South Dakota

by John Graham

There was no map for sale in any Colorado or Wyoming gas station at which we called. There were maps from Kansas to Idaho, from Colorado to Montana, but none of South Dakota. Even the map of the Western States ended in Wyoming and the Central States were missing.

When we reached what should have been the border of South Dakota, just past Lusk, Wyoming, despite a change in road surface there was no sign for South Dakota. It was as if the state had taken the day off or had been cancelled for the weekend. We even considered at one point that it might have been annexed by Nebraska.

Still the scenery made up for the lack of a definite state as we drove north towards Custer. It is lovely green rolling countryside with excellent roads that made up for the slight concern that we might be reaching North Dakota if the South had gone for the day.

However, Custer did exist and so did Custer Mansion although the Yahoo maps placed it a few miles away on the wrong road. It is a historic building and the largest in town so there is really no missing it. In times past it has been used as a private residence and as a church. It has two sets of stairs and so it is very private.

Custer Mansion is now a Bed and Breakfast establishment run by Patricia and Robert Meakim, hosts par excellence. We arrived a little early but no matter. We were welcomed and sat down for a refreshing drink and a chat. We found that our hosts, qualified in electricity and nursing, were also qualified in being humorous and very likeable friends. The facilities are excellent and if I had one grumble it is that breakfasts were a bit too large. They were also delicious so nothing could be left.

Custer is small, with less than 1900 population. Being very close to the Crazy Horse monument (4 miles), it specializes in tourist eating and sleeping establishments but it lacks the brashness and Disney-world atmosphere of Keystone, the town closest to Mount Rushmore. It also is home of the Purple Pie … a small restaurant specializing in rhubarb pie and ice cream. Mmmmh!

Mount Rushmore was our target. I had visited 30 years before when the facilities were the artist’s studio and a trail through the woods … now it was my wife’s turn to be awed. We were both in for a few surprises.

I had imagined that the carving of four Presidents was the product of a dedicated and lonely man who made it his whole life’s work and left his son, Lincoln, to follow in his footsteps. I was wrong.
My wife had imagined that it was so large as to be inspirational. It was not. In fact my wife’s first words were. “I thought it was bigger.” 

We learnt several things:

• Guston Borglum was not the first choice as sculptor although he had good qualifications, being a pupil of Rodin. The eventual design was in the spirit his Confederate Monument at Stone Mountain, Georgia. Borglum conceived and constructed the scale model images for Mount Rushmore, and then supervised the work. However, 400 laborers did all the rock carving -- while Borglum fought with the budget manager over costs.

• The US government has, in the last decade, constructed an enormous multi-level parking lot, auditoriums, bookshops, a restaurant, and an entry worthy of the Taj Mahal -- all extolling America, Americanism and the fifty States. The jingoistic additions have reduced the carving of the four heads in size by comparison and diminished the site in value by making it just another Washington monument.

• The US government has evaded the use of US National Park or Golden Age Passes by charging only a parking access fee of $8.00

We came away feeling that the whole thing -- an advertising gimmick in the first place -- was a sham, and that by making the memorial a symbol of “American values” the government has lessened its importance as a mere political symbol.

Nevertheless, the carving is technically intriguing.

An eye consists of a white, an iris, and a reflective highlight. The carved highlight is a horizontal pedestal of rock in a hollow, which is seen as the iris. The eye is the size of a man as can be seen by these pictures of Abe Lincoln’s eye being carved and the eye as it is today.

There are other equally interesting facets in the carving such as Roosevelt’s spectacles and Lincoln’s half finished hand. Stay focused on the rock.After Rushmore, a visit to the Badlands, an expanse of almost impenetrable rock formations and spires, seemed appropriate. Unfortunately, this like South Dakota itself had disappeared. A three-hour drive along routes 40 and 2, most of which were “under repair” as seas of deep gravel, eventually destroyed our ambition of finding the southern visitors’ center. The lack of road signs and numbers fitted a state that had disappeared for the day. Fortunately the scenery along the way {Place picture was worth the drive. If you really want to see the Badlands you can drive out on the super-highway from Rapid City and make a loop through the park.

We had kept the morning of the following day, our last of the weekend, to see the Crazy Horse monument. However, we found that what was left of South Dakota had been covered in a low cloud so dense that we couldn’t even see the mountain base let along the carved statue of an Indian. That was unfortunate because this statue is more imposing that Mount Rushmore because the government has not “improved” it.

We could not stop for the annual “Run to the Arm,” which allows locals to participate in the Crazy Horse monument, but given the chance I would return to see the park one day without the cloud.
Thus thwarted we headed back south through Nebraska to Colorado in heavy rain all the way.
We still don’t believe that South Dakota really exists. From what little we saw it has been turned into a appendix to Washington, DC.

Nevertheless if you have to investigate, we recommend staying with Pat and Bob Meakim at the Custer Mansion. They at least are real.

South Dakota and the State’s Bed and Breakfast The Custer Mansion

Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse