P. D. Peterson

“ A huge tunnel is blasted through one rock.
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We must drive back to the wide ledge and park our car while we gaze over the edge of the precipice and past the great valleys to the high mountains of stone Needles in all directions. The view is indeed one to remember. The feeling of the grandeur of nature that this leaves with us is something that lives with us forever.
We pass on over this remarkable road cut through the mountain tops. The Needles Highway is all it is reputed to be. But one must take it slowly and stop to admire it to fully appreciate it. ”

“ We listen with open mouths, and find it difficult to tear ourselves away for the continuance of our journey.
Twenty-four miles west of Interior, after traveling through the scenic splendor of the Badlands we come upon a vast expanse of land covered with a crust of once molten rock about an inch thick, now all broken into fragments. The formation consists of two hardened layers of once molten rock, probably of calcium silicate composition, smooth on the outer edges and joined together by countless papilae, making the whole look like two layers joined by a porous center. ”

“ After the return to Deadwood we must by all means spend some time in this metropolis of the interior of the “Hills.” The gold rush days are not much in evidence. Deadwood is a modern city and a thriving business center. The stores, curio shops, and souvenir sellers invite our curiosity, and are likely to hold us for sometime. The remains of mines, the slag heaps from smelting days, and the open mine shafts are indeed curiosities. While in Deadwood we must not forget the fine municipal bathing pool and park. ”

“ We descend the south slope of the ridge, past the new Cedar Pass Camp, and drive five miles or so over a good road into Interior. On the way, however, we stop and walk for some distance among the hills. We find the clay to be hard and firm, resembling baked mud in texture. Each rain washes a little of the clay down, causing a gradual erosion through the years. This process has gradually uncovered the remains of life of this country at the time of its formation. We find a petrified tooth of some great animal. ”

“ True to the spirit of the Black Hills, Rapid City Municipal Camp has its neat log cabin, with reading table, fireplace, electric lights, and other conveniences for its guests. Tourists are welcomed there at any and all times. These log cabins are a decided thrill to the traveler who is not familiar with them. ”

“ In some places the road is merely a shelf on the side of a mountain. The rock is blasted out and the nice wide road, the perfect replica of our modern prairie highways, surfaced, is superimposed upon it. Slopes are gradual, the road wide enough for safety anywhere, and every other means of convenience to motorists has been considered. In one place there are possibly a half dozen switchbacks making it possible for a person to ascend a high mountain by gradual ascent on the shelf-like road, switchback and ascend more, almost straight above the road over which he has just come. ”

“ Trout fishing is good in Battle Creek and Slate Creek on the other side of Hill City.
Just before reaching Keystone we turn up a side road to the right. We come to two very impressive log houses. These, we decide, are just the type we would like to build for ourselves. We drive in and ask the man in the yard what a house like that would cost. Imagine our chagrin when he tells us the houses belong to the millionaire owner of the Etta Lithia Mine, one of the larger mines of the Hills. The large house is the house in which the owner lives for two weeks each summer. ”

“ We spend more time than we had planned examining the place, so we find ourselves in Interior for the night. We pitch camp, and during the night receive our first rain on the trip. Our sympathy for the poor little mouse who had appropriated a little of the tent roof for his nest is not very pronounced.
The next morning we rise early. We hike to “Big Foot,” a high clay ridge south of town, and climb it. It proves much higher and more difficult to climb than first appearances indicate. The climb is a thriller, especially as the clay is a bit slippery this morning. ”

“ We would not be human if we did not display our ignorance up here. We just naturally feel that we must ask some kind of a question to commemorate the fact that we are up here.
We are now on the highest point in the Black Hills. Not only this, it is the highest point in the state and greater still, the highest point in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. We are 7,244 feet above sea level and about a thousand feet above Sylvan Lake. This little house away up on the top of a rock looks pretty frail beside the boulders upon which it stands. ”

“ Hill City is in the heart of the Black Hills. It has excellent connections with various cities, fishing grounds and places of scenic interest. Sylvan Lake is nine miles distant, Rapid City 20, Deadwood 40, Custer 15 and the Game Lodge 27. Hill City is only a small place, but it is an “up and coming” progressive little town. They believe in advertising, and a few of its citizens are rather farsighted in their attitude toward visitors. The tourist park is not like some of the rest, but it affords shelter and many conveniences. ”

“ We finally flounder around to a farm house near the south slope, leave the car and start up.
Climbing Bear Butte. It is more steep than it looked
The slope is steep and progress slow. The whole party of us begin the climb. When we reach the shale slope and have to climb instead of walk, only three of us are still going. Even our shoes show the effects of the rocks. Well, we climb for an hour and finally find ourselves on the top of this promontory which we have by this time learned to respect. The pictures show the size of the rocks compared with the humans climbing them. ”

