There are many things to see and do in South Dakota!

I've been to South Dakota twice and I would highly recommend it as a place to visit at least once.  First you can visit Mt. Rushmore and Custer State Park in South Dakota.

Nearby, you can see the ongoing carving of the Crazy Horse Memorial.

The above photograph is a model of what the finished product is supposed to look like.  The following picture is what the memorial looked like back in the 1990s:

http://www.nps.gov/moru/index.htm

http://gfp.sd.gov/state-parks/directory/custer/default.aspx


I wrote about Mt. Rushmore and the importance of messages in stone in my fourth book, The Library Kids Talking Stones.  The idea behind carving images and information in rock or stone is that these recordings of information can hopefully withstand the test of time and weather, whereas paper copies of written information tend to fade, be burnt or the language they are written in, is forgotten.  An image is a better and quicker way to convey information across the span of time and putting this image in rock or stone is an even better way to ensure the information is transferred to future generations.


You can drive up to Deadwood and find some Old West history.  The stories of Calamity Jane, Wild Bill Hickok, Buffalo Bill, Preacher Henry Weston Smith, Sheriff Bullock and many others that tried to tame the west is recorded there.

The following machine was in the Deadwood Library and is a machine that old time doctors used to administer a small electric current to patients in hopes that it would cure their ailment:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadwood,_South_Dakota

I also went to visit a sacred mountain/hill called Bear Butte.  It's a hike up and many Native Americans give prayer at this place.  The above is an offering left at a prayer site on Bear Butte.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_Butte

By Rita Jean Moran (www.thelibrarykids.com)