2 Chronicles 7:14"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
Visiting Historic Sites
We love to visit sites that are rich with the history of our land. What a privilege to live in this country with its many freedoms and heritage. We always come away with an increased knowledge of those who have gone before us!
Mt. Rushmore National Memorial
Although we have been here before, this memorial, so grand in scale still moves us with its history. Each of the four figures represent important times of our national history. The dedicated careful work of the sculptor, his employees and his family have no equal.
The idea for carving figures into the Black Hills was actually a plan to promote tourism to the state of South Dakota. From the number of tourists we saw at the memorial and elsewhere in the area I would say it was a very successful plan!
National Presidential Wax Museum
Not far from Mt Rushmore, we visited this wax museum, which contains amazingly lifelike representations of all of our country’s presidents.
Most every Presidential figure is placed into a historic tableau highlighting a pivotal moment in history.

An audio recording gives interesting facts and stories of each individual president, along with their legacy and accomplishments or shortcomings.

Custer State Park
This is a great home base to camp in when visiting the Black Hills of South Dakota. The park is vast in size, providing ample range for bison, elk and other animals. Additionally there are trails and lake to enjoy. We visited two lovely lakes within the park for some gentle hikes.



Gordon Stockade
This stockade was erected in December 1874 by the Gordon Party, an expedition of white settlers who travelled to the Black Hills at the beginning of the gold rush, on the site of a previous encampment by George Armstrong Custer. The party's settlement of the area was illegal under the1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie and the group was removed by the United States Army in April 1875, who subsequently began using the Gordon Stockade as a base. Now part of Custer State Park, the fort was recreated in its current form in 2004.
But you can’t stop a gold rush and the Treaty of Fort Laramie was soon revised, removing much of the Black Hills from the reservation. A sad tale indeed!
Casper, Wyoming - National Historic Trails Interpretive Center

Between 1841 and 1869 hundreds of thousands of people moved through this area on their way to Oregon, Utah, and California. They travelled along the North Platte River by wagon, mule, foot, horse, or stage, in groups or alone, and for a variety of reasons. They all came together here to cross the river and continue the journey west.
Located in Casper, WY this wonderful interpretive center recounts the stories of the four trails that came together here at the last crossing of the North Platte River.
-Oregon Trail
-Mormon Trail
-California Trail (Gold rush)
-Pony Express
During our many travels, we have been on the lookout for a museum that focuses on the history of this great westward American Migration. This Center exceeded our expectations by bringing together details of these various trails and the various reasons for heading west!

We learned that there is actually a site where we could view Oregon trail ruts that are carved into the sandstone of a hilltop. Wow!! We revised our route to include a stop at this site.
After spending time reading all about the trials and troubles of crossing the country on one of these early trails, we are so thankful to live in a time with such great highways and byways to travel to amazing places! Although our transportation corridors may follow these early trails we can travel great distances in short time, making any number of stops for fuel or food. The pioneers committed themselves to a 2,000 mile journey, over six months, walking alongside all of their possessions! What an Adventure on the road (trail) that was!

We appreciate your interest in our travels, and as always your prayers mean the world to us!
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