We’ve all heard the legends of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane! Or Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid! Crazy Horse and General Custer! As a child growing up in Newfoundland these were often just made up stories about wayward cowboys but as we drove west through South Dakota and on into Wyoming, we quickly discovered these were real live people. It was so cool to walk in their shoes and see the towns where they lived and died.
Deadwood, South Dakota is a quaint little western town outside Sturgis where Wild Bill Hickok frequented along with Calamity Jane. It was here at Saloon #10
where Jack McCall shot and killed Wild Bill during a poker game. To the floor fell 2 pair; two black aces and two black eights which later became known as the Deadman’s Hand. Wild Bill and Calamity Jane are both buried in Deadwood at a cemetery called Mt. Moriah. The town has done a fabulous job at retaining it’s old western feel, complete with gun fights in the street.
West of Deadwood, where we camped out, is Sundance, Wyoming. With a population of just over 1100 people it was
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Statue of the Sundance Kid
Sundance, Wy |
where Harry A. Longabaugh, otherwise known as the Sundance Kid, was captured and jailed for stealing a horse, saddle and gun in 1887. It is believed that Butch Cassidy acted as his accomplice in helping him to escape. The “Kid" was captured again, sentenced to 18 months in jail and then later pardoned because he was under the age of 21. We really enjoyed the Crook County Museum which has done a fabulous job at preserving the rich history of the area.
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| Crook County Museum |
A motorcycle ride South through the Black Hills National Forest took us to Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse monuments. It was pretty cool to see something we’ve always heard about and definitely a great feat of engineering. A cool fact that we learned is that there is a secret archival vault in the
frontal lobe of Abraham Lincoln’s head that was intended to hold important papers and documents of American history. The drive north, back to our campsite, was equally impressive as we rode through the plains and grasslands of South Dakota and Wyoming. Around every turn we could see rolling fields dotted with cattle and horses and, for a moment, we felt like the old time cowboys out on the range.
Our last stop in Wyoming was a town called Cody. Little did we know but we were walking in the footsteps of Buffalo Bill! We visited Buffalo Bill’s original
hotel, Irma, and had our very first Bison Burger! On our last night there, we went to a cowboy hoedown at the Cody Cattle Company We had a great buffet meal, cowboy style; beans, applesauce, cornbread, brisket, BBQ chicken,
coleslaw and enough lemonade and iced tea to quench anyone's thirst! The cowboy entertainment was also excellent. We finished out the night at our very first rodeo!
The cowboy lifestyle is certainly in the blood of the people in South Dakota and Wyoming!
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| Enjoyed a great night with these cowboys! |
National Park was just too great after chatting with fellow RVers who insisted that we just must go there. When we looked it all up on the map, it became our next destination and boy are we glad we made it there!!!