“ It is almost marvelous to think that a country could pass from the extreme of an outlaw West to the highly modern civilization that Lead and Deadwood present today. No place on earth but the progressive pioneer western community with its fertile and indomitable brains could do it. ”

“ But the people all over the Hills, especially in the larger cities are fast awakening to the realization that good parks play a tremendous part in the development of their localities. Spearfish, Sturgis, Rapid City, and Deadwood were the first to realize the value of service to their visitors. They have doubtlessly reaped rich reward for their investment, judging from the number of people who use those camp sites night after night. ”

“ A good driver might pilot his car up and down later with comparative safety, but the hill is very steep, and ascent by foot might be more advisable.
The cemetery proper is located on the slope of a mountain, high up, overlooking the city of Deadwood. From the cemetery a path takes us higher and higher, to the very peak of the mountain, one mile and six feet high. The peak is of bare white rocks, and is so named, “White Rocks.” It is over 700 feet higher than the city. The view from here is remarkable. Hills, valleys, mountains, and cities are visible from the peak on clear days. ”

“ Hotel rates are reasonable in the Hills, for those who prefer the best of conveniences rather than a complete outdoor vacation. Bus lines and train service from these afford excellent sight-seeing facilities. However, for some of us who enjoy freedom and independence the conventional tour seems to savor too much of routine. We lose some of the great pleasure of conquest and discovery of unusual and inaccessible places. And the privacy of our party, our own division of our time for the things that we personally are interested in, are features that make or break the success of the trip. ”

“ Camping equipment is an enigma. A light tent, heavy enough to shed rain, large enough to accommodate all, and not having unwieldy poles, is the first essential; unless cabins, when accessible, or hotels are to be used. Second, enough cots should be provided to accommodate all. Car cushions and car beds are sometimes desirable. Probably the best is the small steel folding double camp bed with springs and a thin mattress. ”

“ We arrive in Hot Springs late in the afternoon and look for a cabin for the night. All of them are filled up, so we look for a camp site. Evans Heights is too steep for our heavily loaded car, and we drive down to the Municipal Camp. After pitching camp we attempt to find out what there is in Hot Springs to see. We find that there is much and accordingly lay our plans for a big day.
After breakfast the first thing we do is to cross the railroad track on foot looking for petrified moss and wood. From the stream bed we get several particularly fine specimens of the moss. ”

“ It is steep and winding. Cars go up several miles, but it is quite a climb. At the top is a long cable over which supplies are transported to the top of Rushmore. The carving is just begun. It has been discontinued for lack of funds, much to the regret of the people of the “Hills” and of South Dakota. If the work is finished it will be a monument of no mean calibre and a shrine for tourists. We did not take the footpath to the top, though such can be done. By climbing the steep precipitous crags facing it one gets a remarkable view of the grand and majestic bald peak. ”

“ Rim Rock Highway in the Black HillsRise Studio, Rapid City, S. D.
40 CHAPTER V
Cement Plant
Monday morning we strike camp at 9:00 a. m. We drive into Rapid City, get our snapshots of the Badlands which had been finished there, again shop a bit, and drive out to the cement plant.
First, however, a word about Rapid City. It is a thriving little city on the eastern entrance to the Hills. The streets have a modern air to them, with occasional reminders of the days of the “West.” During the tourist season the city fairly teems with life. Prices are reasonable and the people are courteous. ”

“ The State cement plant is run by the State of South Dakota. It employs about 150 people. The plant consists of the quarries, the sheds for raw rock, chutes, power house, crushers, the hydrating and baking plant, the furnaces, the drying tanks, the sacking department, and the offices. Each of the buildings is very large. The raw rock shed holds thousands of tons of rock. Each of the ten storage or drying tanks holds 15,000 barrels of cement. The plant can turn out twenty car loads a day, with eight hundred to a thousand sacks to each car.
The men work nine hours each day and sometimes ten. ”

“ Seven and a half miles up the canyon from Spearfish we come to Bridal Veil Falls. This is a beautiful waterfall, with not much volume but a great height. Probably it falls 200 feet and is twenty feet wide on the average. The spectacle of this is really awe inspiring. The flimsy lace like folds tumbling over the succeeding layers of rock make unquestionably the most beautiful waterfall in the Black Hills. We stop at its foot to eat our lunch while admiring its beauty.
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Multiplex Falls
From Bridal Veil Falls the road winds up the canyon to the Spearfish hydro-electric water flume. ”

“ The Black Hills are highly mineralized, containing practically every known element to a greater or lesser degree. Lead is the home of the Homestake mining company, the largest gold mining concern in the world. The company has been running continuously since 1877 and has taken from the ground approximately 56,000,000 tons of ore yielding $200,000,000 of gold (now over $212,000,000.) In order to produce an annual output of $6,000,000 about 2,000 men are steadily employed. The average daily output is 43500 tons, or 1,750,000 tons annually. ”

