July 9-10

Our choices of side trips this go-round are dictated in part by the various roads in the area under construction, so we chose Devils Tower and the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum & Hall of Fame in downtown Sturgis.

Kiowa legend has it that Devils Tower was formed when:

 “Eight children were there at play, seven sisters and their brother. Suddenly the boy was struck dumb; he trembled and began to run upon his hands and feet. His fingers became claws and his body was covered with fur. Directly there was a bear where the boy had been. The sisters were terrified; they ran, and the bear ran after them. They came to the stump of a great tree, and the tree spoke to them. It bade them climb upon it, and as they did so it began to rise into the air. The bear came to kill them, but they were just beyond its reach. It reared against the tree and scored the bark all around with it claws. The seven sisters were borne into the sky and they became the stars of the Pleiades.”

Geologists have a different explanation – About 50 million years ago molten magma was forced into sedimentary rocks above it and cooled underground. As it cooled it contracted and fractured into columns. Over the ensuing millions of years, erosion exposed Devils Tower which rises 867 feet from its base and stands 1,267 feet above the river and 5, 112 feet above sea level.

I like the Kiowa legend better.

But regardless of what story you want to believe it’s easy to understand why the creative geniuses involved in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind wanted to use this site for the movie’s big ending.

In 1906 President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed Devils Tower the first national monument under the new Antiquities Act. His actions made Wyoming the home of both our first national park – Yellowstone in 1872 – and the first national monument.

Another by-the-way, if you’ve not been out and about recently the Best Western Hotel outfit has updated their corporate logo. I must have seen at least four of these new signs before it occurred to me who the hotel was. All they are using now are the initials “BW” in grey. They better get with the program and start advertising or folks are not going to recognize the locations.

Next on the agenda was a ride to Sturgis – for a tour of the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum and Hall of Fame. The famous rally in this town is not until the 1^st week of August but all the shops and the temporary vendors already have rally swag out on display for sale.

Here is a shot of Main Street welcoming all the impending visitors:

 

Following are pictures of some of the vintage motorcycles (primarily Harley’s) from the museum with a couple of other brands thrown in for good measure…..binge on motorcycle history buffs: