About 60 years ago I spent part of one summer living and working on the Air Force Bomb Range south of Scenic (South Dakota). At that time Scenic was still an active community, but it is now considered to be a ghost town even though a few people still live there. The population of Scenic is listed as 10.
During WW II bomber flight crews were required to spend a certain amount of time practicing aerial gunnery by flying round the Range while shooting at targets. I was told that the flight crews really hated gunnery practice because it was very noisy and the guns had a vibration that was so severe it shook the entire plane and gave the entire crew a headache. Therefore, some of the flight crews just flew out to the Bomb Range, opened the airplane's bomb bay doors, and dumped all of the live ammunition out of the plane. After the War ended the live ammunition just laid out in the Badlands and people started finding it and taking it home for souvenirs.
In the early 1960s the Air Force decided that they had better clean up the mess before someone was seriously injured or killed. Thus, a group of us from the Air Force spent part of the summer living in trailers while collecting and destroying the live ammunition that was spread around the Bomb Range. Since I was the medic assigned to the group, I was not qualified to handle explosives. I could hike with the group and look for munitions, but could not pick them up. Only the Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) people were allowed to pick up and destroy the long strings of live ammunition.
We once found a small bomb that had not exploded upon impact and the EOD people decided to destroy it where it was found, rather than move it to a different location. Some dynamite was placed on top of the bomb and when it exploded a piece of shrapnel went right over my head as I was filming the explosions with my 8 mm movie camera. (Actually, I was behind a dirt bank and just my head and movie camera were above the bank; but the shrapnel still made a whistling sound as it went over my head.)
On weekends we could go into Scenic for supplies at the general store and then go over to the Longhorn Saloon to get something to eat and play pool. I remember the pool table top was warped and the balls would sometimes roll to the center of the table, which made the game more interesting. At that time Sam 2 Bulls even had an art gallery in town.
Many saloons in South Dakota were still segregated in the early 1960s and Indians were not allowed in the buildings, but Scenic was a very progressive community and Indians were allowed to come inside to get something to drink. In the lower left corner of the sign above the door still visible is the notice "Indians Allowed." Also located on the lower right post in front of the building is a sign that says "No Parking Cab Stand," which seems humorous now.
In the early 1960s part of the road from Rapid City to Scenic was still unpaved. When the Highway Department decided to pave the road I once again found myself in Scenic working for the Highway Department on a survey crew for the new road. (This time we lived in Rapid City and drove back-and-forth each day.) Most of my time was spent "blue-topping" stakes for the road grade, but we also worked on the alignment for future sections of the road that were to be completed at some future date.
I am still amazed that some of the buildings in Scenic are still standing because they were about to fall down 60 years ago. There is not much now happening in Scenic, but I am told that Scenic is a popular stopping spot for people on their way to the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.
I stopped and took a picture where I thought the Pole was located; but I later discovered that I took the picture about 2.3 miles northeast of where I should have been. I did, however, drive within 0.5 miles of the Pole location, which was the closest road access.
Just northwest of Allen we found a roadside marker the stated:
A fatal crash occurred one mile southwest of this marker in a wheat field on January 17, 1944 at 11 P.M. The B-17 bomber and its crew was attached to the Second Air Force Command...at Ellsworth AFB, Rapid City, South Dakota. On a night-time routine bombing training mission, an emergency landing was attempted on a predesigned emergency grassed landing area. It would have been successful if the plane had not overshot the grass area and ended up in a wheat field. Four officers and three enlisted men were killed in the crash and fire which followed.
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| Allen Elementary School |
The west side of the Reservation is the dividing line for Mountain and Central time zones and when we entered the Reservation Sophia just happened to notice that her phone had changed from Mountain to Standard time. She wanted to see if the phone changed exactly on the line, so I had to twice drive back over the line to see if her phone changed time exactly on the line - it did not!
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture b Kolohe |
The University was named for the great Indian Chief Sinte Gleska (aka. Chief Spotted Tail), who was the son of Tangle Hair and Walks With The Pipe. He was born about 1823-24 and originally named Jumping Buffalo, but because he always wore a raccoon skin talisman, he became known as Spotted Tail. When he was 15 years old he got into trouble after drinking whiskey, so he pledged that he would never again drink alcohol. Throughout his life he kept his pledge.
In 1854 Chief Sinte Gleska was part of the band of Indians that killed Lt. Grattan at Conquering Bear's camp. He immediately fled the area, but later decided to surrendered at Fort Laramie to stop the killing of innocent Indians. For his part in the killing, he went to prison, but his life changed when President Pierce pardoned him. After his pardon, Chief Sinte Gleska devoted the rest of his life to bring peace to his people. He worked with the missionaries to start Indian Schools because he wanted all of the Indian children to be educated.
Chief Sinte Gleska was a signer of the Treaty of 1868 that created the Great Sioux Reservation and in 1877 he was the person that talked Chief Crazy Horse into surrendering.
In 1881 Chief Sinte Gleska was elected to lead a delegation to Washington and on the way home he met Crow Dog along the road and Crow Dog "shot him off of his horse." No one knows for certain the murder reason, but some reported that it was over a woman and others say the dispute was over different political beliefs. Chief Sinte Gleska (Spotted Tail) was buried on the Rosebud Reservation southwest of Mission.
The most famous recent person to come from Mission was Bob Barker, former host of The Price is Right. Barker was 1/8 Sioux Indian and grew up in Mission where his mother was a teacher on the Reservation.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Sinte Gleska University |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
White River (population 581) is the county seat for Mellette County and appears to have a very bombastic Public Relations Department. On the internet it stated:
Started in 1912 in White River as a community celebration, Frontier Days continues today as a yearly event and attracts people from around the world. Frontier Days will be held August 20-22, 2021, celebrating 110 years of thrilling rodeo action. The rodeo features all of the major events and includes a Ranch Bronc Ride. Also incorporated into the celebration are a parade, rodeo and a traditional Lakota Wacipi.
At the nearby campground I saw a restored Chevrolet Suburban with a kayak on the roof and rear FENDER SKIRTS. That is the first time I have ever seen fender skirts on a Suburban. I did not even know Suburban fender skirts existed!
Vivian also holds the record for the Worlds Largest Hailstone, which measured at 8-inches in diameter and weighed 1.93 pounds.
On the way out of town we noticed some unique his-and-hers bathtubs that could be used to faster get ready for the Saturday night dances.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
Arriving at the Farm near Pierre, we found the ferocious, attack watchdog Bob ever alert and standing guard over the place, protecting it from intruders.
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