Badlands and Flatlands

29 July – 4 August, 2012

We left Saturday morning, winding our way out of the Black Hills and into the Badlands.  Didn’t go far the first day, just about 75 miles to Wall, home of the world famous Wall Drug store.  Along the way, we stopped at an Air and Space Museum outside of Ellsworth AFB so Russ could get his airplane fix. I chose to sit and read a book – after all, how many F-104s and C-130s do you have to see before you can say you saw them? Plus it was up in the high 90s (again) and the planes were all outside. I noticed Russ didn’t dawdle like he usually does when reading every single sign at a plane museum.

Spent the night at a campground just down the block from the drug store, which is a whole lot more nowadays and takes up a large city block. The place is pretty kitschy, but kind of fun to walk around. We ate breakfast at the Wall Café and headed out to tour the Badlands.

It was a bit stormy and overcast so the views of the Badlands weren’t as colorful as they would otherwise be. Still, it is dramatic scenery on the loop tour through the park. We even saw some wildlife; a few deer and prairie dogs.

We then headed north up through a grasslands area to Pierre, the state capital. Along the way, we saw some wild turkey, pheasant, deer and, maybe, one tree. The area is very dry; it gets between 10 and 20 inches of rain a year.  I am thinking it is a lot closer to 10 inches nowadays. The grasslands contain the same types of grasses that originally covered the plains.

You had to go about 30 miles out of Pierre to find a full-service campground, so we “roughed” it with electricity only at a public campground right on the Missouri river for two nights.  We can handle about three nights of camping before our trailer tank fills up. At least we had electricity – the temperature is staying right around 100.

The reason we even headed to Pierre in the first place was because of the state archives. We spent a very interesting day looking through folders, books, maps and reels and reels of microfilm.  I was able to find some very interesting information on my relatives, including obituaries for two of my great-grandfathers and a great uncle that I knew nothing about. This genealogy stuff can get pretty addictive – I felt like I was transported back in time. It was especially interesting to read the newspapers during the depression and WW II. I tried to stay focused on looking for info on my relatives, but I kept veering off to read articles about the “black blizzards”, war stamps or the local “scrap drive” for the war. I told Russ that I sure understand why our parent’s generation is called, as Tom Brokaw has said, “The Greatest Generation.” It is hard for me to truly comprehend how they dealt with the hardships, deprivations, disappointments and fears of the times and, yet came away with a sense of optimism for the future.

We took the Native American Scenic Byway down southeast to Chamberlain. The Byway passes through two of the Sioux Nation tribe reservations and parallels the Missouri River. There were lots of beautiful views of the river.

Chamberlain lies on the Missouri River and is one of the places where Lewis and Clark camped (around here, where Lewis and Clark camped is the functional equivalent of George Washington having “slept here” back east.) It is the closest “big” town to where two of my great grandfathers homesteaded in the 1880s. Of course, “big” is about 3,000 people.

Corn, sunflowers, wheat and soybeans seem to be the main crops in the area.  We saw evidence of drought in several of the cornfields. Most of the farmers are dryland farmers, they are totally at the mercy of the weather to bring them rain. So if the clouds don't pass over their fields...too bad.

We spent two days at the library and county records office and I got lots of information about relatives.  Plus, we walked 3 different cemeteries where I found several of the graves that I was looking for. Lots of updates to be made to my family tree!

We were going to wind up our visit to this part of South Dakota by going to the riding mower races in Pukwana Saturday night, but alas, they were having the races in another town about 70 miles away this weekend. Didn’t think it was really worth that long a drive. Pukwana is the tiny town nearest my grandfather’s farm where my dad was born and raised.

Over the past few days we have been seeing more and more motorcycles (almost all of them Harley Davidsons) headed west to Sturgis for the bike rally. Russ counted about 8 a minute going by on the interstate.  It feels like a pilgrimage for Harley Davidsons! We continue east tomorrow. Next stop is Mitchell and the Corn Palace.  

Taking the road out to my great grandfather's farm.



A B1-B at Ellsworth Air and Space Museum.

A B-52 bomber.



I remember this guy (the one on the right) at Knott's Berry Farm!

Some of the dramatic spires in the Badlands. This is eroded sandstone from an ancient seabed. The erosion is caused by runoff from the Black Hills, over 70 miles away.



The Badlands were very colorful with bands of red and yellow.



We have seen several of these one-room school houses in the small towns we have passed through.



The state capitol in Pierre.



The state archives are in a building which is built underground.



A bend in the Missouri River.  The Big Bend dam, one of six on the Missouri, is nearby.



A replica of the keelboat used by Lewis and Clark sticks half in and half out of the Chamberlain Visitor Center. You can take the stairs up into it to get a great view of the Missouri.



Overlooking Chamberlain and its bridges.



Grain elevators in Pukwana.  Obviously, not used anymore.

My great grandfather Purcell helped build this railroad track from Kimball to Chamberlain. He quit the railroad business and homesteaded near here in the 1880s.



I believe this is the home my grandmother was born and raised in.  It is on the land that her father homesteaded. My grandfather lived on the homestead next door.



Pukwana's claim to fame today is lawnmower racing!