Western States 2012 - Day 26

June 30, 2012 - Saturday

Today we got an early start in order to ride the 1880 Train from Hill City, South Dakota to Keystone, South Dakota and back. The narration provides historical and contemporary information on various landmarks along the way. It’s even possible to see Mount Harney, the highest peak between the Atlantic coastline and the Rocky Mountains. (The Black Hills are a separate region of mountains from the Rockies). Some of the cars are enclosed but two were open air cars. For our trip the train was led by a diesel locomotive instead of a steam engine. The temperature was about 80 degrees on most of our trip; not bad considering what our friends and family are enduring further east and south.

An open-air car in the Hill City station of the 1880 Train of the Black Hills Central Railroad.

Rounding one of the many turns and heading up hill on the trip between Hill City and Keystone.

Sitting off to the side of the depot is a display of three railroad trucks. The one in the background dates from the late 1800’s. The one in the middle is from the early 1900’s and can be compared to the wheels and axle in the foreground. The middle truck ran on what is called “narrow gauge”. The others are “standard gauge”. Many narrow gauge systems existed around the 1900’s in mountainous areas because the narrow tracks were more easily laid for the many turns necessary and narrow spaces of the cut-throughs.

After leaving the train, we rode down Hill City’s main street and then headed toward Mt. Rushmore. We did not go into the park today as we are saving that for Tuesday, July 3, when the Air Force’s Brass in Blue will be playing. We wanted to get a glimpse of the sculpture and check out the area on our return to Rush-No-More RV Campground. We drove along a wooded highway, ascending rather sharply on a 10% grade. Suddenly, after rounding a curve, there before us was the mountain and the figures. It was quite an impressive site as first we saw Washington, then Jefferson, and then the nose of Lincoln. Finally, as we drove past the entrance we came to a clearing in the trees where we could see all four rock carvings clearly. We continued on to a point were we could see the profile of Washington from the west side. After that, we turned around and headed back to our motorhome for a late lunch.

Seldom have we seen a photo of Mt. Rushmore from the perspective of the whole peak; this photo captures that view.

Washington is all that’s visible from the western side of the peak at the Profile Turnout.

Later in the afternoon we headed back into Rapid City to walk Main Street and view the bronze Presidential statues on the street corners. They statues are spread around the downtown area.

Rapid City has become known as the “City of Presidents” due to a renaissance project begun in 1999. Each year four statues were placed and dedicated until all 42 were in place in 2010.  President Obama’s statue will take its place once he has finished his term(s) in office. Rapid City is the only location in the world where all 42 Unites States presidents can be seen in life-sized bronze statues.

Martha with Bill Clinton.

In addition to providing the statues on the street corners, the project also funded the purchase to serve as the Presidents Information Center. The interior design of the building is based on the Oval Office in the White House. The draperies depict an earlier design. A Presidential seal is in the center of the carpet. There is a scroll-like wall hanging providing information about each president as well as smaller versions of the bronze statues seen on the street. They are called moquettes. The Center also has mugs available for purchase. Each mug features one president.

Byron with Ronald Reagan.

Each sculpture is unique and provides some insight into the personality and the presidency of its subject. For instance, Carter is holding a jacket draped over one arm and his tie loosened around his collar. Eisenhower is shown in his military uniform standing with one foot on a map of England and another foot on the Western Europe. Kennedy is shown with his son, John-John while Lincoln is show with his son, Tad. George W. Bush is posed with his right hand out and thumb up and holding his dog under his left arm as if walking to the presidential helicopter, Marine 1. Jefferson is holding the Declaration of Independence. The display certainly makes walking in the downtown area a fun and educational event. However, be advised to visit the Center first for a copy of a guide. The guide provides the location and, more importantly, some commentary on each statue.

On our return to the campground we had the view of a beautiful sunset before us. The sky turned to shades of pinks and purples with the plains shrouded in what appeared to be a mist rising from the ground. All-in-all, it was another great day.