Special Places To Visit: Virginia City & Nevada City Montana

   A short drive out of West Yellowstone Montana and through the very scenic Madison River valley will take you to Virginia City and Nevada City.  Virginia City is a very nice town that has embraced its history really well by keeping the historical buildings restored and providing a lot of opportunities to see some great museum items.  They have a town museum and a working train station.  The town gives guided tours enabling the tourists to hear about the town's past and some of the more violent incidences.  There are great places to eat and shop in Virginia City.  Just a mile down the road is one of the best ghost towns you will see, Nevada City.  You can take the train out of Virginia City, which I recommend, or you can just drive the mile or so and park in Nevada City.  The buildings in Nevada City are very well preserved and they have one of the best music boxes, player pianos and calliopes collection you will ever see.  Many of the buildings are original to Nevada City but others have been brought into the town to be preserved.  Some were used by movie studios and some even came from Yellowstone. One of the most interesting buildings is the two story hotel with a two story outhouse.  You have just got to see that.

A little history on Virginia City and Nevada City from their web site:

Virginia City and Nevada City lie along Alder Gulch, the site of the richest placer gold strike in the Rocky Mountains with an estimated total value of 100 million dollars throughout the 18th and 19th century. In the early 1860s, during the first three seasons, an estimated $30 million worth of gold was removed from the gulch. In the following years, gold was extracted from placer as well as lode mines.

 

From 1848 through the 1860s Alder Gulch was part of a broad expansion of mining from California into many parts of Western North America. The western gold rushes of the 1860s led Congress to create five new territories. Experienced miners traveled to the successive mining frontiers, bringing with them mining technology and social traditions.  Alder Gulch was in Idaho Territory until May 1864, when the Montana Territory was created. Bannack was the site of the first placer gold strike within the Montana territory in 1862 and shortly thereafter became the first territorial capital.

 

Today, Virginia City is considered the best preserved example of the many placer mining camps that flourished during the 1860s throughout the Rocky Mountain West. It provides an exceptional sample of commercial architecture of the mid-nineteenth century. The greatest concentration of historic buildings dates to the 1870s, but some of the buildings' later modifications also have historical significance. Virginia City today has approximately 150 year-round residents and about 300 summer residents. It sits at an elevation of 5,680 feet, in a bowl along the edge of Alder Gulch. Approximately 500,000 visitors come through Virginia City annually.

 

Today, Nevada City stands as an outdoor historical museum, with numerous historic buildings, artifacts, and furnishings. Owned by the State of Montana and operated by the Montana Heritage Commission, the old townsite provides more than 90 historic buildings from various places around Montana, original Nevada City structures and re-created buildings.

 

 

Special Places To Visit: Shoshone Lake in Yellowstone

   Yellowstone has many many great sites to visit, but after working in the park for several years I found that Shoshone Lake is my favorite.  Why would a lake be a special place you may ask?  Well this lake is the second largest lake in Yellowstone National Park.  This lake is the largest fresh water lake in the U.S. not accessible by a vehicle. There are no motor boats allowed on the lake.  That means the only way to see this lake is to get out the hiking boots or canoe in via the Lewis Channel.  I have gotten to this lake via the DeLacy Trail, The Dogshead Trail and the Lewis River Channel Trail.  All the hikes were very pretty.  The  DeLacy Trail is a hike of about 3 miles to get to the lake.  The Dogshead Trail is about 5 miles to the lake.  The Lewis River Channel Trail is about 6 miles to the lake.  The reason I think this is a special place is that it is very peaceful and very quiet.  You get away from the massive tourists in Yellowstone for awhile and just take in the great views.  When your feet get tired you can just sit next to the lake and soak them in the cool water.

