7/10/15

We enjoyed breakfast in our room this morning before packing up and heading out to see the city of Deadwood.  We started with Mt. Moriah Cemetery which was on our way into town and the burlier place of many famous people.

The first graves we came across were those of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane which are side by side.

Emily and Abigail in front of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane's graves, holding the DVD case for Calamity Jane

Then we hiked to the top of the cemetery (which is on a hill) to see a good view of the town.

Panoramic Photo by Marta Wetmore

After visiting the cemetery, we went into downtown where the old train depot is now a visitor's center.

From there we walked a short distance to the Adam's Museum where a donation got us an entrance ticket.  This museum features the history of Deadwood including that of some of the most famous people who lived there.

Items belonging to Wild Bill Hickock

Portrait of Wild Bill

A collection of photos of Calamity Jane

Abigail and Emily try stereoscopes to view old photos of Deadwood - Photo by Marta Wetmore

Downstairs, the girls enjoyed the kids' area, including a giant puzzle they put together on the wall.

Auntie Liesel helps with the puzzle - Photo by Marta Wetmore

The finished product

Then we headed back upstairs to check out the souvenirs.  While Marta found some great books, Emily and I looked at the life-size cutouts of the most famous Deadwood residents.

After leaving the museum, we went across the back street to look at a sculpture of Wild Bill that was carved by the same artist who started the Crazy Horse Monument.

We started to head back towards the car, enjoying the town as we walked along and stopping in the post office to get stamps.

Saloons that resemble the saloon Wild Bill was killed in

From there, we drove to Broken Boot Gold Mine for a tour and gold-panning.  We ate our self-made lunch in the parking lot before going in.

Once we got our tickets, we donned our hard hats and followed our young guide into the mine.  He pointed out many interesting things about the minerals in the stone, the mining equipment, and he gave us a lot of history of the mine.  When the mine closed down and became a tourist attraction, a broken boot was found abandoned inside.  So the name was changed to Broken Boot Gold Mine.

Marta, Abigail, and Emily Wetmore pose with their hard hats inside the mine

After the tour, it was time to try panning for gold.  Our guide explained the technique which Emily and Abigail did all they could to follow.  It was a bit tricky.

With help from Marta and me, the girls harvested several gold flakes into little glass flasks.  They were pretty excited!

Then began our trip to Bismarck, ND where we would spend the night.  We took a longer route to get out of Deadwood in order to avoid long waits in construction zones of the city.  As a result, we drove through a beautiful canyon with many enjoyable views.

Once we were out of the canyon, we were leaving the Black Hills behind us and it was back into very flat terrain.  I don't recall the last time I could see so much of a road stretching ahead of me into the horizon.  Mindboggling!

Although the land is basically flat, it does boast these fascinating and beautiful buttes of rock that jet up out of the ground sporadically.

This road is fairly desolate, much like the desert roads in the Southwest going to L.A., only with grass!  There were very few towns along the way and most of them were tiny.  If they had a Subway restaurant they were doing good!  Otherwise it was gas station food.  Not even a McDonalds!  At last we came to Dickinson, ND and they had quite a few options.  We found a Thai restaurant and got food to go.  I found a park on the map and we went there to eat our food.  Of course the girls wanted to try the jungle gym before we left!

From there we went strait on to our hotel in Bismarck.