“Custer….bonkers.”

The quote above is from the “The Rest Is History” podcast which is hosted by Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland, two British authors and historians, who are hysterical. We decided as we were driving to Custer that we should bone up on our American history and be reminded of the story of Little Big Horn, Crazy Horse and General George Armstrong Custer. This podcast made the long journey much easier and gives you a different perspective than the one we learned in eighth grade. Their approach is very detailed and thorough, their banter lovely and their take on the complexities of that time in our history is informative. For instance, I had no idea that Custer was a hero from the Civil War and fought at Gettysburg, that he had gone to Westpointe and was 4 demerits from being kicked out for bad behavior or that his nicknames were Curly, Cinnamon and Fanny! They definitely poke holes in the glorified image we were fed about Custer ( he made lots of bad decisions!) and they have a more comprehensive telling of the internal politics of the Grant administration and the intersections of westward expansion, treaties, Reconstruction and even Darwinism. Check it out. If you’re not into Custer there are tons of other historical rabbit holes you can descend!

Custer State park is impressive. We had two very long but interesting days. The first spent exploring the Needles highway with its rock tunnels, Cathedral Spires, the Wildlife loop and the State Game Lodge where President Coolidge summered. Again…an old lodge. Divine. Check out Tim on the front porch above. The bison herds were magnificent to watch as were the prairie dogs! The next day was long too with a drive up the Iron Mountain Road with pigtail bridges, more rock tunnels framing Mt. Rushmore and then on to Spearfish canyon and Devils Tower. A lot of driving but worth it. We hiked along the bottom of Devils Tower and watched some climbers do their thing. Wild….Check out the arrows on the picture below. There were at least five we could see.

And to end the day, I saw ” The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time” at the Black Hills Playhouse, a darling old CCC lodge turned into a playhouse right in the middle of the park. Such an unexpected treat and the house was packed!