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Rapid City, South Dakota is located in the central western United States. The Black Hills lie along South Dakota's western border and take up a space approximately 50 miles wide (east-west) and 100 miles long (north-south).
The Black Hills are more famous for Mount Rushmore in which the likenesses of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt were carved by Gutzon Borglum beginning in 1927.
Rapid City
lies west of the Missouri River at the heart of a landscape of prairies, pine
forests, and desolate, rocky outcroppings. South Dakota's second-largest city is
a great place from which to explore the well-known Black Hills. Founded only
two years after the gold boom in the Black Hills, Rapid City is a boomtown that
has truly made a name for itself.
This land was
once dominated by the proud and mighty Sioux nation. Today, there are nine
Native American reservations in South Dakota. The Sioux influence in Rapid City
can be seen in the shops and museums that display and sell Native American art
and artifacts.
The vast Black
Hills National forest covers 1.3 million acres on the state's western edge.
Known for its magnificent forests, mountain scenery and ghost towns, the region
is home to the natural splendors of bison, deer, coyotes, elk, mountain goats,
and big horn sheep. It is among these hills that sculptor Gutzon Borglum labored
for more than 14 years sculpting the granite cliff which displays the faces of
Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt are carved.
Also, in the Black Hills region the largest sculpture in the world, the Crazy
Horse Memorial, is being created. When finished, it will depict the Dakota
warrior who defeated General Custer at Little Bighorn.
The Black Hills were the
backdrop for the Academy Award-winning film “Dances With Wolves.” Formal
gardens, at Halley Park, Sioux Park, Memorial Park and on Canyon Lake Drive, are
all places in which to relax and gain a new perspective on the majesty and
beauty of the West.
Black Hills gold is sold to
tourists at countless roadside jewelry shops and factory outlets, while mines
continue to produce millions of dollars worth of it every year. Several historic
mines offer tours.
One popular tour is found in
the mile-high town of Lead at the Black Hills Mining Museum. The tour winds
through re-created mining tunnels lined with figures posed to display
old-fashioned and modern mining equipment. The museum is on Lead's narrow Main
Street, which is bordered by neatly restored early 20th-century commercial
buildings. Even more authentic, however, is the carefully restored gambling
mecca of Deadwood, just three miles away.
Set in a narrow valley, the
entire town of Deadwood is one large historic district with a Victorian-era Main
Street anchored at one end by the landmark Franklin Hotel. The hotel's
white-columned portico along with Main Street's ornate cast-iron lamps and
renovated storefronts make it easy to picture what life in the Black Hills was
like in the early 1900s.
The transformation came not
too many years ago when hard economic times reduced funds for historic
preservation and Deadwood was in danger of a serious decline. The turnaround
began in 1989 when casino gaming in Deadwood was legalized. Today a portion of
every dollar made from gambling goes toward preserving Deadwood's architectural
heritage, resulting in its current well-kept and historically accurate
appearance.
The casino restaurants offer
a wide variety of excellent cuisine. Steaks are featured, beef as well as
bison. There is also locally caught trout and pheasant on many menus.
All in all,
Rapid City's heartland hospitality amid a backdrop of some of the most
attractive scenery in America, makes Rapid City a sure bet for a memorable trip.
