50th Anniversary Trip - Day 8: Dusty Roads and Old Bones

Temperature outside was 49 degrees when we woke up at 7:00 a.m.  A great morning to walk Sandy and also take some pictures all before a hearty breakfast (bacon and eggs).

Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull lead the attack against Custer at the Battle of Little Big Horn in June, 1876.  In May, 1877 he surrendered 900 members of his tribe at Fort Robinson.  The simmering Indian problems were starting to cool down.  I guess Crazy Horse could no longer live imprisonment, so he tried to escape but was killed during the escape.  Below is the reconstructed building in which he was killed.

Top and bottom pictures show the terrain of the area in which Ft. Robinson is set.

About 10:00 a.m. we drove to Toadstool Geologic Park.  It was a 15 mile dusty, gravel road but worth the less than smooth drive to see this park.  We took a one-mile loop trail through the main area of "toadstool."  Some of the trail required climbing over rocky trail and some went along the edge of cliffs overlooking small drop offs.  We were very careful as we hiked along.  This would not be a good place for a fall.  Our knees cooperated and we were able to enjoy the hike.  We are so glad that we took it.

See how carefully I am walking.

This is a good picture of just a few of the toadstool formations.

Here is Carol using a toadstool as a stool to rest a bit.

This picture shows the last portion of the trail.  It goes down over big rocks and had lots of little rocks in the pathway so care was very important.  This lady passed us on the trail and reminded us that we all needed to go slowly and carefully because this wasn't a foot race.  The beginning of the trail can be seen at the top of the picture.

 

The Toadstool Geological Park is located in Oglala National Grasslands.  It looks very barren but their are three ranches within this area of the grasslands.

In the 1860's and 70's, the government allowed men to settle in these grasslands through Homestead Acts.   They made sod houses like the one above. The wind blows constantly our here and by removing the sod and natural grasses, the wind blew away the rest of what could have been tillable land.  In time, the homes and property were abandoned and eventually the government brought back the land.  The walls of this home are two feet thick.  It was said to be cool in the summer and warm in the winter

We drove abut 30 miles of this kind of road.  Our city car became a country care covered in layers of dust.

We heard about this restaurant and it was along the road that we had taken to the Hudson-Meng Bison Bonebed.  The Bison Bonebed was an area about the size of a football field filled with nearly 600 bison who died 10,000 years ago.  Even though many professors and archaeologists have studied the bonebed, they can't agree on what may have happened to cause this many bison to die in one area.  Their was a marker board near the exhibit and one person had written "aliens."  This is just one of life's many mysteries.

We had a wonderful lunch here.  The dining area was small but furnished with cowboy/western items.  Carol had a buffalo burger and cowboy beans.  He said both were very good.  I had an Indian frybread taco.  Again, it was delicious.

Beside the restaurant was a replica of an old western town.

Along the road we drove through a small herd of cows.  It is open range in this area.

I couldn't resist taking a picture of this house in Crawford (just outside Ft. Robinson).  The owner of this home qualifies as a true patriot!

We saw this herd of Texas Long Horns along the highway.  I guess I should call them Nebraska Long Horns.

Again, I couldn't resist this.  This was on the side of a railroad car.  To me it tells a story of someone in love.  The diamonds, him popping the question, they are in love and the flowers represent marriage.  This could be totally wrong but I thought this graffiti was so different from what is usually on rail cars.  On a side note, at the Bailey Yard we heard that it costs $7000 to repaint over the graffiti and it usually isn't done unless the graffiti is totally inappropriate.

This was the flagpole that has been at Ft. Robinson since 1880's.  It has been in several locations around the camp.  The ladder to the crow's nest is where the camp bugler would play the different trumpet calls for the soldiers.

I don't have a picture but we stopped  by a history museum containing the fossils of two large prehistoric mammoths.  Their bones were found a few miles north of here.  The interesting thing is that the fossils were found with their tusks locked together.  Evidently, they had been fighting each other and one fell down and couldn't get up and because they couldn't not unlock their horns, they eventually died in that position.  As they uncovered the fossils, both mammoths were nearly completely intact.  They had other fossilized bones of creatures who had roamed this part of the country.  Because it is so dry here, the bones of the creatures that died here have been well preserved.

We have really enjoyed the day.  The temperatures did get into the upper 80's but dry heat so not unbearable.  We sat outside the RV in the shade and with the wind  blowing, it was very comfortable.  Carol cleaned the windows of the motorhome and car and saw a flock of wild turkeys across in the grasslands.  We are going to spend the rest of the evening relaxing.  Tomorrow we head for Ft. Collins to spend a week.  We are looking forward to seeing John and Family.