Pierre, South Dakota

We moved south to Pierre (Pier), South Dakota. Who knew that was the way it's pronounced! Pierre is the second smallest state capital city. We continue to use two lane roads when possible and for the drive from Bismarck they were the only choice. We had a head wind most of the way so it was not a fun drive but once again there was very little traffic.

  Before we were out of North Dakota we passed the Lawrence Welk birthplace in Strasburg. We opted to not stop as it was two miles up a dirt road and we were not sure about parking for Opus. While Welk is a bit before our time, we both remember our parents watching his show every week. 

The capitol was built between 1905 and 1910 in the Greek, Roman and Celtic styles with a central dome. It was designed by the same architects who did the Montana capitol and is a modified version of that building. It was built with native field stone, Indiana limestone and Vermont and Italian marble.

The interior dome is 96 feet above the rotunda floor. It is another 65 feet from the top of this dome to the top of the copper, outer dome.  

In the four corners of the rotunda are statues that represent Integrity, Courage, Wisdom and Vision. The background is the terrazzo floor that was repaired a few years ago. During the repair each worker was given a heart to place in the floor as their signature for the work they had done.

The Great Seal of South Dakota showing industry, farming and transportation. The Black Hills, the Missouri River and the Great Plains show the main geographic features of the state.

Off the rotunda are two corridors where the Supreme Court, Governor's office and other official rooms are located.. The Supreme Court has not been open to the public since 9-11. The columns are scagliola, made-made marble that we have seen used in many capitols, because it is light weight and less expensive than real marble. These columns are hollow with structural steel beams inside. 

Above the doors in the corridors are paintings with scenes of the state's history and geography. The background is the terrazzo floor. When the capitol was built, 66 Italian artists were hired to hand lay the tiles. Each was given a blue stone as their signature stone to be placed wherever they chose. Only 55 of these stones have been found.

The Governor's Reception Room has been restored to its original 1910 appearance with the first governor's desk and furniture. The walls are now plain because the original mural, inserted here, with the woman placing her foot on the Native American on the ground, is offensive to the Native American population.

The Senate chamber. There are 35 Senators who serve two-year terms. Both houses meet every year for a session lasting from 35 to 40 days. The chamber, which has been restored to its original appearance, is decorated in green tones, scagliola columns, Vermont granite, cherry wood and African mahogany.

The House of Representatives Chamber. The House has 70 members who are elected and serve the same terms as the Senate. No member is allowed to serve more than four consecutive terms in each house. They can serve as many non-consecutive terms as they want. The chamber, which was restored in the 1980's, is decorated in earth-tone colors, decorative plaster and oak.   

The Grand Staircase is Vermont Whitecloud Marble. As you can see, it is still used in important processionals for special guests. The vaulted ceiling is leaded stained glass. The painting. The Advent of Commerce, shows early Europeans trading with Native Americans. It is a bit of arrogance to presume that there was no trade before white men arrived.

This display shows replicas of the gowns worn to the Inaugural Balls by the First Ladies of every governor. There is also a bit of information about each.

We walked in on the dedication of this new display the Hall of Honor. It is dedicated to those South Dakota residents who have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award. The Hall of Honor had been located on the second floor of the Soldiers and Sailors Building. Moving it here makes it  more visible and accessible. 

The grounds of the capitol were especially beautiful. The Fighting Stallions Memorial honors the lives of eight men, including Governor George S. Mickelson who were killed on April 19, 1993 in the crash of a state aircraft.

The WWII Memorial pays tribute to the 65,000 South Dakotans who served in that war. The six statues represent the different roles the people of the state played.

The Flaming Fountain is part of the WWI and WWII memorials. The wall and the two soldiers honor those who fought in Korean and Vietnam wars. 

This memorial honors fallen Firefighters, Law Enforcement and Emergency Medical Technicians who lost their lives in the line of duty. This is the first such memorial that we have seen that honors EMTs.

We stayed at Fischer Lilly Park across the Missouri River from Pierre in Fort Pierre. It is a great little community campground with water and electric hook-ups on the bank of the river. 

We saw on the map that we were near the Buffalo Interpretive Center so we drove out to see more buffalo. We found the center was boarded up and the only buffalo were far from the road. The drive was through land that had been eroded into hills by the Missouri so it was neat even if we did not get a good look at the buffalo.

On a bluff overlooking Fort Pierre and the Missouri River is the Verendrye Site. French explorers Francois and Louis-Joseph Verendrye buried a lead plaque here on March 31,1743 claiming the land, that later became the Louisiana Purchase, for France. In 1913 local teens found the plate and tried to sell it to the print shop. Fortunately, the state historian heard about the plate and saved it before it was melted down by the printer. The plate verified that the French were the first Europeans to explore this area.  