From the NPS web site:

Shoshone Lake is 205 feet (62.5 m) at its maximum depth, has an area of 8,050 acres (3,258 ha), and contains lake trout, brown trout, and Utah chubs. Originally, Shoshone Lake was barren of fish owing to waterfalls on the Lewis River. The two types of trout were planted beginning in 1890, and the Utah chub was apparently introduced by bait fishermen. This large lake is the source of the Lewis River, which flows to the Pacific Ocean via the Snake River system. The US Fish and Wildlife Service believes that Shoshone Lake may be the largest lake in the lower 48 states that cannot be reached by road. No motorboats are allowed on the lake.

  After several long shifts of working with the tourists in the park, I enjoyed hiking to the lake just to get away and breath.

Special Places To Visit: Royal Gorge Bridge

   On a vacation to Colorado, Cathy and I bought tickets for a lunch train ride through the Royal Gorge.  The gorge can be visited just outside Canon City Colorado. The train ride was fantastic and the ability to move about the train was great.  We were able to have a comfortable seat for lunch and then move to an open air car to take pictures as we traveled through the gorge.  I highly recommend the train, but the special place for this blog is the Suspension bridge over the gorge and the Arkansas River.

   955 feet above the Arkansas River is one of the greatest bridges you can walk across.  The bridge spans 880 feet across and was once the largest suspension bridge in the world. As you walk across it's wooden slats you will be able to spy boats and things on the river between the spaces in the slats.  This makes a lot of people really nervous walking across the bridge and in my opinion makes people watching very funny.  I could not believe how many people were very nervous just walking across the bridge.  Some grown men even stopped part of the way across and went back, as they chickened out.

 

   For those who make it across the views are fantastic.  If you want further adventure you can also zip line across the gorge or take a tram.  The views from the bridge and from both sides are unbelievable.  I would highly recommend this tourist attraction to any person not afraid of heights.  If you are afraid of heights then I say "Get over it marshmallow!"

Special Places To Visit: The North Rim of the Grand Canyon

  I know what your thinking, "How can the Grand Canyon be special?" Well this is the north rim.  Every time I visited the Grand Canyon, it was the south rim.  As that seems to be the place that gets all the press.  Well one vacation Cathy and I decided to go see the view from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  The real treat was not the view of the canyon from an new perspective, but the drive to get there.  The route we took was out of Tuba City Arizona on Highway 160, then north on Highway 89, then north on Highway 89A, then south on Highway 67 to the North Rim. This route provides great scenic views as you pass through Indian reservations and desert areas.  This route also takes you to the Navajo Bridge.  This is a great bridge and provides a wonderful view 467 feet over the Colorado River.

From the NPS web site:

The Historic Bridge

   In the 1870s, pioneers from Utah began to expand their settlements into northern Arizona. Nearly 600 miles (965 km) of deep canyons along the Colorado River stood in their way. One of the only places a wagon could reach the river from both north and south was at the mouth of Glen Canyon. Since the area was accessible and was a natural corridor between Utah and Arizona, a ferry was established there in 1873. Named after the first ferry operator, John D. Lee, Lees Ferry became an important route for pioneers, settlers and local traffic. In the 1920s, automobiles began using the ferry as a means to cross the Colorado River. It was recognized that it was time to find a safer, more reliable way for vehicles to cross. A bridge site was selected 5 miles (8km) downriver at Marble Canyon. Construction of the bridge began in June of 1927. This was rugged and remote country and it was difficult to get men, materials and equipment from one rim to the other, a distance of only 800 feet (244m). The ferry was used to transport materials when possible. However, on June 7, 1928, the ferry sank in an accident which killed three men. Since the bridge known then as Grand Canyon Bridge was nearing completion, the ferry was not replaced.

So, for the next several months, no direct route existed between Utah and Arizona. People had to travel 800 miles (1287km) around the canyon to reach the other side of the river. It was an historic day when, on January 12, 1929, the bridge was opened to traffic. At the time, it was the highest steel arch bridge in the world and made traveling between Utah and Arizona much easier. No longer did travelers have to contend with the moods of the Colorado River at Lees Ferry. The dedication of the bridge took place June 14-15, 1929. For such an isolated spot, it was an astounding event. Nearly 7,000 people in 1,217 automobiles arrived for the celebration. Speeches were given by the governors of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah and by the President of the Mormon Church. Bands, choral groups, and Native American dancers were also a part of the festivities. It was reported that airplanes flew under the bridge and as Prohibition was in effect, the bridge was christened with a bottle of ginger ale. The bridge was known as the Grand Canyon Bridge for five years following the dedication. In 1934, after great debate in the Arizona legislature, the official name was changed to Navajo Bridge.