“ The road is steep and precipitous, winding and none too wide, though cars can pass almost any place with a matter of inches to spare. The lower part of the road is good, up to the foot-path. But from there up, if one wishes to go by car the driver requires some skill, a good horn, and well adjusted brakes. With a little patience, and a few hazardous looks down the steep mountain sides we reach the summit. If the foot path is taken the trip is shorter and less hazardous. These mountain paths are excellent for exercise, believe it if you can, or try it. ”

“ We hope that we may pick up some rose colored quartz, the rock that is most popular for decorative purposes in the “Hills.” Here an unexpected pleasure awaits us. A young fawn is standing across the ravine watching us innocently. When we discover it we cannot help 95 turning to stare, rapt in wonder. Soon a doe, then another, and behind them two bucks and more emerge from a thicket. One of the bucks raises his front foot and points his muzzle toward us. The whole herd turn and bound gracefully out of sight. It is a scene that will long remain in our memories. ”

“ We have not been in Hill City long before the “filling station information bureau” tell us that no trip to the Hills is complete without a visit to the Keystone mines and Rushmore Mountain. So, for them we start. Keystone is about ten miles from Hill City. We leave town at the north end, over the railroad tracks, headed due east. The road is very, very winding. It follows the valley of Battle Creek, going up and down over small hills, tributary springs and streams, and around rocks. ”

“ We decide that no prettier or more inspiring place can be found for our lunch, so we eat in the valley beside the falls. After lunch we inspect the aqueduct, for irrigation, I believe, that crosses just above the falls.
But we must be on our way. Some of us who are not accustomed to it wonder at the composition of the red soil in the Hills region. We see crops, good crops, growing on brick red soil. We can hardly credit our senses, but it must be true. ”

“ Bear Butte 49 Creek flows directly behind our tent. Above our heads are electric lights. Beside the thrill and exhilaration of camping the conveniences are almost equal to those enjoyed in a first class hotel. The nice shady camp site, however, to the person enjoying the out-of-doors makes a hotel feel like a dungeon. The tent takes but a few minutes to set up and it adds tremendously to the pleasure of an outing.
Bear Butte, close up O. A. Vik
We get a good night’s rest in the Sturgis park and rise early the following morning to partake of the nice hot flap-jacks, bacon, coffee and oatmeal. ”

“ In addition, it is a beautiful drive. The tall stately pines have almost a noble look to them.
The road leads over long gradual grades, up hills and through valleys. There are camps and cabins along this route, and the trout fishing is good. Icebox Springs, is a very cold spring six miles from Lead and 6270 feet above sea level. Here we get a drink of clear, cold water, maintained as such without the aid of refrigeration. The spring pours right out of the side of the canyon. Terry Peak, within 200 feet of the same height as Harney, rises a short distance from the trail. ”

“ The experiences include climbing precipitous places, jumping and climbing over rocks, looking down over precipices hundreds of feet below, continually discovering something new to enjoy. The effect is invigorating, exhilarating, satisfying. The path is not dangerous at any place, though filled with thrills, especially on the paths built on ledges around the mountain. ”

“ The flap inside the toe of the sack pulls across the hole closing the sack. Each man has four sacks filling at once, 42 and he has just barely time to put on a sack and re-adjust his machinery before the next sack is ready. The conveyor belts carry the filled bags to a chute which deposits them in the box car, one on either side of the sacker. Each of the many machines throughout the plant is driven by a small but powerful electric motor.
A visitor in the forests of the Black Hills
The cement plant is not one of nature’s wonders, but one of the products of God’s masterpiece, man. ”

“ The Belle Fourche Roundup has been taken up in some detail. Other events of the summer season are not wanting. Rapid City has its Council of American Indians, Custer its Gold Discovery Day, Deadwood its Days of ’76, Interior its Roundup, and so on. All of these affairs are worth attending. They are first class, demonstrations of the things they convey, and there is a liberal education in them for the person uninformed in their field of thought. ”

“ It is a camp for building up physically run-down children. No one with tuberculosis or other communicable disease is admitted. The plan is to have the children live out here away from vices and irregularities of city life, where proper hours, food, exercise and supervision may build up their run-down bodies. The records show remarkable results. Children are required 92 to rise at a certain time, observe exercise periods, rest periods, to eat wholesome meals at regular times and to sleep enough each night. They have a nice swimming hole, too. The children enjoy the vacation. ”

“ The party consisted of twenty-six men, one woman, and her son. They left Sioux City in October of 1874. They suffered many hardships in the trip, crossing the Badlands, swimming the Cheyenne River, and overcoming innumerable difficulties. They kept ever on, confident that they would all become millionaires 131 as a result of the expedition. They met Indians to whom they had to give much of their food. They finally struck the Hills near Sturgis and from there took General Custer’s trail south to Custer City. ”