Today we toured a pioneer house made of wood and sod. The homesteaders were given 160 acres and had to build a 10x12 structure within 5 years (took them awhile to specify feet, some in the beginning did it in inches). They could pay $5 an acre to own it within 6 months. That acreage sounds like a lot but the soil was not conducive to crops and cattle would need 10 times more acreage to graze than back east because the grasses were so dry. Most folks didn't last the 5 years. Then we went to the Badlands, which were totally amazing. There is some wildlife but seems like a hard place to survive.
We had lunch at Wall Drug which is in the middle of nowhere but has signs all over the West saying how many miles to them. Their marketing gimmick was free ice water and 5 cents for coffee. It is now a huge tourist mecca selling everything from moccasins and cowboy boots to Black Hills gold jewelry. On the way back to Keystone we stopped off at Ellsworth Air Force Base to look at over 70 years of airplanes including the B-1 stealth bomber, WWII B-29, and C-130 cargo plane. They also had a Minuteman I missile which had a range of 8,000 miles and carried a nuclear warhead.
In the evening, Stephen Yellowhawk talked with us and shared some singing and dancing. He was born on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation and raised in Rapid City by his grandparents. He now works for a Wellness Center providing support to Native American diabetic patients and is president of the Black Hills Powwow Association. Below are some pics.
 |
| Sim and I in front of a prairie homestead house |
 |
| Badlands |
 |
| Badlands |
 |
| Badlands (yellow rock) |
 |
Stephen Yellowhawk, Lakota Native
|
