.

The Painted Canyon in the South Section

We continued south into South Dakota to a town called Spearfish which we thought would be nice to visit. It’s just north of the Black Hills, a spectacular area of colourful mountains and valleys. We had to share the area with approx. 1 million bikers from all over the continent, who were here for an annual rally which has been a yearly event for many years.

Peace and solitude for a few hours getting away from the droning bikes in Black Hills

Big bikes everywhere

The rally centre was the adjacent town of Sturgis and had been going for 10 days, due to conclude the weekend we arrived. We had no idea this event was taking place and were amazed by the numbers attending and driving around the roads. The valleys were deafening with the roar of Harley’s, a favoured bike here in the US and rode mainly by granddads re-living their childhood.



We ended up by chance in the main street of Sturgis on Saturday afternoon looking for propane and found the town packed

The Black Hills has a checked history and was home to famous people like Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane who lived and died in Deadwood, Bill being shot in the back of the head while playing poker at a local saloon. Behaviour the bikers here could probably relate to, and wished the old times still existed. The cowboys of yesteryear are now the modern day biker.

Deadwood USA version of Dawson City

 

One of the modern saloons of Deadwood, very much a tourist town now

The area was deeded by treaty to the local Lakota (Sioux) Indian tribe as being considered worthless by the whites until gold was discovered by illegal prospectors, led by Lieutenant Colonel George Custer. Custer and his (US representatives) drove the Indians away from the hills by force sending most to a reservation in the desert.

 

 

Pactola Reservoir in the Black Hills another beautiful place to behold

Custer was eventually killed in the Battle of the Bighorn in neighbouring Montana. The Sioux Indians were actually a number of different tribes which grouped together to fight the injustice. Even today the fight continues as the Federal Government has offered financial compensation which the Indians have refused, insisting on a return of the sacred Black Hills.

Mount Rushmore lies in the middle of the Black Hills and was carved using dynamite, it's a feel good monument for many American people and it does idolise the best 4 presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln

A couple of mile away a monument of defiance is partly constructed, it will portray Crazy Horse the famous warrior

The final carved image will be much bigger than Mt Rushmore

Just south of the Black Hills at Hot Springs we stopped at an active archaeological dig called the Mammoth Site. It is now enclosed within a building and has exposed 61 complete mammoth skeletons including tusks. The hill was intended for a residential development but when the site was cleared it became evident that there was much below.

The Mammoth came in a number of varieties, this one was the smooth skinned Columbian Mammoth, it was the largest being 1.25 times the size of a modern African Elephant with tusks 4m long

This skeleton gives a good indication of its size

Mostly males were found in the dig so far

 

A jumble of bones but the diggers can show how each animal probably died and fell

This is a mammoth tooth and it's about 300mm long

About 26,000 years ago mega fauna inhabited the region and at this location a spring created a steep sided basin where many animals fell in while drinking and couldn’t escape the mud and so drowned. This occurrence continued for about 700 years until the spring dried up and filled with sediment. They are not considered fossils as they have not mineralised, but rather preserved by the clay and course sand.

This skeleton of a Giant Short Nosed Bear was also found and was twice the size of a modern grizzly

But just as aggressive, not like the cute ones we saw

Early man used the bones of hunted mammoth to build shelters, like this one, some large shelters were discovered with over 100 mammoth upper jaws. This may explain their extinction

We headed back northeast to Rapid City for some more supplies and then east to the South Dakota Badlands National Park. Similar to the Badlands in North Dakota but on a much grander scale, covering many miles and indeed extremely hostile to those not accustomed to the area.

The Badland's hills are like a painted sculpture

Very little grows in this region

 



The colouration is very distinct and represents different rock types, the yellow is 50 million years old



We entered from the east end and emerged back at the west end after a night at the free campground and a horrendous thunderstorm with intense lightning strikes, a scary place to be. The corrugated gravel access road through the park didn’t help matters either, as we again had to make repairs to loose fittings shaken to the point of destruction.



Carved out by wind and rain over millennium

This baby bighorn sheep is surviving well enough

The owner arrived back at camp after dark with a very puzzled look discovering his tent missing as it blew away during the storm

We headed south towards Nebraska through the southern section of the national park and stopped at a small town called Wounded Knee which was the site where the Sioux Indians led by Chief Sitting Bull eventually surrendered to the US Army. The army massacred 200 warriors, woman and children, and became famous as the Wounded Knee Massacre. Again paranoia by the US Army caused the death of many people.

South Badlands, same same but different

The reservation is called Pine Ridge (despite very few pine trees) and is home to the surviving relatives of those early tribes. We were offered a selection of trinkets from three locals and bought one from each, it is so sad to see grown men reduced to this when their ancestors who once were warriors, men of honour and proud to be the guardians of these lands. We didn’t photograph the three guys as a sign of respect. The trinkets were genuine Indian made and not from China, as we were repeatedly informed, and could be taken on the big silver bird.

The Native Indian's try to survive in this harsh environment the best they can

The drive through Nebraska was uneventful as the western side of this state is all farmland and very productive. It’s a credit to the farmers who have returned the land from destruction when in the 1930’s the whole of the prairie was over grazed and considered a dust bowl. Careful management has proven its worth as the crops and cattle look very healthy despite the limited water supplies.

Nebraska doesn't offer much so they created this "Car Henge"

Across the border into Colorado and this time it is the eastern side of the state that is prairie farmland and again very healthy. We stop up for a couple of days in Fort Collins a farm town modernised overnight into a city, the highways are wide but the suburban streets and carparks are a nightmare for us and the motorhome.

Colorado is one forward thinking state, the turbines stretched as far as the eye could see in both direction along this border ridge

Who said the wind doesn't always blow, well here it does and from the same direction

Solar cells soaking up the rays all these small facilities help

We are at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and at the end of our prairie run.

 Bye For Now



Beers and Cheers from Donn's with a delicious Moose Eye (beer mixed with Clamato juice)

 

J&J