The first school house in Pierre dates back to before South Dakota was a state.

The dome of the capitol looking across the Missouri from Fort Pierre. There is a community RV park in Pierre, but we liked the one we stayed in better for both location and the fact we had water.

At this site, where the Bad River flows into the Missouri, Lewis and Clark made peaceful contact with the Teton Sioux. They were here from September 23 - 28, 1804. This spot is less than a half mile from where the Verendryes claimed this land for France over sixty years before. 

We found the Pierre area a neat place to visit. Seeing the capitol so soon after seeing Montana's that was designed by the same architect was interesting.

New heights in the ND Capitol

We ended up staying in Bismarck for six days but did not do much exploring except for touring the capitol. We replenished our supplies after more than a week of small towns. We took advantage of the walking trail by the RV park and checked out a couple local eateries and the Laughing Sun Brewery. Our travel plans at this point are not only being dictated by the winds, but also by when the Penguins are playing. Both of those things are why we stayed here so long.

This capitol was built in the early 1930's after the original territorial capitol burned. The decision to build a skyscraper in the Art Deco style, rather than the more traditional domed building, was based on how much usable space they could get for the money they had budgeted. At 19 stories the building is the tallest in North Dakota. West Virginia is the only other capitol that is the tallest building in its state. It is one of four skyscraper capitols, Louisiana, Florida and Nebraska are the others. 

On the ground floor is the Theodore Roosevelt Rough Riders Awards Hall of Fame. It honors those whose lives were shaped by their time in North Dakota. After Teddy, the first awardee was Lawrence Welk. Some of the others we recognized were Roger Maris, Peggy Lee, Eric Sevareid, Warren Christopher and Bobby Vee. 

The two outer pieces show the states two main industries, mining and farming. The center is a relief on the elevator doors with scenes of state history with settlers and Native Americans fighting for the land, a covered wagon and a train, an early hunter and buffalo, the two main industries and a farmer and a rancher. The background is the wall of a small anteroom made of California walnut, a tree that has been wiped out.  

The Great Seal of North Dakota has several appropriate symbols of the state. A lone tree surrounded by bundles of wheat, a plow, anvil and sledge, a bow with arrows and an Indian on horseback chasing a buffalo into the setting sun. There are forty three stars on the seal even though North Dakota was the 39th state. When the seal was adopted in October 1889 North Dakota was one of four states, along with South Dakota, Montana and Washington, entering the union that year. Since they did not know the order of their statehood they put 43 stars on the seal. 

Legislative Hall is between the House and the Senate. The hall shows the Art Deco style with plain simple lines and the use of wood on the walls. The hall is forty feet high and has recessed seating areas that have acoustically designed tops making a private conversation possible in this large open space. 

There are 94 members in the House of Representatives who are elected to four year terms with half up for election every two years. The legislature meets for 80 days every two years. The pillars and rails are bronze and the walls are American chestnut.  The desks are American walnut. The lighting here is called Stars and Moon at Night. I missed the moon with my picture.

The rostrum is very simple yet eloquent with the seal, flags and chestnut walls. As with some other capitols, the House chamber is blue.

The Senate has forty seven members elected to four year terms with half up for election every two years. The walls here are English oak and the desks American oak. The lighting here is called Sunrise or Sunset. Again, as with some other capitols, this chamber is red. 

The rostrum again is very simple while accenting the height of the chamber with the lights.

The 18th floor is an observation deck with a great view of the surrounding city and countryside, This is the tree lined lawn in front of the capitol. I guess it is not true that the North Dakota state tree is the telephone pole:)

This is the Library Memorial Building, the oldest building on the grounds and houses the Heritage Center. 

The observation deck has many pictures of the old capitol and the building of this one. How about this one breaking the Guinness Book of World Records for the most snow angels on the capitol lawn. Very cool!!

Like all the plains states, the buffalo has played a big role in their history. This statue really captures this huge majestic animal.

We have been crossing the route used by Lewis and Clark since we were in Helena. This is Sakakawea, the Native American who, along with here French husband, served as interpreters for Lewis and Clark from North Dakota to the Pacific Ocean. She was a Shoshone who had been kidnapped at the age of 12 and taken as a wife by Toussaint Charbonneau when she was 13. She played a major role in the success of the mission exploring the Louisiana Purchase.  

The Pioneer Family statue honors those early settlers who came to North Dakota. They had to be hardy people to leave the east and move to this wild, unsettled land.

The old governor's mansion is being replaced by a new, larger more modern house. 

The North Dakota capitol and grounds is well worth a visit. The Art Deco style, which is different from most other capitols, has its own unique beauty. 

