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We signed up for one of the tours, (there are a few to choose from, of varying lengths) and a ranger showed our tour group the original entrance. Then we stepped around a boulder to the newer entrance that had been blasted away years ago. It was a locked revolving door. How strange to find a subway entrance out here on the Great Plains. We formed a line and went down sweating stone steps. The air got cooler. Lights had been installed, and the ranger groped with his flashlight for the switch. We were asked not to touch anything; accumulated sweat and oil from human hands could wear down the stone. We were led through winding tunnels, into little cuplets; down twisting surreal hallways into grand rooms with no corners and forlorn alcoves that went off into dark throats with unknown destinations. The ranger explained that the Caves were seventeen miles long, "At least, that's as much as has been explored." He pulled out s string and held it end to end. "Say this string is the seventeen miles of the Wind Tunnel," he said. Then he crumbled the string up into a tangle and said, "This is what a map of the Caves might look like." He pointed out the lace work in the ceiling and explained how it got there. Thousands of years ago, the Caves had filled up with lime and water. As the water drained away, the lime stayed and cracks formed. Seepage from the surface deposited minerals in these cracks, and these fillings became petrified. Then, more water came and washed away the lime, leaving the delicate stone lacework. It was beautiful and mysterious, and we finally came to the end our tour; a room with an elevator bank. The ranger explained that not everyone could fit on the elevator at once, so we'd make two trips. Most of us fit, leaving a family of five behind. They smiled, but looked a little worried about being left behind in such a strange place. Before the doors closed, I said calmly to them, "Enjoy your new home." We all laughed, and the tension was broken. We left Wind Cave and ambled down Route 385, towards the Mammoth Site at Hot Springs. In 1974, while excavating for a housing project, bones of a Columbian Mammoth were found, geologists were called in, and it was discovered that they were excavating on the site of a sinkhole from 26,000 years ago. Over a period of 300 to 700 years, prehistoric flora and fauna, from mammoths to mice, were caught in the mud of the sinkhole. The sides were too slick for the heavy mammoths to climb out of, and so they stayed until their bones were stirred by earth-moving equipment. Today, a visitor center has been built around the site, and digging still goes on, ponderously and meticulously. Dirt is gently brushed and scrapped away from impacted skeletons. A boardwalk has been constructed around the site so that visitors can view the area, and there is a guided tour. The mammoth skeletons all have names. The only complete set is named "Napoleon", as in "Napoleon Bones Apart". The more exotic skeletons found at the site have been camels, wolves, short-faced bears, and raptors. We left Hot Springs in mid-afternoon. The sky had cleared and it was sunny and pleasant. We headed south on Route 18/385, and then east on Route 18 towards the town of Pine Ridge on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. There was a woman who, as a teenager, used to baby-sit my wife's children when they were young. This woman now lived on the reservation with her husband, a Lakota man, their two sons, and her daughter from her first marriage. Right after we crossed into the reservation, we saw a very small gambling casino and we stopped in and gambled for an hour and then got directions into Pine Ridge. We found my wife's old friend with some assistance from a policeman. Introductions were made all around and then the two women began to talk. Her husband was a little standoffish, and I can be reticent when meeting new people, so we said nothing to each other. Their two sons were another matter. The older was about seven, and the younger was around four. They invited me into their room and proceeded to show me all their toys and how they worked. The older boy told me how he was going start going to the Red Cloud School in a few days. Then he wrestled with his brother. Their father was called
away to a friend's, and we all moved outside to the front stoop to talk.
Before going outside, the older boy got two hand towels and tucked them
into his shorts, one in front and one in back; a loin cloth. His brother
took a towel and made himself a cape. Out in front, they wrestled and
ran and didn't stay still for more than five seconds. It brought me back
to my childhood and a stunt that I had forgotten 'til that very moment:
"Showing Off For Company". They pulled the jack out of the garage
and started to jack up the car. "But Dad was doing it yesterday!" "But we had
a flat, then." |