   Cathy and I stayed on the bridge quite some time to watch the several boats passing underneath.  Some of these inflatable boats had 35 people on them.  They paid a lot of money to travel down the Colorado and through the Grand Canyon.  A trip I would like to take one day.

  The views from the North Rim were very very nice and the change of climate from the south rim to the north rim is startling.  The North Rim gets a lot of snow in the winter which forces the park to close, as it is 8,000 feet in elevation.  According to the NPS web site the North Rim only gets about 10 percent of the tourists the South Rim does.  So if you like to get off the beaten path, which I have recommended several times, the North Rim is a good place to visit and maybe stay.  They have one lodge and one campground.
   If you ever feel really adventuresome,  hiking across the Grand Canyon from South Rim to North Rim is a total of 21 miles.  Hiking the 21 miles from the South Rim to the North Rim includes a 4,860 foot elevation loss from the South Rim to the Colorado River, followed by a 5,850 foot elevation gain from the river to the North Rim.  The oddity is that driving from the South Rim to the North Rim requires 4.5 hours and 220 miles of driving.

Special Places To Visit: Johnny Sack Cabin

   On one of my several excursions outside of Yellowstone, I happened to visit Big Springs and Johnny Sack's cabin.  The springs would have been sufficient to visit, but the fact that someone was wise enough to put a cabin on the springs was a very great surprise.  The springs are just that.  Fresh water comes up out of the ground in several places forming a pond and then the excess travel down a small river.  The water stays a constant 55 degrees year round and because of this the water attracts wildlife.  The pond has some very nice trout in it and ducks and other birds call it home.  On my very first trip to the springs I was taking a picture of the beautiful cabin when I was startled to see a mother moose and her young baby come walking down close to me and enter the pond.  It seems the moose like to feed on the plant life at the bottom of the pond.  So they just wade in and go to eating.  The amazing thing to me is how the water just shoots up from the ground and never stops.  It is as clear as glass and cold.  I am sure quite tasty too.  I walked around the pond and was heading to the cabin on the other side when I branched off the path and walked down to a tree.  At the base of the tree the water was just shooting out.  It seems that the spring and the tree had an symbiotic agreement.  The fact that the water seemed to be coming out of the roots of the tree was not hurting it a bit and the tree seemed strong and tall.
   Walking to the cabin I noticed that Johnny Sack had used the spring in a rather ingenious and pretty way.  He built a small building with a paddle wheel that was turned by the action of the springs shooting out of the ground.  The turning wheel generated power, with a line heading to the cabin.  I later found out that Johnny Sack really did not have any need for power until he found out about power wood tools and the water wheel generated power enough to light one light bulb in his cabin.

 From their web site:

In 1929, Johnny Sack leased a small tract of land from the United States Forest Service and began building his log cabin at Big Springs. Little did Johnny know when he first acquired the choice building site, his home would become a landmark one day discussed in the United States Congress.
Due to its unique location and picturesque setting, Johnny’s cabin and nearby water-wheel have long been one of the most photographed sites in Island Park. The cabin attracts thousands of visitors each summer interested in the log and stone structure as well as the building’s colorful creator.

The cabin is open to the public from mid-June through mid-September, and visitors are invited to visit and see firsthand the unique craftsmanship of one of Island Park’s early settlers. One of Johnny’s trademarks is the split bark decoration used in the cabin’s furniture and interior. He took great pride in detail work. One ceiling lamp, still hanging in its original location, contains seventy-two individual handcrafted pieces of wood. A double bed was made of ninety-six wood pieces which Johnny nailed and glued together. Today many of the individually crafted pieces of wood furniture Johnny created for his home remain in their original location. 

The cabin took approximately three years to complete, as Johnny worked primarily with hand tools — saws, draw knives, scrapers and planers. Johnny built a small structure and water-wheel at the edge of the springs to harness the power of the springs and create electricity.

The cabin became part of the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 and is the property of the USFS. The cabin remains open to visitors through the efforts of the USFS, Fremont County Parks and Recreation, the Island Park Historical Society, and numerous volunteers. 

   I have visited the springs and the cabin several times and just enjoyed the peacefulness of the place.  I have also enjoyed talking to whomever was volunteering to take care of the cabin during tourist season.  We usually swapped stories of the west and it is always good to meet new people.  The history of Johnny Sack and the cabin throughout the years is very interesting and I am grateful to all those that sought to preserve the place, as it could have easily been destroyed over the years.  One note about Johnny.  He was not a tall man.  I think maybe 5 foot or so.  So when he built the cabin's kitchen and counters, he built them to his size.  Which makes that place more unique.  He was an excellent wood worker.

Special Places To Visit: 1880's Town

   22 miles west of Murdo South Dakota just off Interstate 90 at exit 170 is one of the best western towns and museums you will ever find.  The place is set up like a western street with plenty of authentic buildings that have been saved and brought to the town to be preserved.  The main attraction for me is the saloon, with its bat wing doors and stage.  Entering that building I felt like I had stepped back in time and would see dance hall floozies.  Every building is full of items from the period and items that relate to the building itself.  Such as the doctor's office has equipment from the era, the post office has items from a real post office of the era. You can wander around the town and see many buildings and read about their history.  The town also has several museum buildings.  Filled with some pretty great items.  The main entrance has several items from the movie "Dances With Wolves", as the movie was shot close to where the town is.  When I visited the place in the 1990's with my Dad, we got to feed Cisco the horse that Kevin Costner road in the movie.  The horse has since died, but now tourists can see some real long horn steers.  The place also has a western sheriff and bad guy show during the day that the kids, and some parents, will like.  At the entrance to the town is a 50's Train Diner.  A great place to get something to eat or drink.

   From their web site:

History of 1880 Town

When Richard Hullinger bought 14 acres at Exit 170 back in 1969 he had no plans for an attraction. In 1972 a gas station was built at this location along with forming an idea of an old west attraction. Later, an additional 80 acres was purchased.  About that time a movie company came to a small town nearby to film an 1880 era movie. A main street set was constructed from old buildings and a number of Indian relics and antiques were borrowed from Clarence Hullinger, Richard’s father. Winter set in and the filming was abandoned. The movie company returned home giving the main street set to Clarence for the use of his artifacts. The movie set was moved to the 80 acres and the 1880 TOWN was born!
Along with the beginning of the 1880 TOWN began years of collecting what is now an authentic 1880 to 1920 era town from buildings to contents. Clarence and Richard have kept historical value on an equal balance with public appeal, choosing buildings that not only interesting to look at but are also historically correct for an early South Dakota town. The displays and buildings range from Indian relics from the 1970’s to the fourteen-sided barn built in 1919.
The tour of the town begins here. The barn boasts an automated hay and manure handling system. It took three days and thousands of dollars to move the barn the 45 miles from its original location south of Draper, SD. In the barn you will see fine antique buggies, toys, stalls with horses in them and a working, turn of the century, coinola, saloon piano from Deadwood.
From the barn, the whole town lies before you in a beautiful panoramic view! The first building on the north side is the Vanishing Prairie Museum. The museum was built to house the more valuable collections, many from the General Custer period. Items displayed are a pair of boots and an old army saddlebag from the Custer battlefield that were found at an Indian campsite, parade helmets worn by U.S. Cavalry Indian Scouts with the crossed arrow insignia, Indian dolls, arrowheads, a complete authentic cowboy outfit, photographs and selected interiors of fine Dakota homes. The collection also includes Buffalo Bill items and a tribute to the late Casey Tibbs, 9 time World Champion Rodeo Cowboy.
The Dakota Hotel was moved from Draper, SD. Built in 1910, it still carries the scars made by cowboys’ spurs on the staircase. The Gardel & Walker Livery Barn holds a variety of early engines and two wagons from the Indian war era. On an open lot next to the livery is the antique machinery display.
St. Stephan’s Church, built in 1915, was moved from Dixon, South Dakota, with everything intact, from the stained glass windows to the bell (which along with the school and fire bell, you are free to ring).
The C&N Depot, Express Agency, and Telegraph Office was relocated from Gettysburg, SD. It is filled with railroad equipment right down to a piece of wood with “Tex K.T.” carved by the king tramp in 1927.
The town hall which came from Belvidere was renovated in 1984 and the film “Love for the Land” can be seen throughout the day. Step inside the back door to see the Mayor’s office. Next door are the lumber yard and pioneer home.
The one-room schoolhouse will bring back many memories for those who were lucky enough to attend one. Ring the bell and step inside to see the ink-well desks, textbooks, reciting bench and roll-up maps. Up front by the blackboard sits the huge stove that never did heat the back of the room and the view through the windows is still the same beautiful prairie that lured the attention from many young students’ studies.
About a quarter of a mile east of the town is a homestead complete with windmill, corrals, barn, house and of course, outhouse.
This history of the 1880 TOWN is just a snap shot of what you’ll see and experience while visiting our attraction. We are constantly updating and adding items and buildings to the collection so make sure and plan to visit us soon!
  

Map of the 1880 Town

Special Places To Visit: Beartooth Highway

   One of the best drives I have ever taken, and I have taken it several times, is highway 212 out of Cooke City Montana and over the Beartooth Mountains into Red Lodge Montana.  This drive will take you over the top of the mountains to an altitude of 10,947 feet.  There are several places to stop along the way to see waterfalls, mountain lakes, scenic overlooks and many other fantastic sites.  The only issue with this route is that it is only open for a few months a year because snow will shut it down and it takes a lot of plowing to open it up. 

   As a side note, when leaving Cooke City Montana there will come a fork in the road where you can choose to go down Highway 296 into what is know as the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway.  This route is another very beautiful route to take, especially when the Beartooth Highway may be closed.

Special Places To Visit: The Irma Hotel

   Cody Wyoming has many great places to see and visit, but one historical place that you should see is the Irma Hotel.  The hotel was built by Buffalo Bill Cody and named after his daughter Irma.

   From the Wikipedia page:  The Irma opened with a party on November 18, 1902, to which Cody invited the press and dignitaries from as far away as Boston. The hotel quickly became the social center of Cody. In the meantime, Buffalo Bill was under pressure from creditors and was forced to sign over the hotel to his wife Louisa in 1913, who was at that time on bad terms with him. After Cody's death in 1917 the hotel was foreclosed upon and sold to Barney Link. Before the end of the year Link's estate sold the property back to Louisa, who kept it until she died in 1925. The new owners, Henry and Pearl Newell, gradually expanded the hotel, building an annex around 1930 on the west side to accommodate automobile-borne visitors. After her husband's death in 1940, Pearl Newell operated the hotel until her own death in 1965. She left the hotel's extensive collection of Buffalo Bill memorabilia to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, and stipulated that proceeds from the estate be used as an endowment for the museum.

  It is still a working hotel and restaurant.  The food there is very good and I would highly recommend you try the Rocky Mountain Oysters.  My Dad tricked me into eating them when we traveled across the US on BMW motorcycles.  The highlight of eating in the restaurant is seeing the  famous back bar made of cherry that was a gift given by Queen Victoria to Buffalo Bill. 

   If you are visiting during the summer tourist season you can catch the gunfights that are staged in the street out front of the Irma Hotel.  They put on a great show and the kids will love it.

Special Places To Visit: Grave Sites

   Cathy can attest to my interest in the graves of historical western characters.  She has put up with my quests to see some of these graves and I thank her for it.  Previously I told you we visited the graves of some of the Ingalls and Wilders family.  Well I will now detail a few more graves that I have visited.

   Buffalo Bill Cody is buried on Lookout Mountain on Lookout Mountain Road in Golden Colorado.  Now this is just my personal opinion, but this should not have been where he should have been buried.  In my opinion he should have been buried in the town that is named after him, Cody Wyoming.  There is great controversy surrounding how he got buried there and I would not mention this in Cody.  They are still very upset about the circumstances.

 

    Jeremiah "Liver Eating" Johnston , born John Jeremiah Garrison Johnston, is buried in the mountain man graveyard in Cody Wyoming.  You might not recognize the name, but the movie loosely based on his exploits is called "Jeremiah Johnson" and starred Robert Redford.  You will find his grave in Cody Wyoming at the Old Trail Town.  This is an interesting place to visit.  The town was created with some historical buildings from the area and some other buildings saved from destruction.  The buildings are filled with some very nice items and museum articles.  From a web site: Robert Redford was so taken by Johnson's story that he starred in a film very loosely based on his life in 1972. Two years later, Johnson, now a posthumous celebrity, was dug out of his California grave and reburied in a small Wyoming cemetery that was created as part of a Western theme town attraction. The attraction claims that over 2,000 people attended Johnson's reburial, "probably the largest burial service in the history of Wyoming."
   My opinion only. When they decided to rebury Jeremiah in Cody from California, the never considered how Cody would grow as a town.  The Old Trail Town when I visited it in the 1990's was set off from the town and could be seen from the road.  Now the town has encroached so much on the area that it is difficult to see the place from the road.  The sprawl of Cody has really turned the spot into a congested area and not an open area that I think Jeremiah would have liked as his last resting place.  I think it would have been better to bury him on a mountain overlooking Red Lodge Montana, where he once was a sheriff.

 

    Just off Interstate 70 in the town of Glenwood Springs Colorado is the grave of Doc Holliday.  You will have to walk up a hill about a quarter of mile, but it is well worth the hike to see where this historical character is buried, at least the area he is buried in.  You see once my son Logan and I got to the grave site we read the sign that Doc Holliday was buried somewhere up there.  The reason for this was they wanted to keep his grave a secret from anyone wanting to dig him up for looting or souvenirs. I cannot even begin to count the number of movies that depicted Doc Holliday, some accurately and some very very loosely.  Glenwood Springs was where the hotel was located that Doc Holliday died in from consumption/tuberculosis. 

   In the town of Deadwood South Dakota there is a cemetery call Mount Moriah. There you will find many former citizens of Deadwood buried.  Some happily buried after a long life and some that would have wanted a few more years of life.  One of the latter is James Butler Hickok, aka Wild Bill Hickok.  Hickok was shot from behind and killed while playing poker in Nuttal & Mann's saloon in Deadwood by Jack McCall, an unsuccessful gambler.  This from WikiPedia:

In the early years of Deadwood, there were two graveyards: The Ingelside Cemetery, which was part of the way up Mount Moriah and was filled quickly in the first few years it was open, and the Catholic Cemetery. Many prospectors, miners, settlers, prostitutes and children were buried within the Ingelside Cemetery, alongside Wild Bill Hickok and Preacher Smith.  In the 1880s it was determined that the land where Ingelside Cemetery was located could be better used for housing. Most of the bodies there were moved up the mountain to Mount Moriah and re-interred. However, since many graves were unmarked or unknown some were not moved. Today it is not uncommon for people working in their garden or remodeling a basement or shed to find human bones as a leftover from the Ingelside Cemetery days.

