Saturday, July 21, 2007 Cody Wyoming- Monday, Casper Wyoming
We left Jackson Saturday morning after a wonderful breakfast at our hotel, the Rusty Parrot. Our hotel, selected by my clients, is right across from Miller Park in downtown Jackson Hole. As it turns out, it was the site of a 3 day art festival that started yesterday. And we did meet up with our friends Andy and Turza Shows and and had the opportunity to have dinner and visit. What a bonus! Naturally, we enjoyed our visit to the art festival as well.
We traveled from the western edge of Wyoming to the eastern edge and into South Dakota in the course of a day! The state is about 400 miles wide and about the same in height. Interestingly, there are less than 500,000 people in the state. Thus, outside of the interesting tourist spots we visited, we found the state to be sparsely populated…very sparsely! We spent time in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks; Cody, Wyoming (founded by Buffalo Bill Cody), Deadwood, South Dakota, Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse, South Dakota. A couple of themes seemed to emerge from these miles:
-The power and healing of fire
-The incredible accomplishments that can accompany vision and determination
-The vastness of our land and the variety of environments one can find in a small portion of it.
And now the rest of the story…..
Jack and I traveled through Grand Teton National Park. Jack spent some time during my work visiting Grand Teton and was anxious to have me see it and take photos. While I did take some (and will post them when I can get the website to take them in), the morning was a bit hazy and thus, they were not as clear as we would have liked. The park is 45 miles in length from north to south, 26 miles maximum width. Grand Teton is famous for spectacular mountain scenery and wildlife. The mountains and lakes are really amazing. Highest peak is Grand Teton with an elevation of 13,770 feet. There are eight peaks over 12,000 ft in the park and 7 lakes. Given our time schedule, we drove through, with the top down on my convertible and enjoyed the scenery as we drove.
We took the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Highway from there to Yellowstone Park, which was the first of our great national parks. It also illustrates what “vision” and “philanthropy” can do. As you probably know, the Rockefellers donated land for many of our national parks. This generosity is so farsighted. When you travel the country and see how entrepreneurship can clash with preservation of land, you recognize the challenge and possibility for us to benefit from both, so long as we have both values in mind. On this trip, we saw so many examples of people who took their creativity and vision and added value to our country. Sticking with Yellowstone, for a moment, there is another interesting story. A young man by the name of Dan Kingman was off to West Point when Civil War General Philip Sheridan told him that he was to go on a different assignment. Instead he was sent to Yellowstone to chart out the roads. The figure 8 “Grand Loop” that exists today as the main thoroughfare is essentially unchanged from the post civil-war design of that young man. We came across General Sheridan later on this trip when we visited the Buffalo Bill Museum.
We enjoyed our ride into Yellowstone and went to a visitor’s center on the South end of this amazing park. We watched a film made by a western news station about the 1988 fire in Yellowstone and a follow up in 1998 to see how the park had rebounded. There was great controversy about this fire (that destroyed 1.4 million acres of forest). The Forest Service or National Park Service had policies that naturally occurring fires should allow to burn because there is a natural cycle of growth and death that “thins out” the forest and allows for new growth. Some of the trees in this forest were hundreds of years old. Because of the size of this fire, there were many critics of this policy. The park was scorched and depressing. Baleigh and I had visited here about 5 years after the fire and saw the deep scars in the landscape. Today, while there are still many areas that bear witness to that fire and subsequent fires, there is a wonderful resurgence of growth. There are trees that are 10-15 feet in height now, that grew from the seeds released from pine cones by the fire (apparently the seeds don’t release without the assistance of fire). New flowers flourished and other ground cover.
Fireweed is a vibrant pink flower that grows only after a fire for a period of time. In newly burned areas of the park, we saw fields of these flowers. Some of those who commented on the good that came of the fire mentioned the increased biodiversity that occurred as a result as well as the growth of new forests that will be around for another 200+ years that would not have had the room to grow otherwise.
The other amazing natural phenomenon in Yellowstone, of course, are the geysers, like Old Faithful, called so because every 90 minutes, like clockwork.Old Faithful erupts more frequently than any of the other big geysers, although it is not the largest geyser in the park. An eruption lasts 1 1/2 to 5 minutes, expels 3,700 - 8,400 gallons of boiling water, and reaches heights of 106 - 184 feet. It was named for its consistent performance by members of the Washburn Expedition in 1870. Although its average interval has lengthened through the years (due to earthquakes and vandalism), Old Faithful is still as spectacular and predictable as it was a century ago. We also saw hot springs and mudpots during our tour of Yellowstone. We took interesting walks in the park to see some of these amazing geological phenomena. The waterfalls and rivers were equally beautiful.
And the animals were a treat as well: many deer (mostly mule deer);
>"
herds of moose-with baby ones as well. An elk with a spectacular rack (horns). We saw many buffalo (“American Bison”) at a distance and then on our way out of the park, met up with one VERY close to the car (less than a foot away!!) That was exciting. I have a few interesting shots of that guy!
We entered Yellowstone from the South. We departed by the East exit, heading for Cody. We headed down a scary road under construction from 8000 feet elevation and pine trees down to 5000 feet and rocky landscape into rodeo town of Cody: founded by Buffalo Bill Cody. The transition in landscape was as rapid as the descent: a little to windy and shaky for me (over loose gravel due to construction). But the change from high altitude vegetation to desert was remarkable.
Buffalo Bill Museum
I remember hearing the name Sheridan connected to Yellowstone. But here it was again as Sheridan was part of the crew fighting the Indians in the plains. In fact, he was the commander for Custer. He was also quoted as saying “The only good Indian is a dead Indian!” This same civil servant helped manage Chicago during the Great Chicago Fire. The mayor put the city under military control and Sheridan managed the relief effort. (He was also famous in the civil war). He seemed to be ever present in the diverse stories we came across through this trip. He was a character in the life of Buffalo Bill Cody, whom we got to know at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody.
What a complex time and how interesting it was to see how many different ways our country was evolving during the second half of the 19th century! The museum had a fascinating timeline showing what was going on in the country, the world and in Bill Cody’s life at the same time. He was an amazing athlete, marksman, soldier, scout entertainer, logistician, businessman and civic leader. He founded the town of Cody, Wyoming and began work on a dam (that later carried his name) and took a show with 600 performers around the US and Europe to show the wild west to all. His ability to manage 600 people, the livestock and resources to feed all these people and the horses and other animals to participate in the shows was studied by Eurasian leaders to see what they could learn about moving troops! Think about his life span: he road for the Pony Express and hunted buffalo for the army and later produced movies! He died in 1917 at the age of 71. The museum was a fascinating slice of American history. It really had 5 museums in one: a Plains Indian exhibit that was exceptionally well curated; a western art museum with a wonderful range of artists from Remington to contemporary artists; a museum of firearms and a natural history museum. One family of artists whose work could be found in the museum was the Borglum family. One brother was the creator of the sculpture on Mt. Rushmore. His brother’s sculpture was also on display. That leads to another adventure and more stories.
After a morning at the Buffalo Bill Center, we drove 375 miles across Wyoming, through the Big Horn National Forest: another beautiful drive up and then down mountains-covered with pines and swatches of burned tree area and which crosses 8,950-foot Granite Pass and winds through scenic Shell Falls and Canyon. We past by large farms on rolling hills; parched by lack of rain; we saw pastures at higher altitudes with hundreds of cows having their “summer vacation” in the mountains; and areas that were snow-related resorts during the winter with not much going on this time of year. Coming down from the mountains, we met up with the great plains and 200 miles of driving that lacked the excitement and interest of the earlier drives. We could look south at one point and see indications of rain; while we looked north and saw smoke from yet another fire. I have decided that this is the summer of “fire and ice.”
By 6Pm we were in the old cowboy town of Deadwood, subject of a recent cowboy mini-series. Main Street reminded Jack of what you saw in the old western movies! Deadwood has only one main street—all that space permits on the floor of Deadwood Gulch. The rest of the town clings to the steep sides of the canyon. Deadwood is filled with reminders of its lively past as a gold-rush boomtown. In the late 1800s it was a haven for gunfighters and gamblers like Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. Hickok was shot and killed in Deadwood during a poker game on Aug. 2, 1876.
This town was renovated in the late 1980s with funds from newly approved gambling initiatives. We stayed in the old Bullock hotel which is purported to be haunted. We saw a video about it and talked to staff: all of whom have seen paranormal phenomena there. We didn’t. The town is near Sturgis where there is a great big motorcycle gathering the first weekend of August every year-thousands of cyclists show up on their “hogs” and so the town is gearing up for their arrival!
This morning, we left our haunted Deadwood home and drove South for about 45 miles to Mt. Rushmore. The weather was hotter than it is right now in Arizona (over 100 degrees)..so not a day for extensive hiking! We made our way through some crowds to walk through the plaza to see the great sculpture created by Guton Borglum. This brings us to another interesting story of vision and determination.
