We’re staying at a small, three-generation family owned campground in Champaign, Illinois. It’s a lovely, well-maintained campground with only 45 sites sitting by a pretty man-made lake. There’s a walking path along the perimeter of the lake. Our campsite looks out at the lake.

The twin cities of Champaign and Urbana are dominated by the University of Illinois’ main campus. With over 60,000 undergraduate and graduate students, the campus straddles both cities. Originally founded in 1867, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is the biggest employer in the Urbana-Champaign area.

Urbana was founded in 1822 by settlers drawn to the area’s fertile soil. In 1854, railroad tracks were laid 2 miles from the town leading to a second settlement that eventually grew into the city of Champaign.

We haven’t been affected by the wildfire smoke – yet. That may change in a couple of days when we travel to Ohio. Let’s hope for everybody’s sake that firefighters get a handle on the 180 wildfires in Ontario alone.

We’re heading home. We’re currently staying at a lakeside campground in southeastern Minnesota, about 50 miles south of Minneapolis. We’re biding our time until our mid-July appointment at the Winnebago service center in Iowa. The Winnebago factory is in Forest City, where all Winnebago RVs are made. So it’s the best place to get the “house” of an RV checked out. We’ve scheduled 2 days there, but we’re hoping they’ll only need a day.

The final 2 weeks or so we’ll be visiting with friends and family. We’ll stop in Columbus, Ohio, the D.C. area and Philadelphia – all stops we’ve made before. It’ll be nice to see everyone. We should be home by early August.  It’ll be great to be home.

Sioux Falls is South Dakota’s biggest city with a population of close to 225,000 residents. It’s the fastest growing metro area in the Midwest, growing at an annual rate of about 2.5%.

The Big Sioux River is a 419-mile long tributary of the Missouri River that flows along the South Dakota–Iowa border (at 2,540 miles, the Missouri is the longest river in the U.S.) When the Big Sioux River was created by melting glaciers, the subsequent rapids exposed ancient rock formations that came to be known as Sioux quartzite. Sioux quartzite is an especially hard rock of pink and reddish hues. The distinctive colors were created by the coating of iron oxide.

The Sioux Falls were a trading and ceremonial meeting place for the Great Plains nomadic tribes that hunted in the region. The first Europeans in the area were French fur traders who would meet with the local Lakota and Dakota tribes at the Falls to transact business. The current city of Sioux Falls was established in 1883.

Is it Sioux or Lakota? https://youtube.com/shorts/jHZZZAxX24M?is=8ojklNfDtjhZaZ5A

The Falls area was designated a public park in 1938, but it took several decades for it to develop into the current 128-acre Falls Park that’s widely enjoyed by residents and visitors.

To learn the park’s history: https://www.explorethefalls.org/parks-paths/falls-park/park-history

We’ve been staying in Rapid City located on the eastern slope of the Black Hills. The Black Hills are a small subrange of the Rockies on the western edge of South Dakota; about a third of the mountain range crosses the border into Wyoming. The mountains are surrounded by grassland praire, with an average elevation of 6,214 ft. Over a million acres of the Hills are contained in the Black Hills National Forest.

The Hills are covered with Ponderosa pine which makes them look black in contrast with the surrounding grassland. The Lakota Sioux called the hills “Pahá Sápa” meaning  “hills that are black.”

In 1893, the combination of extreme drought and the large piles of tree debris from unregulated logging, called logging slash, resulted in a series of devastating wildfires. One fire alone destroyed 11,142 acres of the Black Hills.

Appalled by the devastation, conservationists lobbied Grover Cleveland’s administration to step in, leading to the establishment of the Black Hills Forest Reserve to manage the use of the forests. The Organic Act of 1887 provided the framework for forest management, balancing protection with responsible use. The Reserve was renamed a National Forest in 1907.

The Black Hills and Native Americans

For the Lakota (aka the Sioux), the Black Hills are sacred territory. They believe it’s where their ancestors emerged into the world. The Hills are considered ‘Wahmunka Oganunka Inchante’ – “the heart of everything” – representing the literal and spiritual center of the universe. Parts of the Black Hills are also sacred to other Native American peoples including the Cheyenne, Kiowa, Arapaho, and the Crow.

The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 recognized the Black Hills significance to the Lakota and Arapaho Nations. It legally affirmed the Lakota’s right to the territory and legally prevented white settlement of the region.

But when gold was discovered in the Black Hills in 1874, miners flooded the region in violation of the treaty. The U.S. government offered to buy the land, but the Lakota refused to sell. The Grant administration labeled the Native Americans “hostile” and ordered them to relinquish their treaty rights. Refusing to hold back the miners, the U.S. Army instead fought the native populations sparking the Great Sioux War of 1876. The government officially annexed the land in 1877.

