Homeschool On the Range: Roadschool Trip to South Dakota

Our journey north took us through the western part of South Dakota....home to Mount Rushmore and Deadwood! We journeyed through the wild west era of Wild Bill Hickok, sang camp songs about ghost chickens, and stood in awe at Gutzon Borglum's artistry...

Wild Bill Hickok & Deadwood
In the 1870s, gold was discovered in the Black Hills. When some miners came across a creek full of dead trees and gold, the town of Deadwood was born. It was a boomtown, growing full of gamblers, outlaws, gunslingers, and gold seekers within just a few weeks.

Wild Bill Hickok was a prominent figure in the Wild West. His background as a Union soldier and Pony Express wagon driver are just part of what led to his dangerous and adventurous life up in Deadwood, South Dakota.

The town of Deadwood, South Dakota definitely thrives on its tourist industry. Limited-wage, legalized gambling helps to bring back the feel of the past, and visitors can get involved with reenactments several times daily.

Swing over to the Franklin Hotel, on the main strip, and you'll see Wild Bill Hickok and several of his contemporaries tearing up the streets with their gun slinging and fighting! They get the kids involved and don't worry, it's family-friendly. You never know who might show up by the Franklin Hotel.....Calamity Jane or Buffalo Bill might stop by!

The street dramas are free, but for the best show in town, be sure to stop by the Masonic Temple for the Trial of Jack McCall. It's a live show, and they pull up kids and other audience members to make it even more fun. At about an hour and a half, it's both funny and educational, and truly worth the money.

The night started out with a singalong....silly camp songs, but a lot of fun nonetheless. We hadn't heard of some of them, and several months later, these songs are still being sung at our home. Now you know where our mascot, the Ghost Chickens, came from!!

Everyone gets to sing along and participate, at least minimally, but some have larger roles. They even pulled our workin' man up on the stage!! All in all, it was a great impromptu evening on our stopover from Rushmore to the job in Colorado. If you get the chance, you should go visit Deadwood, too!

Wild Bill Hickok Resources

Bad Men of the West (vintage comic book)
Justice in the Wild West
What's Great About South Dakota?
American History : Wild West dvd
The Gunslingers dvd
They Called Him Wild Bill (older kids)
Wild Bill Hickok
Wild Bill old time radio classics
Wild Bill Hickok song
Wild Bill (history tv episode)

For mom & dad.......

Deadwood tv show (wholly inappropriate for children)

Love Finds You in Deadwood

Haunted Deadwood

Mount Rushmore

A little bit down the road from Deadwood is the national landmark of Mount Rushmore. At the park entrance are all fifty state flags. It's quite a long walk to get to the trail that wraps around the mountain. The day we stopped by was absolutely gorgeous....not hot or cold, beautiful Carolina blue sky...perfect day.

Inside the museum, you can watch a video about the sculptor (Borglum) and the history of Mount Rushmore, from inception to completion. There are also several exhibits showing the various phases of construction and talking about the project from a geological standpoint.

We took the trail around the mountain, to get a closer look, and the boys worked on their Junior Ranger Program workbooks. We love this program - they get a small token for completing the day's schoolwork! This is the same spot on the trail where National Treasure 2 was filmed toward the end.

It's a pretty impressive mountain....you know that it's huge, but you can't really fathom just how big it is until you've stood underneath the faces.

“Let us place there, carved high, as close to heaven as we can...their faces, to show posterity what manner of men they were.” ~Gutzon Borglum