North Dakota/South Dakota trip

An old friend contacted me last summer and said he was coming out for a football game that he goes to every year and that when he does, he tries to visit two or three states he hasn't visited before.  He said he was coming to Montana and wanted to travel to North and South Dakota.  We discussed him staying with me when he came to Billings and that we could travel together to North and South Dakota.  In October he arrived and we went on an interesting journey.

Our first stop was in North Dakota at the Teddy Roosevelt National Park.  It was very scenic and we got to see spectacular views and many animals. Like this Prairie Dog.  There were many Prairie Dog towns in the park. (10/28/2019)

Prairie Dogs were nearly invisible at the entrance to their holes.  (10/28/2017)

We saw many sandstone bluffs, here with a herd of bison in the foreground. (10/28/2017)

Many of the bison were close enough to get fairly good close up shots. (10/28/2017)

The national park offered many very interesting landscapes.(10/28/2017)

This was late afternoon when we were checking out this vast area of ridges and canyons. (10/28/2017)

The next day we drove to South Dakota and in Belle Foursche we arrived at the center of the United States which has a compass marker where the center would be.  Doesn't seem right you say, well think about it.  When you look at the Hawaiian Islands and Alaska it really skews where the center is located. (10/29/2017)

After visiting the center of the US we journeyed south and stayed in Deadwood.  This is the area that gold was found when Custer came to the Black Hills.  I read an interesting account of that mission and a quote from the book was:  "Bierce (author Ambrose Bierce) crafted an acerbic definition for his Devil's Dictionary: 'Gold, n. A yellow metal greatly prized for its convenience in the various kinds of robbery known as trade. The word was formerly spelled 'God"  --  the l was inserted to distinguish it from the name of another inferior deity.'" (The Black Hills & the Indians: A haven of our hopes by Martin Luschei, 2007, Niobrara Press, San Luis Obispo, CA. p. 102). (10/29/2017)

The grave of Wild Bill Hickok.  He died two months after Custer - note the inscription "Custer was lonely without him". (10/29/2017)

In the saloon where Hickok died is this tribute to his famous "Dead Man's Hand"  (aces and eights). (10/29/2017)

Returning from Deadwood, still in the Black Hills we visited Devil's Tower a sacred mountain to the Sioux. (10/30/2017)

As we got closer, details began to stand out. (10/30/2017)

Final photo taken from the Visiter's center.  Many people will remember Devil's Tower from the Movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. (10/30/2017)