Rushmore and Crazy Horse!

It was raining again when we woke up, so we decided to pack up, and hit the visitor’s center on the way out of Badlands national park. After the visitor’s center, we left the park through the south entrance and drove a local road all the way to Rapid City (where we stopped for fuel) and then up to Custer State park.
Another visitor center with a good introduction movie and then on to set up the camper. Had leftover taco’s for lunch and then headed out to see Mount Rushmore. We took the scenic route looking at lots of wild life and mountain views and finally got to Mt Rushmore just as the welcome center was closing. There were very few tourists there and we took our photos and headed out to see the Crazy Horse monument.
It is a Rushmore sized project, but totally privately funded by the Native American community and other donors. The museum was impressive, the statue is about 30% complete and has been a work in progress since the late 1940’s. It serves as a reminder how the American Indians had several treaties with the US government, and how the government kept backing out of those treaties for control of the land. Crazy Horse (a popular American Indian warrior) was killed while negotiating a treaty with the US Government.
A quick stop in the small town of Custer to pick up some dinner augmentation, and then back to the camper for dinner and bed.Read more