Pierre - Lewis and Clark Caravan - Part 5 (STR-2022-6)

Friday, 27 May - Day 17

Today was a designated travel day - to travel from Mitchell, SD to Pierre, SD. We headed out just behind the early birds, a departure from our normal travel day where we are first out. We traveled 66 miles west on I-90 to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Chamberlain. Our timing was good - the Interpretative Center only opened last Monday after having been closed. Last September when we stopped, it was closed.

The Interpretative Center had a number of Lewis and Clark exhibits - some exhibits we have seen at other Centers, others we had not seen yet. Well done.

Lewis and Clark stopped on the west side of the river, near present-day Oacoma in September 1804 to dry out their equipment and supplies following several days of rain.

The Interpretative Center also had a representative of the keelboat that Lewis and Clark used - not a replica, but a representation that was the same length and width. The stern of the keelboat was outside the building.

Another interesting exhibit was the timeline from exploration to statehood.

The Interpretative Center is situated on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River.

We revisited the 50-foot tall Dignity Statue. It was created to honor the Native Nations of the Great Plains. The Star quilt she is wearing marks an important life event. For the Lakota (Sioux) people, the star quilt also represents honor and generosity.

Our next stop was the Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural School in Chamberlain. A free museum, the exhibits told the story of the Lakota people.

As we learned last year in Deadwood, the Bison was sacred to the Plains Native Americans. They only hunted bison for necessity - it was the European settlers who hunted the bison for their hides. Later the bison were hunted for the meat to feed the railroad construction crews. And hunted to deprive the Plains Native Americans of their bison-dependent lifestyle, believing that it would help subjugate the Native Americans. And hunted to near extinction by 1880.

The Lakóta buffalo culture appears in this diorama painted by Tom Phillips, Chickasaw, with movie props from Dances with Wolves. The Missouri River is depicted on the right, the Black Hills on the left.

The warrior shown here is modeled after "Wind in His Hair" a character in the movie Dances with Wolves.

This exhibit shows the traditional Lakota land and the overland trails, railroads, Interstate highways and battle sites.

The birch bark canoe is authentic - birch bark was used because it did not expand or shrink upon getting wet.

The Lakota story would be incomplete without telling the story of the treaties (made and broken) and the efforts to "civilize" the Native Americans.

One of the staff provided our group with a guided tour and shared a deeper meaning of the many artifacts on display. We also watched a video portraying what life was like for the Lakota before the European settlers arrived.

We proceeded on to Pierre (pronounced like "pier"), SD. Our research found only two golf courses in Pierre, surprisingly as Pierre is the capital of South Dakota. One had no tee times available, so we just showed up at the other one, the Dunes Golf Complex in Fort Pierre, SD, a par 63 course. As we drove up, we saw only four cars in the parking lot and a glance at the course made it clear why it was not busy. We later learned that they had not yet fully recovered from the winter, and that the ground temperature was not warm enough (50 degrees) yet for the grass to start growing. 

It was also windy - 18mph with gusts close to 30mph. Kris decided to play anyway, and we got pull carts to walk the course. Neither of us played as well as we expected, but we got to play. A crappy course, one we won't likely play again. And according to the pro shop, the blustery wind was keeping the mosquitoes away - without the wind, they would have been ferocious. 

We are staying at the River View RV Park, a fairly new RV park located on a bluff overlooking the city of Pierre and the Missouri River. 

We had a severe thunderstorm warning for the evening, at one time forecasting wind gusts in excess of 60mph and 3/4" hail. Fortunately, we just had wind, a few drops and a lightening show as the brunt of the storm passed to the north.

Saturday, 18 May - Day 18

Today was a tour of Pierre, the capital of South Dakota. The bus picked us up at 9am. First stop was the South Dakota Capital building, where half the group got off for a guided tour.

As we were coach #15, we were part of the "odd" group that stayed in the bus and proceeded to the South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center while the "evens" got off to visit the Capital Building.

As part of South Dakota's 1989 centennial project, the 63,000- square-foot underground building preserves South Dakota's past and present cultural resources in a structure that recalls the ancient Arikara earth lodges that once dotted the Missouri River Valley.

Another amazingly well done museum - the exhibits start with the Native Americans of South Dakota,

followed by the early settlers,

followed by late-nineteenth century/early twentieth century,

to modern day.

The waterways of the Missouri River and it's tributaries guided early settlement of what is now South Dakota.

After about an hour of self-guiding ourselves through the South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center, we boarded the bus to swap locations with the "even" group. An hour was not enough to fully take in the exhibits.