The name for the mountain is based on an earlier visit by a New Yorker whose name was “Rushmore.” A South Dakota government official (the State Historian) thought the area needed an attraction that would bring tourists. He met Borglum and enticed him with this project. It became his life’s biggest work (no pun intended) and took 14 years to complete. Rather than carve Western heros, as was suggested, Borglum felt a carving of this magnitude should represent all of the country. He selected 4 presidents. The presidents were selected on the basis of what each symbolized. George Washington represents the struggle for independence, Thomas Jefferson the idea of government by the people. Abraham Lincoln for his ideas on equality and the permanent union of the states, and Theodore Roosevelt for the 20th century role of the United States in world affairs. One aspect we found interesting: 90% of the carving was done with dynamite. The likeness was incredible. He sculpted a 1/12 model on site and then transferred the detail to the mountain.. The memorial is one of the largest pieces of sculpture ever created. Borglum intended to sculpt the presidents down to the waist, but died before completing the sculpture. No other figures will be added to the memorial. His son, took care of the final details The massive outcropping of granite from which the memorial was carved is at the top of the mountain. Each face is 60 feet high and carved with an intricate perfection of detail and expression.
Crazy Horse
One of the workers on this project in its early days was another creative genius by the name of Korczak Ziolkowski. He was born of Polish descent in Boston and was interested in sculpting. He signed on to help on what was the biggest sculpting projects in the world on Mt. Rushmore. However, chief Henry Standing Bear and other Lakota leaders saw a sculpture by Korczak and asked if he would carve a sculpture of Crazy Horse as a monument to the Native American peoples. He agreed and spent the rest of his life trying to honor this commitment. He widow and 10 children and now a third generation of the family work to complete this sculpture. Crazy Horse Memorial, the world's largest sculpture, now in progress, is located in the Black Hills of South Dakota just 17 miles southwest of Mount Rushmore. The work was begun in 1948; Korczak died in 1982. The story behind Crazy Horse is quite interesting and warrants a longer discussion at some other point. The sculptures and Crazy Horse are subject of much controversy between segments of the native American tribal communities and the U.S. government and military.
In any event, these monumental sculptures represent incredible vision and determination to create 3-dimensional commemorations of important principles and leaders of our land.
We saw lots more of Wyoming as we traveled south through South Dakota and west back into southern Wyoming and headed for Casper. Tomorrow, we will explore the westward movement of many migrations through this part of the country.
We left Jackson Saturday morning after a wonderful breakfast at our hotel, the Rusty Parrot. Our hotel, selected by my clients, is right across from Miller Park in downtown Jackson Hole. As it turns out, it was the site of a 3 day art festival that started yesterday. And we did meet up with our friends Andy and Turza Shows and and had the opportunity to have dinner and visit. What a bonus! Naturally, we enjoyed our visit to the art festival as well.
We traveled from the western edge of Wyoming to the eastern edge and into South Dakota in the course of a day! The state is about 400 miles wide and about the same in height. Interestingly, there are less than 500,000 people in the state. Thus, outside of the interesting tourist spots we visited, we found the state to be sparsely populated…very sparsely! We spent time in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks; Cody, Wyoming (founded by Buffalo Bill Cody), Deadwood, South Dakota, Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse, South Dakota. A couple of themes seemed to emerge from these miles:
-The power and healing of fire
-The incredible accomplishments that can accompany vision and determination
-The vastness of our land and the variety of environments one can find in a small portion of it.
And now the rest of the story…..
Jack and I traveled through Grand Teton National Park. Jack spent some time during my work visiting Grand Teton and was anxious to have me see it and take photos. While I did take some (and will post them when I can get the website to take them in), the morning was a bit hazy and thus, they were not as clear as we would have liked. The park is 45 miles in length from north to south, 26 miles maximum width. Grand Teton is famous for spectacular mountain scenery and wildlife. The mountains and lakes are really amazing. Highest peak is Grand Teton with an elevation of 13,770 feet. There are eight peaks over 12,000 ft in the park and 7 lakes. Given our time schedule, we drove through, with the top down on my convertible and enjoyed the scenery as we drove.
We took the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Highway from there to Yellowstone Park, which was the first of our great national parks. It also illustrates what “vision” and “philanthropy” can do. As you probably know, the Rockefellers donated land for many of our national parks. This generosity is so farsighted. When you travel the country and see how entrepreneurship can clash with preservation of land, you recognize the challenge and possibility for us to benefit from both, so long as we have both values in mind. On this trip, we saw so many examples of people who took their creativity and vision and added value to our country. Sticking with Yellowstone, for a moment, there is another interesting story. A young man by the name of Dan Kingman was off to West Point when Civil War General Philip Sheridan told him that he was to go on a different assignment. Instead he was sent to Yellowstone to chart out the roads. The figure 8 “Grand Loop” that exists today as the main thoroughfare is essentially unchanged from the post civil-war design of that young man. We came across General Sheridan later on this trip when we visited the Buffalo Bill Museum.
