Dinosaur Park in Rapid City, South Dakota

Mark, Kent and Sandy at the Dinosaur Park Visitor Center

80 foot long Dinosaur

Mark and Sandy Exploring the Dinosaurs

Sandy and Kent at Dinosaur Park Visitor Center

Another of the Dinosaurs

K Bar S Lodge in Keystone, South Dakota

Yellow Bellied Marmot

This morning after breakfast we ventured out to Dinosaur Park. In the 1920’s and 30’s, Rapid City was looking to capitalize on the growing tourist traffic into the Black Hills, primarily at Mount Rushmore. It was the depression and Rapid City was experiencing a population boom due to the establishment of Ellsworth Airforce Base. The city began this park as a Works Progress Administration project, initiated after dinosaur bones and footprints were discovered in the vicinity. Emmett Sullivan, among others who worked on carving Mount Rushmore, were hired to construct the five massive dinosaurs. The dinosaurs were constructed using metal pipe frames, wire, concrete and painted gray. In the 1950’s the dinosaurs were given the cartoonish color scheme you see today – green and white. The largest of the dinosaurs (80 feet long) stands high on the hill and can be seen from all over the town of Rapid City. While at the Park, Mark and Sandy walked the 90 steps to the top of the hill to see the dinosaur up close. Since the dinosaurs were built of concrete, they are sturdy enough that children have climbed on them for nearly 100 years.

After returning to the hotel, we took a Lyft car to our accommodations for the next six nights at the K Bar S Lodge in Keystone, SD. The hotel is located in the heart of the Black Hills and is just 5 minutes from Mt. Rushmore National Memorial.
Keystone is a very small town with less than 250 residents. It had its origins in 1883 as a mining town and has since transformed itself into a resort town.

Sandy and Mark walked about 15 minutes into Keystone for a pizza and brought it back to the hotel since there was no food available in the hotel. Along the way they saw yellow bellied Marmots. Keystone is about two blocks long and features mostly hotels, eating establishments and shops selling T-shirts and cheap souvenirs.

At 4:30pm we met up with our fellow travelers and tour leader for an orientation of the week ahead. There were 36 people on the tour from all across the nation who each shared what their occupation was and why they chose this tour of the Black Hills of South Dakota. From military service to postal worker and nurses to educators, folks came from all walks of life. Some were still working while most of the travelers were retired.

After the orientation we enjoyed a dinner of chicken masala, roasted broccoli with feta and a green salad. For dessert we had vanilla ice cream with a cherry jubilee sauce.

Sandy Bolger, Kent and I departed our homes for the airport at 4:30am for our 6:45am flights from San Diego to Denver, Colorado where we changed planes. Our second flights departed Denver at 11:32 bound for Rapid City, South Dakota in West Central, South Dakota. We arrived about 12:45pm. We headed to the Residence Inn hotel for the night with our dear friend Sandy (Miss P.), who is traveling with us.

The discovery of gold in 1874 by the Black Hills Expedition, led by George Armstrong Custer, brought a mass influx of European-American miners and settlers to the area. A group of unsuccessful miners founded Rapid City in 1876 and was originally known as Hay Camp. Rapid City is located on the eastern slope of the Black Hills and today, has a population of about 85,000 inhabitants. The metropolitan area includes about 155,000 residents. Today, Rapid City is known as the Gateway to the Black Hills and the City of Presidents for its life-size bronze statues of presidents in its historic downtown area.

The city’s location on the edge of the plains and hills, along with its large river valley, made it a natural hub for the railroads constructed in the late 1880’s. By 1900 the town had survived a boom and a bust and was developing as a regional trade center for the Upper Midwest. Locals began promoting the local sights and improved roadways after World War I. This led to many more tourists, including President Calvin Coolidge and the First Lady in the summer of 1927.

In the 1940’s Rapid City benefited greatly from the opening of Rapid City Army Air Base, later Ellsworth Air Force Base. The population nearly doubled between 1940 and 1948, from about 14,000 residents to 27,000. During the cold war,
the government constructed missile installations in the area. In the early 1960’s three Titan missile launch sites were constructed containing nine Titan I missiles. Over time, the area would be dotted with 150 Minuteman missile silos and 15 launch command centers, of which all were deactivated in the early 1990’s.

On June 9, 1972, heavy rains (15” in six hours) caused massive flooding along Rapid Creek killing 238 people and injuring 3,057. More than $100 million in property damage, including 1,335 homes and 5,000 automobiles were lost. This disaster generated new construction of a flood plain public park, new homes and businesses. The Rushmore Plaza Civic Center and a new Central High School were also built.

In 1980, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the federal government had not justly compensated the Sioux people for the Black Hills when it unilaterally broke a treaty guaranteeing the Black Hills to them. The government offered a financial settlement which was rejected by the Sioux and to this day the dispute has not been settled.

After checking in at the hotel we headed out to historic downtown Rapid City where we dined at the Firehouse Brewing Company. This restaurant is located in a hundred-year-old fire station with tons of firehouse memorabilia. They feature local and in-house beers along with burgers and sandwiches.

After eating we explored the historic downtown shops and statues of past presidents on each of the street corners. The most recently completed statue is currently being shown in the visitor center is of Donald Trump from his first term in office. We then checked out the Hotel Alex Johnson, built in 1927 and is a Hilton Curio Collection hotel. Alex Johnson was a railroad executive at the time and wanted to create a showplace to represent the beauty and culture of the area. The hotel combines historic architecture with handcrafted Native American art in tribute to the area’s Lakota and Sioux culture.