Since leaving Bismarck we have been to Pierre to tour the South Dakota capitol, stopped a couple days in Mitchell to see the Corn Palace and the McGovern Library and are now in Sioux Falls to see my cousin and check out the area. Our plan has changed after we found ball bearings when we opened the living room slide in Mitchell. We have an appointment next week near Omaha to have it checked out. 

Helena to Bismarck

Upon leaving Helena we started our trek east. Next on our list was Bismarck to tour the North Dakota capitol. That was a 625 mile trip so we planned a few stops along the way. We had hoped to see Class of  '07 mates Leland and Kathy in Billings, but they were off on a new adventure in their restored MGB. Maybe the next time.

Our goal was to cross most of Montana on two lane roads so here we are on highway 12. We had one more mountain pass to cross before heading into the plains.

Our first stop was a three-day stay at Conestoga Campground in White Sulphur Springs. The weather was less than ideal but we did get to watch the birds in the park. After so many months in the arid climate of the Southwest, we loved seeing green grass again. People here actually own lawnmowers.

We were treated to a couple of beautiful sunsets.

This was our view from Opus. The snow capped mountains are beautiful, but we are ready to put the snow behind us and get on with more summer-like weather.

The sun came out the last day and we took advantage to check out the hot springs. You know the water was very warm when you get Nanc in a bathing suit on a 63 degree day.

There are three pools at the springs. Each is a different temperature so there is something for everyone. The walls around the pools are covered with neat murals with local animals and Native Americans.

What a bonus!!  A microbrewery in a town of less than a 1,000 people. The 2 Basset Brewery had a great variety of brews. On Saturday the place was packed. We went back on Sunday when it was less crowded to talk to the owner, Barry. Turns out his sister-in-law is a doctor at UPMC in Pittsburgh and he has been to the Burgh a few times. Small world.

The wildflowers were in bloom along the road.

This is the first time we have been across Montana this early in the year and were surprised how green it was. While highway 12 was narrow, this is typical of the traffic we saw. Other than an occasional truck there was almost no one on the road.

No it is not a cowboy on the ridge, just more Western big art.

Our next stop was one night at Rosebud East Campground in Forsyth along the Yellowstone River. This was our 500th stop during our almost ten years on the road. The Yellowstone, which is the longest free flowing river in the country, had plenty of water from the snow melt. This lone white pelican was waiting to fish. 

Our last stop before Bismarck was Medora, North Dakota. The town was dead because it was the week before Memorial Day which is the start of the tourist season. When we were here for a week in August 2011 at the height of the tourist season the place was packed. Here is a link about that visit. 

On our first visit we visited the south unit of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The park is the only national park named for a person. Since there was so little going on in Medora we decided to drive to the north unit. We were not disappointed, seeing this big buffalo just inside the gate.

Both units of the park are badlands. In this unit there is a 28 mile round trip drive on a paved road through the park. The colors of the land are unique, but were not very bright on this day because it was overcast.

Both units of the park were shaped by the Little Missouri River. The river originally flowed north into Hudson Bay but that was changed by the glaciers that ended here during the last ice age.

The various colors in the soil is clay that moves when it is wet creating the shape of the land along with the erosion from the river below.

We saw this small flock of grouse along the road.

We like to hike when we are in national parks, but not this time. There are several nice trails we could have used but it was way too windy and cold so we just checked out the park from the car and the overlooks. 

There were signs of buffalo all along the road, if you know what I mean. This herd, that had been bedded down on our way into the park, was on the move when we were driving out.

This picture does not really capture the scene. This lone buffalo was standing high up on the side of the hill. Thankfully, at the turn of the last century people had the foresight to save these wonderful animals that were near extinction.

These "cannonballs" are made from grains of sand that were cemented together by other minerals in the water. As the hill side erodes they loosen and roll to the ground below.

The north unit is almost 70 miles from Medora, but it is worth the drive to see these beautiful badlands.

A major concern at the park and the Little Missouri National Grasslands is the oil drilling in the nearby Bakken formation. The flaring off of gas at the wells has already ruined the night skies in the park. You can see oil being pumped from the north unit. 

From Medora it was a short drive on I-94 to Bismarck. One thing you need to be prepared for when traveling in an RV during the spring in the west is the wind. We really lucked out on this leg of the trip because the 25 to 30 mph winds were at our back. We passed the northern entrance to the Enchanted Highway, a unique North Dakota attraction and one we recommend. Here is a link to our blog post from 2011 when we drove that highway.

An old homestead along the road. You see many of these old places that have fallen into disrepair. It would not be an easy life living on the wind swept plains.

More big North Dakota art. This is Salem Sue in New Salem just west of Bismarck. 

Our next post will be about touring the North Dakota capitol. We have moved on and added the South Dakota capitol to our list. We are heading to Sioux Falls for a few days next week. Planning to just kick back there before going to Lincoln, Nebraska.