OUR WESTERN ADVENTURE

Devil's Tower

​​Finally! The time and opportunity had arrived for Jenny and me to take a two week road trip to the western U.S.  My love of old westerns and history had us looking forward to one day seeing many of the areas where history was made, as well as the backdrop for many classic western movies. I wanted to do a journal type entry documenting our travels and talk about the high points along the way, and decided now was the time. 

Shoshone River outside Cody, WY

​I spent roughly 30-40 hours planning the trip, with my furthermost destination being Yellowstone National Park, or as I called it...Jellystone Park. I really wanted to see Yogi and Boo Boo along with Mr. Ranger Sir! I did a search for trip planning sites, and came across tripmaker from randmcnally. It sadly has since shut down, but it worked well for us. I was able to find things along the way to see, and then I'd check YouTube to see if we might be interested. The system worked well, and in the end provided a really good itinerary to follow.
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Downtown Eureka Springs, Arkansas

​We began on a Friday morning and headed from the north Louisiana woods toward Eureka Springs, Arkansas. We've been there a number of times, and so have seen most of the noteworthy areas around town...Thorncrown Chapel, the Basin Park Hotel, and of course the old town strip of quaint shops. We had a great evening meal at the Rockin' Pig Saloon, enjoying some fantastic food!

WWI Museum - Kansas City, Missouri

The next morning (Saturday) we packed up and headed for breakfast at The Filling Station in town, and then began the drive to Kansas City, Missouri. I'd seen a video on the WWI museum and knew it was a must-see. We've enjoyed the WWII museum in New Orleans with their in depth history brought to life and figured it would be the same type experience. It ended up being a well-timed stop for us, since a guided tour began ten minutes after we entered the front door. Talk about timing! Since we only had a few hours to see the massive museum, it allowed us to hit the high points in only two hours. Here's a couple of photos from inside the museum:
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​We headed back to the car, and made our way to the Jack Stack BBQ in Kansas City. We ate some really great meals on the trip, and this one didn't disappoint. We drove to Kearney, Missouri where the boyhood home of Jesse James is located. Earlier we had booked a room in the small town, and so after a good night's sleep, we got up early and went to a local diner that was just opening on a rainy Sunday morning. They served us a great breakfast, and we headed to the Jesse James boyhood home. 

Jesse James Boyhood Home - Kearney, Missouri

There's a small museum and gift shop located near the home containing many of Jesse's possessions from the time, and also a short film of his rough life. We headed over to the house, where a small creek runs in the front. You could easily envision Jesse and his brother Frank playing in the nearby woods. The home had actually been damaged (since repaired) during a raid by a party seeking to capture Jesse.  He wasn't home at the time, but the explosion killed his young brother and severely injured his mother with the loss of an arm.  In the picture above, the attack happened on the left end.
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Jesse James temporary gravesite - Kearney, Missouri

​​After his death, his mother had Jesse buried in the front yard of her home. The body was later exhumed and moved to another graveyard. A nice caretaker took a photo of us on the porch of the home and at the temporary grave.

Jesse James Home - St. Joseph, Missouri

Next we drove to St. Joseph, Missouri and visited the Pony Express Museum. It was a real education on the history of the pony express. I had no idea it was such a short-lived endeavor. After only a couple of years, the service was shut down due to the installation of telegraph wires. All that investment for way stations, horses, employees, etc. and for only a couple of years! A film explains the history of the service as you enter the exhibits.
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Patte House and Museum - St. Joseph, Missouri

​The Jesse James Home museum was a couple of blocks away where the notorious outlaw was shot while hanging a picture, and so we did a drive-by. It was closed at the time, and so we went to the Patte House Museum next door which was open. It was awesome! We wished we had planned to spend an entire day there, but only had a few hours to see it due to the long drive ahead of us. This is where the original offices of the Pony Express were located. The building is multi level, and houses a massive amount of displays from a locomotive to Walter Cronkite's fathers dentist chair. It will definitely be a must see stop the next time we're in the area.