For a fuller description of the Great Sioux Wars: https://plainshumanities.unl.edu/encyclopedia/doc/egp.war.044.html

The Lakota people have continued to legally fight for the return of their land to the stewardship of the Great Sioux Nation. The1980 Supreme Court decision in United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians ruled that the land was illegally taken and awarded a financial settlement. The tribes have continually refused to accept the money because doing so would  void their claims to the land. Today the settlement, with interest, is worth over $2 billion.

Badlands National Park was established in 1978. It encompasses 244,000 acres of arid to semiarid, highly eroded landscape of steep slopes, minimal vegetation, and sharp ridges, ravines, buttes, and gullies.

Fun Fact: The Badlands formations have a lifespan of approximately one million years. They erode at about one inch a year.

The term “badlands” is the scientific name for rugged landscapes where soft sedimentary rocks have been eroded into striking geological formations. Britannica.com defines it as a barren, heavily eroded landscape forming deep, tortuous gullies with intervening saw-toothed divides. I especially like the adjective ‘tortuous’ to describe the formations. It fits.

Badlands exist on every continent except Antarctica. But the largest badlands in the world are found in Badlands National Park.

For thousands of years, Indigenous people hunted in the region, quarried minerals for tools and collected plants for food and medicine. The Lakota people called the area “mako sica” or ‘bad land’ because of its high winds, temperature extremes, and lack of water. The early French-Canadian fur trappers declared it “les mauvais terres pour traverse” – ‘bad lands to travel through.’

• The dark base layer is shale formed from the deposits in a shallow inland sea that covered the Great Plains about 75 million years ago. It contains the fossilized remains of clams, ammonites, and sea reptiles. (Ammonites are extinct shelled cephalopods known for their coiled shells, related to modern squids and octopuses.)
• The reddish pink stripes are formed by iron deposits that rusted and chemically weathered when the climate was warm and humid. 
• Tan and gray is made of siltstone and mudstone resulting from massive ancient volcanic eruptions in the Great Basin region and deposited by ancient rivers.

The Badlands Wall is a 60-mile-long natural ridge that separates the upper prairie to the north from the lower prairie to the south. The jagged spires, steep pinnacles and deep canyons form the spine of the national park.

The southern section of the Park, known as the South Unit or Stronghold District, lies in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation as established in 1889. It is jointly managed with the Oglala Sioux Tribe. The area holds historical, cultural and spiritual importance for the Sioux. The isolated landscape offered sanctuary to survivors of the Wounded Knee Massacre, making it a memorial to Native American resistance and survival.

Wounded Knee Massacre

Following decades of hostilities between the U.S. government and Native American tribes, especially the Lakota, things came to a head on December 29, 1890. The Lakota leader, Chief Big Foot, known as a man of peace, was leading his band of 350 people across the Badlands to the Pine Ridge Reservation seeking safety.

U.S. officials fearing uprisings had mobilized 5,000 soldiers in the weeks leading up to the confrontation. The band had made camp at Wounded Knee Creek while men cleared a pass over the Badlands Wall. The Seventh Cavalry of the U.S. Army opened fire on the encampment of the Lakota band killing more than 250 people, including Chief Big Foot. Initially identified by the U.S. government as a “battle,” later investigations proved it was a blatant massacre.

Despite the slaughter of unarmed innocents, the U.S. military awarded Congressional Medals of Honor to 20 participating soldiers, a decision that remains highly controversial and debated today.

In 1942, the U.S. War Department took 341,725 acres from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to establish the Aerial Gunnery Range (Bombing Range) for training purposes during World War II. Individuals and families were forced to vacate the area on very short notice. Most of the South Unit is located within the former Bombing Range.

The Yellow Mounds

Around 75 million years ago, a shallow inland ocean covered the Great Plains, depositing a thick layer of black ocean mud. When the sea drained away, the remaining black mud was exposed to air and weathered into a fossilized soil layer called a paleosol, rich in an iron mineral called goethite. When the mineral mixes with moisture and sun  it creates a yellow “rust” on the rock.

We’re in South Dakota for a few days, staying in a campground in Rapid City. Rapid City is the 2nd largest city in the state after Sioux Falls. It’s known as the “Gateway to the Black Hills.”