   If you venture to see Wild Bill's grave you will see close to him the grave of Martha Jane Cannary aka Calamity Jane.  She has just as colorful past as Wild Bill and she even claimed to be married to Wild Bill.  According the the Mount Moriah WikiPedia site:

It has been reported that Calamity Jane was buried next to Hickock, according to her dying wish. Four of the men on the self-appointed committee who planned Calamity's funeral (Albert Malter, Frank Ankeney, Jim Carson, and Anson Higby) later stated that, since Hickok had "absolutely no use" for Jane in this life, they decided to play a posthumous joke on him by laying her to rest by his side.

   The Mount Moriah Cemetery is a great place to just roam around and see quite a few historical characters of the west and of Deadwood South Dakota.

 

Special Places To Visit: De Smet South Dakota

  This should be labeled Laura Ingalls Wilder adventure II.  After having seen Walnut Grove Minnesota, Cathy and I decided it would be interesting to see another homestead of the Wilder's.  So we stayed off the beaten path, AKA Interstate, and took the rural highways to De Smet South Dakota.  South of De Smet and Highway 14 you will find the Big Slough lake and the Laura Ingalls Wilder homestead.  The homestead is very nice and well kept up.  The whole area has been recreated to go along with the books that she wrote.  From their web site: 

• Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books capture the founding of De Smet and her family was De Smet’s first residents.  Laura grew up on her family’s homestead, attended school in De Smet’s first school, worked her first job on our main street, went courting with Almanzo across the prairie, and started her own family here in De Smet.  She carried these memories throughout her life.

   The whole area has many interesting buildings and museum items.  From their web site:

• The Memorial Society preserves and presents the largest collection of Ingalls family memorabilia, with over 2000 original artifacts.

 Cathy and I walked around the area for several hours.  The buildings are mostly recreations and try to adhere to what was in the books.  It seems that fire was a real hazard and fire took many of the original buildings over the years.  The one room school house is a real one room school house, but the original one that Laura taught in was destroyed by a prairie fire.  The one we visited was bought over from a local community and very similar to the original one that burned down.  If you are traveling with children there are many things for them to do and to explore.  I particularly liked the museum areas and enjoyed reading the literature on life during that time.  As I have said in a previous post, Charles Ingalls was a hard worker.  You had to be to survive during that time, as South Dakota's winters were sometimes just as harsh as Minnesota's.  From their web site:

• Experience our pioneer heritage on the quarter-section of land Charles Ingalls earned through the Homestead Act.  Drive a covered wagon, attend a one-room schoolhouse, twist hay, grind wheat, make rope, wash clothes, experience the homesteading history that shaped our nation.  Lured by the prospect of free land from the Homestead Act of 1862, the Ingalls family, just like thousands of other pioneers flocked to the Midwest to take Uncle Sam up on his bet - that they could turn 160 acres of prairie into a family farm.  Today native prairie grasses cover over one hundred acres, period buildings house exhibits that share homestead life, and hands-on activities allow families to understand the changes in our agricultural heritage. Our friendly staff invites you to spend an old-fashioned family day at Ingalls Homestead. 

   After having a great time at the homestead site Cathy and I decided to head to the De Smet Cemetery.  From the web site:

• The De Smet Cemetery is located southwest of De Smet on a beautiful hilltop with many trees overlooking the city as well as a view of the site of the Charles “Pa” Ingalls homestead and the “big slough” to the east. Each year hundreds of visitors view the grave sites of several of the Ingalls family, including Charles, Caroline, Mary, Carrie, Grace and infant son of Laura and Almanzo Wilder. Familiar names from the Little House of the Prairie television series and from Laura’s books are also found on many of the gravestones. 

  It was strange to see the names of individuals that you watched on TV on graves.  I have seen several graves of famous people on my trips west and I am sure I will be highlighting a few of them in my blog.
  I would highly recommend visiting De Smet and spending a few hours or a day there and explore the history of those that decided to establish a home in areas that sometimes were very trying.

Special Places To Visit: Walnut Grove Minnesota

    Off the beaten path, that is north of I-90, in southern Minnesota is the little town of Walnut Grove. You may be saying to yourself, "That place sounds familiar." Well it should as it was made famous as the location of the homestead of the Laura Ingalls Wilder family and mentioned in her books.