We enjoyed our ride into Yellowstone and went to a visitor’s center on the South end of this amazing park. We watched a film made by a western news station about the 1988 fire in Yellowstone and a follow up in 1998 to see how the park had rebounded. There was great controversy about this fire (that destroyed 1.4 million acres of forest). The Forest Service or National Park Service had policies that naturally occurring fires should allow to burn because there is a natural cycle of growth and death that “thins out” the forest and allows for new growth. Some of the trees in this forest were hundreds of years old. Because of the size of this fire, there were many critics of this policy. The park was scorched and depressing. Baleigh and I had visited here about 5 years after the fire and saw the deep scars in the landscape. Today, while there are still many areas that bear witness to that fire and subsequent fires, there is a wonderful resurgence of growth. There are trees that are 10-15 feet in height now, that grew from the seeds released from pine cones by the fire (apparently the seeds don’t release without the assistance of fire). New flowers flourished and other ground cover.
Fireweed is a vibrant pink flower that grows only after a fire for a period of time. In newly burned areas of the park, we saw fields of these flowers. Some of those who commented on the good that came of the fire mentioned the increased biodiversity that occurred as a result as well as the growth of new forests that will be around for another 200+ years that would not have had the room to grow otherwise.
The other amazing natural phenomenon in Yellowstone, of course, are the geysers, like Old Faithful, called so because every 90 minutes, like clockwork.Old Faithful erupts more frequently than any of the other big geysers, although it is not the largest geyser in the park. An eruption lasts 1 1/2 to 5 minutes, expels 3,700 - 8,400 gallons of boiling water, and reaches heights of 106 - 184 feet. It was named for its consistent performance by members of the Washburn Expedition in 1870. Although its average interval has lengthened through the years (due to earthquakes and vandalism), Old Faithful is still as spectacular and predictable as it was a century ago. We also saw hot springs and mudpots during our tour of Yellowstone. We took interesting walks in the park to see some of these amazing geological phenomena. The waterfalls and rivers were equally beautiful.
And the animals were a treat as well: many deer (mostly mule deer);
>"herds of moose-with baby ones as well. An elk with a spectacular rack (horns). We saw many buffalo (“American Bison”) at a distance and then on our way out of the park, met up with one VERY close to the car (less than a foot away!!) That was exciting. I have a few interesting shots of that guy!
We entered Yellowstone from the South. We departed by the East exit, heading for Cody. We headed down a scary road under construction from 8000 feet elevation and pine trees down to 5000 feet and rocky landscape into rodeo town of Cody: founded by Buffalo Bill Cody. The transition in landscape was as rapid as the descent: a little to windy and shaky for me (over loose gravel due to construction). But the change from high altitude vegetation to desert was remarkable.
Buffalo Bill Museum
I remember hearing the name Sheridan connected to Yellowstone. But here it was again as Sheridan was part of the crew fighting the Indians in the plains. In fact, he was the commander for Custer. He was also quoted as saying “The only good Indian is a dead Indian!” This same civil servant helped manage Chicago during the Great Chicago Fire. The mayor put the city under military control and Sheridan managed the relief effort. (He was also famous in the civil war). He seemed to be ever present in the diverse stories we came across through this trip. He was a character in the life of Buffalo Bill Cody, whom we got to know at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody.
What a complex time and how interesting it was to see how many different ways our country was evolving during the second half of the 19th century! The museum had a fascinating timeline showing what was going on in the country, the world and in Bill Cody’s life at the same time. He was an amazing athlete, marksman, soldier, scout entertainer, logistician, businessman and civic leader. He founded the town of Cody, Wyoming and began work on a dam (that later carried his name) and took a show with 600 performers around the US and Europe to show the wild west to all. His ability to manage 600 people, the livestock and resources to feed all these people and the horses and other animals to participate in the shows was studied by Eurasian leaders to see what they could learn about moving troops! Think about his life span: he road for the Pony Express and hunted buffalo for the army and later produced movies! He died in 1917 at the age of 71. The museum was a fascinating slice of American history. It really had 5 museums in one: a Plains Indian exhibit that was exceptionally well curated; a western art museum with a wonderful range of artists from Remington to contemporary artists; a museum of firearms and a natural history museum. One family of artists whose work could be found in the museum was the Borglum family. One brother was the creator of the sculpture on Mt. Rushmore. His brother’s sculpture was also on display. That leads to another adventure and more stories.