South Dakota Quick Facts

• The earliest known inhabitants of the territory were nomadic hunters who roamed the Great Plains about 11,500 years ago. They hunted big game like bison, elk and pronghorn.
• The first Europeans in the region were French explorers who claimed the territory for France in 1743.
• The U.S. acquired the vast Dakota Territory (350,000 square miles) in the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.
• South Dakota became the 40th state in 1889

Why are there 2 Dakotas: https://youtube.com/shorts/uQAGB5zTZ5A?is=3FC0UP9iDBEEzksj

• South Dakota was named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux tribes that have historically dominated the territory. Today, nine reservations make up 12% of all land in the state.
• The capital of South Dakota is Pierre (pronounced “peer”)
• South Dakota has a little over 935,000 residents. It’s the 46th most populous state, but it’s growing – with an annual growth rate of about 0.85%. It’s on track to top 1 million by 2030.

Famous Landmarks and Sites in South Dakota

• Mount Rushmore National Memorial
• Crazy Horse Memorial, an ongoing mountain carving dedicated to the Lakota leader funded by private donations only (the project refuses public funding to maintain independence.) It’s slated to be the world’s largest sculpture once completed.
• Badlands National Park
• Custer State Park, 71,000 acres of untamed wilderness famous for its free-roaming herd of 1,300 bison.
• Deadwood, a fully preserved 1870s gold rush town.
• Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, a preserved, intact Cold War underground missile launch control facility.

Cheyenne Botanic Gardens

The Botanic Gardens are a 9-acre garden run by the city of Cheyenne. The 27 specialty gardens are maintained by a core staff of city employees and lots of volunteers. Such a great community resource – beautiful, well-maintained and free!

The Gardens include a three-story-high conservatory and outdoor gardens. The conservatory is tall enough to accommodate tall plants like palm trees. The specialty gardens include a tropical plant collection, an Orchid collection, a Bonsai House, a room with succulents and a Water Garden with koi and a Florida cooter turtle. (There used to be a pair of turtles, but some folks couldn’t resist touching the turtles and one of them got sick and died.)

There are several outdoor gardens with a wide range of species that are both rare and sustainable in the High Plains environment. They include a Rose Garden, an Herb Garden, a Cottage Garden, a Pollinator Garden and a Children’s Garden called the Children’s Village and others.

What’s the difference between a conservatory and a greenhouse? A conservatory is a place where plants are arranged aesthetically for display or education. A greenhouse is a place where plants are grown   and propagated but not displayed. The Cheyenne Botanic Gardens has both.

Crevice gardens mimic Rocky Mountain terrain. This form of gardening has been transformed into an art form by Czechs in eastern Europe. The rocks channel moisture and roots deep into the soil creating surface microclimates that enable plants to thrive.

Cheyenne Big Boots Project

Starting as a public art installation in 2004, regional artists were invited to paint an 8-foot-tall fiberglass cowboy boot guided by the prompt, “If this boot could talk, what story would it tell?”

Originally planned as a one-time installation, the project has expanded and now has over 35 boots scattered throughout the city. It’s become a town-wide scavenger hunt with visitors encouraged to track down all the boots and send in photos.

The Capitol Avenue Bronze Project

The original plan was to have a bronze sculpture on each of the 28 corners of Capitol Avenue, the main thoroughfare that stretches from the Wyoming State Capitol through the heart of downtown Cheyenne. The statues have become so popular that there are now over 90 statues throughout greater downtown.

Each sculpture honors a person, a tradition, or a moment that shaped Wyoming. They’re all privately funded, often by the donor family whose name the statue carries.

The statue honors the women who settled the area in the early pioneer days. The statue’s eyes point toward the state Capitol, conveying the forward thinking and “can do” attitude of women during that time period

The statue is meant to honor and pay tribute to the Indigenous peoples who lived in the region long before Wyoming became a state. Some descriptions say the girl is proudly holding the American flag. I’m guessing there are some who have a different interpretation. It is a beautiful sculpture, though.

Dodge was a Union Civil War general and chief engineer and surveyor for the Union Pacific Railroad. In 1867, Dodge established a town site on Crow Creek, where Cheyenne now stands. The statue stands in tribute to the pioneering spirit of the people of the Capital City of the Old West.

Turner (1853-1936) was a leading advocate in the women’s suffrage and temperance movements. In 1892, she was the first woman delegate to a Republican National Convention.

To learn more about the Project: https://youtu.be/KEFef7QSpCo?is=il0m2_JBzv5Y1-Oi

The Wyoming State Museum

The museum was established in 1895 by the Wyoming  State Legislature. Just 5 years after achieving statehood, lawmakers recognized the importance of documenting and preserving the young state’s human and natural history. Per its charter, the museum is a free educational and cultural institution with a range of collections representing Wyoming’s heritage, from prehistory to the present day.

