Day 8: The Badlands and Bear Lodge
The Badlands were the first destination for which we significantly deviated eastwards. Our first stop was unplanned: we saw a giant prairie dog statue off the side of the road and sure enough, it marked a wonderfully bizarre attraction. Despite the many signs warning tourists not to feed the prairie dogs, there seemed to be a tacit understanding between the owners of the ranch and the tourists that this sign would be disobeyed (and indeed, should be disobeyed in order to keep the prairie dogs unafraid of humans and continue generating revenue for the nearby shop). As soon as we pulled up, not only did we see a family blissfully feeding the rodents, but the prairie dogs started to approach us demanding food.
The scenery was beautiful. It reminded me a bit of the colourful rocks in Kansas and Nebraska, but on a much greater scale. It was like a musical motif finding its final articulation in the climax of a symphony. The most exciting part of the visit, however, was watching out for wildlife. To my disappointment (and to Kelly’s great schadenfreude), we came across no rattlesnakes despite having gotten some well-meaning tips from a tourist we had passed. On the other hand, I spotted a hare, and as we were driving along the final stretch of the scenic way, we came across some bighorn sheep. Finally, just past the exit, we saw three bison grazing in the distance.
Our
original plan for the day was to visit the Black Hills, but having done that
yesterday, we took a more direct route to our next major stop. The only brief detour
was to Belle Fourche, the geographical centre of the US. Unlike Lebanon in
Kansas, the calculation for its position was based on all fifty states, which
somehow includes Hawaii and Alaska without ending up in the Pacific Ocean. Strangely,
among the flags of the fifty states arranged according to date of accession,
there is a Canadian flag. I think we should tell our Canadian friends to watch
out.
From Belle
Fourche, we continued west and crossed into Wyoming. Most people know this
state for Yellowstone and Grand Teton, but the eastern part of Wyoming also
possesses its fair share of natural beauty. Perhaps the most famous landmark is
commonly known as Devils Tower, though – for reasons that follow – I will refer
to it as Bear Lodge.
The term
Devils Tower is thought to be a mistranslation of the Lakota term “black bear,”
which reportedly sounds similar to the words “bad god.” Local Indians refer to
the rock as Bear(’s) Lodge, Bear’s Tipi, Bear Peak, Bear’s House, etc., and
have long lobbied for the official English name of the place to be changed. The
connection all these tribes draw between the rock and bears is very
interesting. It comes from a legend with countless variations. In the Kiowa
version, a bear chases seven sisters, who are rescued from its jaws by the
sudden emergence of this steep rock. The bear claws at it from all sides,
giving the rock its characteristic furrows, but is unable to reach its prey.
The seven sisters are then pushed so high that they become the Pleiades, a
constellation that can be seen above the rock in the middle of winter.
In the
modern day, local Republican politicians have consistently opposed changing the
landmark’s name (which should really be “Devil’s Tower,” but the apostrophe was
lost due to a clerical error). Interestingly, one of the most prominent
opponents of the change is Liz Cheney, who has just lost her primary election
due to one of the very few things she has done right during her entire
political career.
We spent
the night at a hotel in Sheridan, the first place Kelly did not book online
while I was driving. We simply pulled up, got a room, and things worked out. Admittedly,
though, Kelly did end up booking online at the hotel lobby after finding out
the rates were better on the internet.
Our drive today was 444 miles, pushing the total over another threshold at 3092 miles.
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