After leaving the museum, we drove up to Sioux Falls, S. Dakota. I'd booked all the rooms about three weeks prior to the trip, and had to rely on reviews to get the best deals for the best rooms. Overall, it worked out well. The neighborhood at this hotel seemed a bit sketchy though. When I went to load our luggage the next morning, the car next to ours had been damaged pretty badly by someone running into it! The back glass had been shattered and the bumper was falling off. I felt sorry for the owner when he came out to leave.

Entrance to 1880 town - Midland, South Dakota

So on this Monday morning, we began the long drive across South Dakota. There were a few tourist stops along the way including Al's Oasis, which had a good bit of tourist type merchandise. We stopped by 1880 Town, which is a recreated town lined with multiple old buildings filled with period furnishings and merchandise. It also has some of the props from Dances With Wolves used during the filming in an upstairs area located inside the entrance building shown above. We enjoyed seeing all the old wagons and implements they've collected through the years. It was well worth the time to see.
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1880 town - Midland, South Dakota

After a lunch stop at the Sunset Grill in Kadoka, South Dakota, we went to the Prairie home, one of the last remaining intact homes of its type. The Prairie home was an earthen type home, built into a hillside for insulation purposes...cool in the summer and warm in the winter. On the walk up to the home, prairie dogs were rampant all around! Jenny filmed some of them running around and popping up their heads to get a good look at us.

Prairie Homestead House - near Kadoka, South Dakota

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Grounds approaching the Prairie Homestead

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Prairie Dog checking us out!

​​​After spending the night at a local motel, we headed to the Badlands National Park, a unique landscape of highly eroded hills. A road meanders through the middle, and it only requires an hour or so to drive through. We started early Tuesday morning and headed into the park, stopping a lot to take pictures of the barren and sloping crevices. 
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Badlands National Park - South Dakota

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​As we were leaving the area we ran across a small herd of buffalo! It was our first experience being next to wildlife on our trip other than the prairie dogs.

Buffalo inside Badlands National Park

The next stop was Wall, South Dakota. Wall Drug is a really large complex of shops featuring all types of merchandise. There is a restaurant there that has a great breakfast! We wandered around the stores for a few hours, and then headed towards Deadwood, an old western town nestled in a valley below towering mountain peaks.
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Wild Bill Hickok shooting location - Saloon #10 - Deadwood, South Dakota

We visited Saloon #10, the saloon where Wild Bill Hickok was killed as he held his "dead man's hand." Its in the same location, but a rebuilt building. The old one was torn down in the late 1800s due to a flash flood that devastated the area. The proprietor was animated, and gave us a great tale of the goings on at the time. We went downstairs to the area where the card game had taken place. There were a lot of photos of Wild Bill and information about his life. Then we walked around town and visited a few shops.

Saloon #10 - Deadwood, South Dakota

We visited the saloon where Wild Bill Hickok was killed as he held his "dead man's hand." Its in the same location, but in a rebuilt building. The old one was torn down in the late 1800s due to a flash flood that devastated the area. The proprietor was animated, and gave us a great tale of the goings on at the time. We went downstairs to the area where the card game had taken place. There were a lot of photos of Wild Bill and information about his life. Later, we walked around town and visited a few shops. 

Then it was time for the "biggie!' 

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Mount Rushmore - South Dakota

I've always wanted to be able to see Mount Rushmore in person. Jenny saw it as a child on vacation with her uncle, a state senator at the time in Missouri. I was impressed! A confession here...We actually MISSED the museum! I was disappointed to say the least when I later realized what had happened. We did though walk a few of the trails at the base, and got to see the Sculpture Studio. A Park Ranger did a good presentation on the history of the many years of work it took to complete.

​Sculpture Studio - Mount Rushmore

View from the side leaving the site
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The next stop was an unexpected surprise. The Crazy Horse Memorial is a colossal sculpture of the famous Native American warrior still in the process of being created. A museum is located on site, and made for another memorable experience for us! History from the viewpoint of the original inhabitants of the area is shown, leading to a better understanding of the incursion from the westward expansion of the U.S. 
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Crazy Horse Memorial

​After leaving the Crazy Horse Museum, we headed to Newcastle, Wyoming to spend the night. Following breakfast, we did some driving up to the Devil's Tower National Monument.