Some fun things I learned…

• We don’t know exactly when humans first came to the American West, but the evidence that we do know tells us that people lived in what’s now Wyoming as early as 12,000 years ago.
• The Wyoming landscape contains evidence of nearly every geological time period from the first single cell organisms to recent Ice Age survivors.
• While surveying in 1889, a cowboy/surveyor discovered a massive skull protruding from a ravine. He sent it to Yale paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh who identified it as a three-horned dinosaur and named it Triceratops.
• The American bison is the largest living land mammal native to the Western Hemisphere. Although frequently called buffalo, bison are not related to true buffalo.
• Despite their size and bulk, bison are remarkably speedy. Even grizzly bears and wolves, the largest predators in North America, can’t easily take down an adult bison.
• The first Europeans to make it to the land that became Wyoming  were most likely French trappers looking for animal pelts. In the late 1700s they established trading contacts with the local Indigenous tribes.
• A quarry network measuring 10 x 40 miles discovered in southeastern Wyoming in 1879  was initially believed to have been mined by Spanish explorers looking for gold. Called the Spanish Diggings, it was later identified by archaeologists as being entirely of Native American origin. We now know that for over 10,000 years, Native Americans quarried highly prized quartzite and chert to craft stone tools that were traded across North America.

The Cowgirls of the West Museum

The fully volunteer-run museum highlights the history of pioneering women in the West. Its mission is to preserve the history of the women who helped tame, settle, and shape the American West. It highlights the lives of female homesteaders, suffragists, ranch workers, and early rodeo athletes who competed right alongside men. Cowgirls were first documented in the 1890s as they traveled across the country to compete in wild west rodeos.

Learn about the museum: https://youtu.be/bWAakqACUEs?is=fLe74f_zqvE7IU9Q

Fun Facts

• Cheyenne was founded in 1867 as a major railway station during the building of the  Transcontinental Railroad by the Union Pacific Railroad.
• Cheyenne has been the capital city since 1869, when it became the capital of the newly formed Wyoming Territory.
• Cheyenne is still a railroad town – between 80 freight trains pass through the city every day.
• There are no passenger trains into Cheyenne; Wyoming and South Dakota are the only two continental states without Amtrak service.
• Cheyenne is one of four state capitals that has a Native American name. The others are:  Oklahoma City, Topeka, and Tallahassee. (Honolulu comes from the  Polynesian word for “sheltered harbor.”)
• The world’s largest rodeo is held each summer in Cheyenne during Frontier Days, a ten day celebration of Western culture.  It’s been held annually since 1897 and draws 200,000 visitors from all over the world.
• Cheyenne is the 4th windiest city in the country after Dodge City, KS, Amarillo, TX and Kahului, HI. Contrary to its Windy City nickname, Chicago doesn’t even make the top ten.

We’re spending a few days in Cheyenne. We have left the Rockies behind. Cheyenne is located in what’s called the High Plains in the region where the Great Plains meet the eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains. It sits on a broad plateau at an elevation of 6,062 feet. The plateau has few tall trees or natural windbreaks exposing the city to the effects of the jet stream making it a windy city.

We’ve only traveled 70 miles north of Longmont, Colorado, but the weather is so different. We’ve enjoyed several weeks of sunny weather. But Cheyenne is breezy, overcast and rain is predicted for the next several days.

Quick Facts about Wyoming

• The name “Wyoming” comes from the Lenape Indian word ‘mechewea’mi-ing’ which means “on the big plain.”
• Wyoming officially became a U.S. territory in 1868.
• In 1869, the Wyoming territory became the first U.S. government to grant women the right to vote and to hold public office.
• Wyoming became the 44th state in 1890.
• In 1925, Wyoming elected the first female governor, Nellie Tayloe  Ross (1876 – 1977.) She was later appointed by FDR to serve as the director of the United States Mint.
• Wyoming is the 10th largest state by area, but it’s the least populous state with about 586,000 residents.
• 48% of Wyoming is federal land which includes land managed by  the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), national forests managed by the U.S. Forest Service and the Francis E. Warren Air Force Base.

Fun Facts

• James Cash Penney (1876–1971) opened his first store on April 14, 1902 in Kemmerer, Wyoming. By 1973, JC Penney operated 2,053 stores nationwide. Today, there are 650 stores across the U.S. and Puerto Rico.
• Nearly 40% of the country’s coal comes from Wyoming’s mines. It’s the leading coal producer in the United States.
• Established in 1867, E. Warren AFB is the oldest continuously active U.S. military installation.