Geraldine gave us a detailed guided tour of the Capital building. The building was constructed between 1905 and 1910.

The floor in the capitol building is made of terrazzo tile. Common lore says the floor was laid by 66 Italian artists. To give these artists a chance to place a mark in the building (without allowing them to actually sign their names to the floor), each is said to have been given a blue stone to place in the floor. Only 55 of these tiles have been found.

Our group was able to find 8 or 9 of the blue tiles, with Kris finding the most.

Another interesting tidbit was that the floor was repaired by a terrazzo specialist in Sioux Falls. The repairmen took some liberty by adding heart shaped tiles to the repair work. When confronted, they allegedly responded that if any of the areas with a heart in it needed repair, they would do it for free. No heart, then have to pay for the repairs.

A pretty magnificent building. When the building was built, it did not have electricity. From an engineering perspective, it was amazing to see how the lighting, fire alarms, sprinkler systems, etc. were integrated into the columns and walls.

And like most Capital building, it has an impressive done.

Geraldine also took us into the galleries of the Senate and House chambers.

The bus took us down to W. Sioux Avenue for lunch options. 10 of us opted for the RedRossa Italian Grille. We enjoyed an authentic wood-fired oven pizza that was delicious.

After lunch, we visited Lily Park, a Lewis and Clark site.

“Near this spot on September 23-28, 1804, the historic first meeting of officials of the United States of America with the great Sioux Nation took place. President Thomas Jefferson commissioned Captains William Clark and Meriwether Lewis to explore the Louisiana Purchase and make peaceful contact with the native nations. Here where the Bad River meets the Missouri, the Corps of Discovery held council, feasting, and celebration with the Teton Sioux. Language barriers lead to an armed confrontation, diffused largely through the efforts of Chief Black Buffalo. The expedition continued peacefully to the Pacific Ocean.”

We proceeded on to the Venendyre Monument. The monument commemorates the location of the lead plate buried by brothers Francois and Louis-Joseph Verendrye on March 30, 1743 claiming the region for France. La Verendrye had sent his sons on an expedition to find a route to the rumored "Sea of the West". If it existed, a western water route would be invaluable to the French trade. Essentially the same purpose of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The brothers Verendrye never did find a water route.

The brothers were the first Europeans documented to have entered the northern plains.

The lead plate was found February 16, 1913, by a group of local teenagers. Not realizing it significance, the teens considered selling the lead plate to the local print shop. State Historian Doane Robinson heard about the plate, realized it's importance, and saved it. Today the Verendrye Plate is displayed at the Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre.

Unfortunately the Verendrye Museum was closed, so our group was unable to visit it. Our staff attempted to make amends by having the bus take us to a local ice cream shop.

Sunday, 29 May - Day 19

What a storm last night. Unlike the previous night, we were not under a severe thunderstorm warning. We got more rain than the previous night and some lightening. And about bedtime, the wind started howling, shaking Sprinty back and forth. Certainly to most wind Sprinty has experienced since Quartzsite 3-1/2 years ago. Several of our caravan mates pulled in their slides.

Bob and Jean were out exploring last night and shared these photos of the storm.

A thunderstorm heading towards Fort Pierre on Saturday night.

A thunderstorm heading towards Fort Pierre on Saturday night.

We woke up to a calm, peaceful morning.

The morning after.

The caravan staff prepared breakfast this morning: cowboy pancakes, sausage, coffee and juice. Nothing like a meal to get the gang to gather.

Today is a free day. After our experience trying to golf the Dunes Golf Course, we decided to make it a bike riding/shopping/laundry day. We drove Sprinty to Steamboat Park across the Missouri River from the campground. We rode south on the Lewis and Clark trail along the Missouri River to Farm Island State Recreation Area. Initially the path was paved, then it became well prepared gravel path.

Once back to town, we started exploring the city on bike. We rode past the capital building, stopping at the South Dakota World War II Memorial.

Six bronze figures on a peninsula in the Capital Lake comprise the World War II Memorial; each represents one of the branches of service in which South Dakota residents served during World War II

We continued on to Hilgers Gulch, and continued on the Pierre Play Trail, finally turning around near City Hall. We climbed quite the hill up to City Hall - they even had rest areas on the side of the path.

As we descended, we saw the sign for the 8% grade - a sign conveniently missing on the climb up.

Just another example of the many benefits of an ebike.

After putting the bikes away, we headed for a laundromat and had lunch while we waited on the clothes. The afternoon was spent relaxing at the campground.