   Cathy and I decided to see this place because we both loved the show on TV, but I never really read any of her books.  Since we were heading out west we decided to head north first into Minnesota and see what Walnut Grove was all about.  We were not disappointed in the fact that the town remembered Laura Ingalls Wilder and it was basically the reason the town still existed, in my opinion.  Walnut Grove's population is around 800 and the main highway through the town is Highway 14.  It is a very pleasant town with very friendly people.  It was not hard at all to find the Laura Ingalls Wilder museum and that is where Cathy and I made our first stop.

 

   From the museum's website:

• The museum's collections are housed in a series of interesting buildings, including an 1898 depot, a chapel, an onion-domed house, dugout display, little red schoolhouse, early settler home, and covered wagon display.  Also on display are memorabilia from visits by the following stars from the "Little House on the Prairie" TV series.

   The museum and surrounding buildings held quite a bit of stuff concerning the Ingalls family.  I was amazed that anyone would want to homestead in a place whose winters are so rough.  After reading several family history items, I had a lot more respect for Charles Ingalls.  He had to be a hard worker and a man who cared very much for his family.  From the museum's web site:

•     Laura Ingalls lived 1.5 miles north of Walnut Grove along the banks of Plum Creek from 1874 to 1876.  Charles and Caroline Ingalls settled on the property in May 1874, declaring their intent to homestead it.  After three consecutive crop failures they decided not to complete the homestead process. Instead, they purchased the land in July 1876 from the United States for $413 and resold it immediately for $400 to Abraham Keller.
       The Ingalls family then moved to Burr Oak, Iowa to help the Steadmans operate the Masters Hotel.  However, hardships continued to follow the Ingalls.  Their only son, Charles Frederic, died en route at the age of nine months.  Seventy-one years later in 1947 Harold and Della Gordon purchased the 172 acre farm, unaware of its historical connection.  Garth Williams, an illustrator of Laura's books, had been following the Ingalls' trail in courthouse records.  He visited the Gordons in November 1947 and informed them that their new farm had been homesteaded by the Ingalls.  The unusual depression in the banks of Plum Creek was the location of the Ingalls dugout.
       The Gordon family continues to maintain access to the dugout site for Laura's fans.  Visitors can still identify the plum thickets, table lands, big rock, spring, and other sites that Laura describes in "On the Banks of Plum Creek".  The Gordons have left the dugout site as they found it in 1947.  The deep depression in the ground is all that remains of Laura's dugout home.  None of the buildings that Pa built remain nor is their exact location known.  About 25 acres of native grasses have been planted surrounding the dugout site since 1999 to enhance the visitor's experience.

   After visiting the museum Cathy and I toured around the town before leaving on Highway 14 to continue our western trek.  On the way out of town we stopped and stood beside Plum Creek, as the highway passed right over the creek. Little did I know that this would not be our last Laura Ingalls Wilder stop on this vacation, but you will have to read about that in another installment of "Special Places To Visit."

Special Places To Visit: The Rest Stop in South Dakota

      I know what you are thinking, "A Rest Stop?" Yes a rest stop is something you need to see if you ever travel across I-90 in South Dakota and especially if you are heading west.  A rest stop is just what it says, a place to rest.  This rest stop is special because after miles and miles of traveling west you are finally, in my opinion, officially heading into the west.  This rest stop is at Chamberlain South Dakota and right before you cross the mighty Missouri River.  Once you cross that river you will see the landscape changes dramatically. The land begins to appear drier, the wind seems to blow all the time, and you can start to see for miles and miles around you.
   This rest stop not only provides all the basic needs of a rest stop, but it is also a historical teaching spot.  You can learn about the area and the inhabitants of long ago.  They also have a great area detailing the Lewis and Clark expedition.  I have always imagined, while looking over the Missouri river, Lewis and Clark and their forces coming down this very river on their way to one of the greatest adventures man had ever had.
   Take your time to walk around and see the special displays the rest stop has and the great statue that is shown below.