(Courtesy of Marty Rubenstein)
On Aug. 14, we had a full day planned as we had reservations for the Fort Hays Chuck Wagon and Dinner Show. It consisted of a nine-hour narrated tour, plus two meals and a show.
We started at 7:30 with a breakfast of pancakes at the Chuck Wagon. We then boarded the coach with stops and a narration at Mount Rushmore Memorial. This is quite a site, and we saw videos of the work that went into this great monument. We were able to take a walk to view Mount Rushmore up close. It was a site that we won’t forget. The entire monument was created in granite.
We went back to the bus and went to the following — Lincoln Borglum Museum at the Mount Rushmore site, Pigtail Bridges, and scenic tunnels. The scenic tunnels were a real treat. From these tunnels we could actually get a beautiful picture of Mount Rushmore that looked framed. The tunnels were actually built with this in mind.
The bus then took us to see the Crazy Horse Memorial. This is a work in progress and was started on June 3, 1948. It is the world’s largest sculptural undertaking by carving a memorial Lakota leader, Crazy Horse. The 1948 dedication blast took off just 10 tons, but millions of tons have been removed since. Back to the bus, and we passed by Sylvan Lake and eventually arrived at Custer State Park. In Custer State Park, buffalos have the right of way. The massive beasts freely roam the parks thousands of acres, along with elk, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, prairie dogs, coyotes and many other wildlife species. The towering pines sheltering the roadway, the swift flowing creeks with their clear sparkled waters, the massive cliffs and rock ridges, is nature at its best.
Custer State Park covers 71,000 acres in South Dakota’s Black Hills. In 1913, the park was created, but in 1919 the reserve became known as Custer State Park.
We arrived back at Fort Hays at 5:30 p.m., to browse around the different pictures, props and movies. Then we enjoyed a Chuck Wagon supper and a musical variety show. The show had loads of toe-tapping foot-stomping, belly-shaking laughter and more.
The following day we went on the Wildlife Loop Road as we were quite anxious to see more wildlife. This road twists and turns its way through the prairie and pine-studded hills that harbor many of the park’s wildlife species.
Now, let me ask you a question. “Do you like trains?” If you do, then let me tell you about the state railroad museum where we went. At the South Dakota Railroad Museum they had a 70-foot mural of the history of South Dakota and American railroad history. A very nice and informative video was also there for our viewing. There were antique tools and equipment, plus scale model trains.
Off to Four Mile Old West Town. This was featured in two parts. The first part had us walking through an old west town that included many features such as a newspaper office, a sheriff’s office, a saloon which had displays of women sitting on the bar, an old school house, the blacksmith, an ice company, a sweet shop, jeweler, a doctors office and more. It was a complete town with many shops.
There was also a cemetery of the town’s most notable citizens.
All the buildings had artifacts from the turn of the century, while the jail had the original furnishings from long ago. The jail was built around the time South Dakota was known as part of the Dakota Territory. The old wooden door showed the carving of an escaped prisoner.
The second part of Four Mile Old West Town was a one-hour melodrama where the audience interacts with Old West characters. The entire performance was very good and the audience was laughing and enjoying themselves.
Late in the morning on Saturday, we went back to the 1880 train and took the train ride. Here we got to see the Black Hills of South Dakota by rail. We experienced a historic, breathtakingly scenic, relaxing vintage train ride. This was a two-hour ride and a 20-mile round trip to Keystone.
While we saw much scenery, we also saw the vistas of Harney Peak, which is the highest point between the Swiss Alps and the Rocky Mountains.
Later in the afternoon, we went to the Circle B ranch and enjoyed watching the little ones trying to rope a steer (fake of course) and ride a pony, and we also got to see many horses. There was a shootout and after this, we entered the Chuck Wagon hall for dinner and a show. It is here that we stepped back in time and enjoyed an evening of Western hospitality and family entertainment.
The harmonies of the Circle B Cowboys were just delightful.
By Helene Rubenstein
Published October 1,2014