After a morning at the Buffalo Bill Center, we drove 375 miles across Wyoming, through the Big Horn National Forest: another beautiful drive up and then down mountains-covered with pines and swatches of burned tree area and which crosses 8,950-foot Granite Pass and winds through scenic Shell Falls and Canyon. We past by large farms on rolling hills; parched by lack of rain; we saw pastures at higher altitudes with hundreds of cows having their “summer vacation” in the mountains; and areas that were snow-related resorts during the winter with not much going on this time of year. Coming down from the mountains, we met up with the great plains and 200 miles of driving that lacked the excitement and interest of the earlier drives. We could look south at one point and see indications of rain; while we looked north and saw smoke from yet another fire. I have decided that this is the summer of “fire and ice.”
By 6Pm we were in the old cowboy town of Deadwood, subject of a recent cowboy mini-series. Main Street reminded Jack of what you saw in the old western movies! Deadwood has only one main street—all that space permits on the floor of Deadwood Gulch. The rest of the town clings to the steep sides of the canyon. Deadwood is filled with reminders of its lively past as a gold-rush boomtown. In the late 1800s it was a haven for gunfighters and gamblers like Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. Hickok was shot and killed in Deadwood during a poker game on Aug. 2, 1876.
This town was renovated in the late 1980s with funds from newly approved gambling initiatives. We stayed in the old Bullock hotel which is purported to be haunted. We saw a video about it and talked to staff: all of whom have seen paranormal phenomena there. We didn’t. The town is near Sturgis where there is a great big motorcycle gathering the first weekend of August every year-thousands of cyclists show up on their “hogs” and so the town is gearing up for their arrival!
This morning, we left our haunted Deadwood home and drove South for about 45 miles to Mt. Rushmore. The weather was hotter than it is right now in Arizona (over 100 degrees)..so not a day for extensive hiking! We made our way through some crowds to walk through the plaza to see the great sculpture created by Guton Borglum. This brings us to another interesting story of vision and determination.
The name for the mountain is based on an earlier visit by a New Yorker whose name was “Rushmore.” A South Dakota government official (the State Historian) thought the area needed an attraction that would bring tourists. He met Borglum and enticed him with this project. It became his life’s biggest work (no pun intended) and took 14 years to complete. Rather than carve Western heros, as was suggested, Borglum felt a carving of this magnitude should represent all of the country. He selected 4 presidents. The presidents were selected on the basis of what each symbolized. George Washington represents the struggle for independence, Thomas Jefferson the idea of government by the people. Abraham Lincoln for his ideas on equality and the permanent union of the states, and Theodore Roosevelt for the 20th century role of the United States in world affairs. One aspect we found interesting: 90% of the carving was done with dynamite. The likeness was incredible. He sculpted a 1/12 model on site and then transferred the detail to the mountain.. The memorial is one of the largest pieces of sculpture ever created. Borglum intended to sculpt the presidents down to the waist, but died before completing the sculpture. No other figures will be added to the memorial. His son, took care of the final details The massive outcropping of granite from which the memorial was carved is at the top of the mountain. Each face is 60 feet high and carved with an intricate perfection of detail and expression.
Crazy Horse
One of the workers on this project in its early days was another creative genius by the name of Korczak Ziolkowski. He was born of Polish descent in Boston and was interested in sculpting. He signed on to help on what was the biggest sculpting projects in the world on Mt. Rushmore. However, chief Henry Standing Bear and other Lakota leaders saw a sculpture by Korczak and asked if he would carve a sculpture of Crazy Horse as a monument to the Native American peoples. He agreed and spent the rest of his life trying to honor this commitment. He widow and 10 children and now a third generation of the family work to complete this sculpture. Crazy Horse Memorial, the world's largest sculpture, now in progress, is located in the Black Hills of South Dakota just 17 miles southwest of Mount Rushmore. The work was begun in 1948; Korczak died in 1982. The story behind Crazy Horse is quite interesting and warrants a longer discussion at some other point. The sculptures and Crazy Horse are subject of much controversy between segments of the native American tribal communities and the U.S. government and military.
In any event, these monumental sculptures represent incredible vision and determination to create 3-dimensional commemorations of important principles and leaders of our land.
We saw lots more of Wyoming as we traveled south through South Dakota and west back into southern Wyoming and headed for Casper. Tomorrow, we will explore the westward movement of many migrations through this part of the country.
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