Devil's Tower National Monument

Approaching Devil's Tower 
(The tower is in the center of the photo on the horizon)

The tower is recognizable from many old western movies, as well as 2001 Space Odessy where the aliens landed. It is believed to have formed from a series of lava tubes coming up and combining to form the texture on the sides. The scale of the formation is hard to envision until you begin to walk around the paths along the base. It was another fantastic experience for us!

The next stop was Little Big Horn, the site of Custer's Last Stand. The battle took place along a roughly five mile stretch of hills alongside the Little Big Horn River. The park museum describes the battle, and a road meanders throughout the park with placards explaining where the participants fought and died. I did not realize the day long mini battles that occurred, leading to the last stand of Custer and his remaining men. A marker shows the site of a mass grave of soldiers, although Custer was returned back east for burial.

Custer's Last Stand Battle site
(Custer fell at the black headstone area on the right)
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Mass Grave of Fallen Soldiers
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Later that afternoon, we headed to Billings, Montana to our room. The next morning, we made our way to Cody, Wyoming. We devoted the entire day here, since the Buffalo Bill Center of the West is such an impressive museum. The Smithsonian Museum has nothing on this gem, housing countless treasures from American history. It’s actually five museums in one, with one being devoted to the town’s founder, Buffalo Bill Cody. His Wild West show toured the world for decades, even into the 1900s. Here’s a few photos inside the museum:

We stopped by the Irma Hotel, built by Buffalo Bill to house tourists along their way to visit the newly established Yellowstone National Park. We also visited the Cody dam located west of town. It was later used as a model for the Hoover dam built decades later. There is a small visitor center that tells the history of the dangerous and lengthy construction.

Jenny peering down the dam to the river below.

That evening we stayed at Wapiti, Wyoming in a small cabin. There were teepees beside the cabins, and Jenny made me promise to stay in one the next time we go. I was a bit stubborn, preferring the comfort of the AC inside the cabin.😬 The next morning, we arrived at our much anticipated destination….YELLOWSTONE!

The road is basically a loop around the park. The first day, we did roughly half the loop, and the second day the other half. We visited the artists point, Old Faithful Geyser and Old Faithful Inn, Grand Prismatic Springs, Mammouth Terraces, and numerous other geysers. We could not have timed Old Faithful Geyser any better. It erupted about ten minutes after we arrived! Next we headed over to the Old Faithful Inn to admire the inside construction done in the 1930s of the interior lobby. It is impressive! Here’s some photos of the park:

We took a lot of other photos…too many to post! We saw many buffalo, but no elk. We did see a couple of moose on our way into Gardiner, Montana where we stayed the night.
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The second day as we headed back south on the loop, we stopped at Tower Falls. As we were admiring the view, I heard from behind me, “Hey Gary!” I turned around, and there was my buddy from West Monroe, Robert Thompson and his wife! We couldn’t believe it. Thirty-five hundred miles away from home! So…we HAD to take a picture.😁

​After driving the lowers valley, we headed to Moran and stayed the night. The next day we headed to the Grand Teton National Park. First we stopped by the Visitor Center and saw the exhibits and film about the parks history. Sadly, the range was blanketed by cloud cover and rain throughout the day. This was the only major disappointment we had on our trip. We did do a quick drive by of the park in Jackson to see the antler arches. My parents had taken a picture there thirty years or so ago on one of their many trips to Wyoming. We managed to get a picture of the sign:

The trip home was sort of ad-lib, doing basically whatever caught our eye. We did make a stop at the Depot Museum in Cheyenne, Wyoming. It told of the history of the early railroads of the west. It seems the large colorful cowboy boot sculptures are around every corner of downtown!

​We decided to spend a couple of days in Branson, Missouri, and took in a show and ate a lot! It was a memorable trip for us, and one of the best we’ve ever taken. Let’s see…where to next???