Day 7

After a good night sleep we left Hot Springs in search of Devil Tower via Deadwood.  Spotting a Wal-Mart near the highway, we could not resist stopping to pick up a few more supplies.  It wasn’t long before we were on the road again and approaching Deadwood.  

I must admit that the HBO series DEADWOOD really built the small city up in my mind and I was anxious to lay eyes on the historic “lawless” town.  I was not disappointed.  The abundance of bikers and horsemen riding through the streets really gave it a renegade feel. Casinos, bars and hotels lined the streets of Deadwood and one half expect a gunfight to breakout at any moment. 

Saloon #10 was the main attraction in Deadwood.  This is the infamous bar where Wild Bill had his last drink.  We all took turns standing in the exact spot where Jack McCall assassinated Wild Bill.  The entire event is incredibly well documented in the saloon and there are life size mannequins in place to give a visual of the act. 

From Deadwood it took us about one hour to reach Devils Tower although we could see our nation’s first monument after about a half hour into the trip. Once we reached the monument, we all got our hiking gear on and set off to hike the <2-mile style="mso-spacerun: yes">  It was an amazing hike with fantastic views in all directions.  We spend a significant amount of time glassing a group of rock climbers that were ascending the rock face of the tower.  It was really nerve racking to watch the group climb up the face of Devils Tower.  I could get into the “scientific” reason for the formation of Devil’s Tower, but I like the Native American’s explanation much more:

Popular Native American Legend

One day, an Indian tribe was camped beside the river and seven small girls were playing at a distance.  The region had a large bear population and a bear began to chase the girls.  They ran back toward their village, but the bear was about to catch them.  The girls jumped upon a rock about three feet tall and began to pray to the rock.  “Rock, take pity on us; Rock, save us.”  The rock heard the pleas of the young girls and began to elongate itself upwards, pushing them higher and higher out of the reach of the bear.  The bear clawed and jumped at the sides of the rock, and broke its claws and fell to the ground.

After getting our fill of Devil’s Tower, we headed to our campsite, which was literally at the bottom of the monument.  After getting the camp set up, we went for a swim and then settled in for some grilled chicken and ice cream for dessert.  Another great day logged!