The weather was glorious – finally – and I headed into Rapid City to see what I could see.
The big attraction in Rapid City is the statues of the presidents.
They have most of them, from Washington to Dubya. The folks in the tourism department said that President Obama wasn’t up yet – remember that this was in spring 2017. A couple others were in the shop for repairs and maintenance. Still, there were a lot of presidential statues to track down.
Some of them were lesser known presidents, like Millard Fillmore. He is one of Buffalo’s “native sons”.
In fact, here’s a photo that I took of his statue of him that is outside the Buffalo, NY City Hall.
Speaking of Buffalonians, there is also Grover Cleveland.
Here he is in Rapid City.
Here he is in Buffalo.
Of course, these aren’t the only presidents with Buffalo connections. There is also William McKinley.
Of course, his connection isn’t quite as felicitous as the previous two. He was assassinated at the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo in 1901. .
There is no statue of him in Buffalo, but there is a monument dedicated to him in Niagara Square, in front of the Buffalo City Hall.
I grew up on McKinley Avenue in suburban Kenmore, and it never occurred to me that I had never seen a photo or a statue of President McKinley. Now I know what he looks like. More or less. At least I know that he used the telephone.
After McKinley came Teddy Roosevelt.
There were presidents that I didn’t know as much about, like James K. Polk, who was president 1845 – 1849. During my travels through the states, I had noticed a lot of counties, streets and cities named after him. In fact, when I was a Texas resident, my address was in Polk County. I figured that he must have been president during a time of expansion. It turns out that my guess was correct, at least as far as my ultimate source (Wikipedia) is concerned.
According to the Source, “during Polk’s presidency, the United States expanded significantly with the annexation of the Republic of Texas, the Oregon Territory and the Mexican Cession following the American victory in the Mexican-American War.”
Since I’m talking about presidents with a connection to me, here’s Gerald Ford, whose final resting place is about fifty miles north of Kalamazoo at the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Then there is George H. W, Bush. I actually got to shake hands with him in the Rose Garden at the White House when I received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Teaching in 1991.
Jimmy Carter was represented. My connection to him is that I attended Sunday School with him in Plains, Georgia. After church, I got to have my photo taken with him and Roselyn.
Some of the statues captured iconic poses.
Here’s Harry S Truman with the historic “Dewey Defeats Truman” newspaper.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt is addressing the nation from behind the podium.
I appreciated the details that were included, like the text of his speech and the cane leaning against the podium.
President Eisenhower was the first president I can remember from my life. I barely remember him, but he was my first president.
Speaking of presidents I remember, I remember watching the convention coverage on TV when JFK was nominated. I was so frustrated that people kept applauding and interrupting him. I thought that was so rude. But I was only four at the time, so I had a limited frame of reference.
After JFK was LBJ. Given the way LBJ came to office, I kind of think the location of his statue was rather ill-advised.
LBJ had big dreams and big goals. I find it kind of amazing that he was only 64 when he died.
Richard Nixon is represented, too. His pose is appropriately somber, in my opinion.
Reagan looks like he’s ready to go clear some brush.
I’ve already shared George H.W. Bush. Next…
Bill Clinton.
Then there was Dubya giving us a big thumbs up while he is walking his dog Barney. Now, I am a cat person, but I thought that when you took dogs for a walk, you let them walk. But what do I know?
And that is as up to date as they are in Rapid City.
Incidentally, I was curious about where the name of the city came from.
It turns out that Rapid City is named after Rapid Creek. Supposedly, the creek’s name comes from the Sioux, who named it for the many rapids in the stream. I didn’t see much in the way of rapids, but I didn’t check the whole length of it. It’s about 85 miles long and is a tributary of the Cheyenne River.
Sunlight makes things just sparkle. The grain elevators are positively glowing.
Speaking of glowing, I love this shot of an alley I saw as I wandered back to the center of town.
I came across the Alex Johnson Hotel – the same one that had the flag from Mount Rushmore draped on it when the Washington head was dedicated in 1930.
I love fancy hotels, so I had to zip inside to see what I could see.
There was the check in and check out, along with some visitors who were checked out and “resting their eyes.”
The ceiling was elaborately painted.
The chandelier fits right in.
Napping seemed to be the thing to do.
Of course, if you have a few bucks burning a hole in your pockets you could buy this sculpture that is on display in the lobby. It’s by Truman Bolinger, and according to the sign with it, it is entitled “No Sarsaparilla For These Boys.”
I was sure that this was a mistake. Sarsaparilla? I was sure it should have been sasparilla. But, I guess I was the one that was wrong. There is always something to learn!
You’d need quite a few bucks to tuck this in your luggage, though, even though it is marked down to $14,000 from $24,000. Hey, there are only 14 others like it.
This 8 foot all, 1700 round bronze sculpture is in front of Prairie Edge, and is called “Hunkayapi” or “Tying on the Eagle Plume.” It is inspired by the Lakota naming ceremony which is known as Hunkayapi, or making of relatives.
Prairie Edge is a store dedicated to native American arts and crafts, and they have high quality wares. They are not inexpensive items made for the tourist trade, so I hope that they pay the artists a fair price for their work.
Out of respect for the artists, I was discrete in snapping only a few photos of their work inside the shop. If you are in the market for these works of art, they are available on line.
One thing that captured my attention was the bead library.
It looked like a rainbow had been captured and put in bottles.
They were so elegantly displayed. It made me want to buy some beads and make something. (But I didn’t.)
Hobbies are apparently big in Rapid City. My attention was captured by this sign for Who’s Hobby House.
I enjoyed the old signs in town. Here’s Bob’s Shoe Repair. I love a vibrant downtown with businesses that look like they have been there forever.
I guess every town needs a pawn shop or two. This one is fairly new. It started out as The Clock Shop in 1986, dealing in pre-owned clocks, watches and jewelry. People started asking them to take other items, so in 2011 they opened Presidential Pawn and Gun.
People were bringing rare and odd items, so they decided it was time for a new venture. They opened up the world’s only Pawnseum in 2015. Now, the Clock Shop, Presidential Pawn and Gun and the Pawnseum are all under the same roof.
There are all sorts of things.
I rather like their marketing technique. Everything You Can Fit in This Bag for $3 Million Dollars. Too bad I only had $2 million on me.
This plate from the Alex Johnson Hotel might be an appropriate souvenir, in spite of the logo.
And then there is Korczak’s autographed work hat. If you remember, Korczak was the driving force behind the Crazy Horse Memorial.
I would find this bit of history to be fascinating.
I remember John Glenn’s historic flight. I was in first grade at the time.
And by that time, it was time for me to head back to my own little capsule and get ready to blast off in the morning. There was just one more thing to do.
South Dakotah is on the map. One more to go!