| Tuesday, June 27: We begin our day at
Mount Rushmore, an obligatory visit for every Black Hills
tourist. Note our new tie-dye T-shirts, which we bought the
previous evening in Sturgis, the motorcycle haven right down the
road from Deadwood. We were there more than a month before the
annual August rally, which last year brought half a million
bikers to Sturgis. In contrast, during our June visit the
streets were deserted by dusk. |
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 Emilie
got the best head shot of our first President. |
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Local
tribes of Native Americans hold the Black
Hills sacred. This belief had led to the 19th
century conflict that included the Battle of the
Little Bighorn when U.S. Army troops protected
gold miners against Native Americans defending
their religious beliefs. The Mount Rushmore
Monument continues to be a subject of controversy
among Indians, even after the appointment of the
first Native American superintendent of the park
in 2004. The Crazy Horse Memorial is being built
elsewhere in the Black Hills to commemorate a
famous Indian leader and as a response to Mount
Rushmore. It is intended to be larger than Mount
Rushmore and has the support of Lakota chiefs,
though the monument is not being financed with
federal funds for the most part.
(Wikipedia) |
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