Today was a day to acknowledge past heroes and celebrities as we started the day wandering around Deadwood, South Dakota's famous Boot Hill Cemetery (photos 1 & 2). Actually the official name for the cemetery is Mt. Moriah Cemetery but is usually referred to as Boot Hill by the local people and in the literature. The reason we wanted to see Boot Hill was because of some of the more colorful residents buried there, the most famous of those being "Wild Bill" Hickok, who was shot in the back of the head by a local thug, Jack McCall. Because the code of the west required a man-to-man gunfight in the middle of the street, Mr. McCall elected to sneak up behind Wild Bill and shoot him from behind while Hickok was playing poker (photo 3). His last hand, Aces and eights, is still known as the Dead Man's Hand, by poker players. The tombstone, or monument, you see there now was not the one that was originally erected on his grave. That original one was made of wood and put up by his friend, "Colorado Charlie" Utter (photo 4). This photo is of a replica of that original.

Wild Bill's name was actually James Butler Hickok and he was a colorful character who worked as a marshal, an Army scout and numerous other tasks, which called for a fast gun. For some reason, nobody ever called him Wild Butt instead of Wild Bill, go figure. Since Wild Bill is by far the most famous of the residents of Boot Hill, it teaches us that if we get shot in the head while playing poker, we can become famous and people will climb around the hills in the hot sun to see where we are buried. I'm starting poker lessons when I get back home.

Another well know celebrity buried in Deadwood was Martha "Calamity Jane" Canary (photo 5), who worked on a bull train, performed in a Wild West show, and was also a prostitute, from time to time. If you've ever seen Calamity Jane, you realize just how hard up men in Deadwood were. This lady was ugly.

Anyway, this is a nice little cemetery located high above the town of Deadwood, tucked into the surrounding pine trees, and filled with character (photo 6). Most modern day cemeteries have flat head stones and all pretty much look alike. Not Boot Hill. You take one look at the headstones and you know who had the cash and who didn't. For example, Preacher Smith (photo 7), the first Methodist minister in town, did all right by the town folks and they did all right by him. People of the time took little notice of the death of "Wild Bill" but were ticked about Preacher Smith being killed by Indians and actually put a bounty on Indians for a while. I found it an interesting way to spend an hour.

After walking around the cemetery for a while, we went downtown to find Saloon #10, where the dastardly deed was done to Wild Bill, but had a hard time finding a parking place. Now I enjoy a bit of gore as well as the next fellow, but I hate to wait for it. Since I don't like a lot of hassle, and finding a parking place was beginning to become a hassle, we decided to catch it next time and headed south on SR 385 to see the Crazy Horse monument being carved in the Black Hills.

Now I'm beginning to see the attraction of Sturgis. I'm not sure it's Sturgis itself, although it may well be, but I do know that the surrounding countryside is truly great motorcycle riding country. Within an easy day's ride, you can see Mt. Rushmore, the Crazy Horse monument, several caves, caverns, and lakes (photo 8), and there all connected by some very scenic roadways. What more could you ask for. Well, maybe less people on the highways but if you really want that, go early like we did.

A short hour later, we pull into the Crazy Horse Memorial honoring all Native American tribes in America. For a very reasonable $4.00 entrance fee, per person, there is some excellent parking located just a short walk away from a very extensive visitors center (photo 9 & 10). The first thing they like you to do is see a twenty-minute "orientation" film about the Memorial. That's because they want you to learn that there is no government money coming in to support the carving of Crazy Horse and the Indian Educational Center. That way you may be more inclined to give willingly. It worked on me. I found ways to give a little extra. I believe in this project.

When you learn that 85% of the funding for this project comes from admission fees and sales of items in the center, you know why they want you to spend while you're there. They have been offered $10 million in government funding and they turned it down because Korczak Ziolkowski, the original sculptor believed that the government would not complete the project and would alter the original concept of making this a place for Indian culture and education. I have to think he was probably right, but it makes it a slow way to carve a mountain when you do it on the cheap. The original work started in 1948 with Korczak working alone. That's over 50 years to get to this point. Compare that to Mt. Rushmore, which was funded and supported by the federal government and was completed in a mere 14 years.

I have included a series of pictures of the mountain, various displays in the American Indian Museum, carving of models by Korczak Ziolkowski, an Indian dancer, and a sculpture of two fighting horses (photos 11 to 19). As you can see, there's a lot to see and do here.

After several hours of walking, combined with a brief lunch at the center café, we left Crazy Horse and headed off to see Mt. Rushmore. We took SR 385 to SR 244, which took us up the mountain. The quality of the scenery was just outstanding. Mr. Rushmore is approximately 20 miles from Crazy Horse, and about nine miles off SR 385. You pass a small, scenic lake on your right as you approach the top of the mountain and there in front of you is a large entrance complex. Our National Parks Pass covered our entrance fee, but we still had to cough up another eight bucks for parking.

Linda and I were here around 1983 and boy has the place changed. Now, there's a huge, multi-level parking lot with elevators. Then there's the entrance, a large granite structure, just up a series of granite stairs (photo 20). Then you traverse through the States Flags walk, which has the names and dates of admission for all the 50 states. I took Linda's picture in front of the Washington State exhibit, since we may end up there in the future (photos 21 & 22). There was a bust of Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor of Mt. Rushmore, created by his son (photo 23). The son obviously inherited some of his father's talent. Then on each side of the Viewing Terrace were a gift shop and cafeteria, both made of the same marble or granite material (photo 24).

Speaking of the Viewing Terrace, seeing those four magnificent carved heads was the purpose of this trip in the first place. I have included two views, one from a distance showing the entire mountain, and the other close up of just the heads (photos 25 & 26). Looking at these 60-foot high faces, one almost forgets that they will fit into the head and war bonnet of the Crazy Horse Memorial when it is completed. That will not take away from the fine job Broglum did of these four Presidents. By the way, the monument you see before you is not what Broglum originally planned. The four presidents were originally going to be three and they were going to be standing (photo 27).

I enjoyed both monuments but there is no doubt that Mt. Rushmore is more formal and official feeling than the Crazy Horse Memorial. The whole complex at the Crazy Horse Memorial is made of knotty pine, how much more warm and inviting can that be. It's like visiting a mountain cabin. There are workers at Crazy Horse; there are rangers at Mt. Rushmore. They are both great places to visit, just different.

It was hot and getting late in the day so we saddled up and headed for the small town of Custer, where we got a room for the night. Long day but interesting and riding through the Black Hills has been a real pleasure (photo 28). Tomorrow I think we may visit some caves. We'll see.

Today's Route: SR 385 south to the Crazy Horse Memorial. Back north to SR 244 east to Mt. Rushmore. SR 385 south to Custer.