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Bev's Journal We Proceeded On... Part II: The Journey West |
| 22 August 2002 American Creek Campground Chamberlain SD We are encamped on the banks of the Missouri – near where Lewis and Clark made camp, though we are better housed! The water is wide here, and has been allowed to wind its meandering way for a while without intervention by the Army Corps, so we are getting a glimpse of what it must have looked like in Lewis and Clark’s time. Just a bit north up the river from here, Lewis and Clark had their first meeting with the Teton Sioux. Their usual dog-and-pony show about the Great White Father in Washington, presentation of Jefferson medals, and demonstrations of superior technology (the airgun) did not go over well. The Indians laughed at them, and then tried to rob them. The Sioux weren’t buying it. The Corps of Discovery barely escaped with their lives. I tried out my new pressure-washing machine the other night, and it worked ok for washing, but not so well for ‘spin’. Although the clothes were not sopping wet, I could see they’d take forever to dry inside, so to the laundromat they went to be dried. Probably, this environmentally-friendly washing machine (takes less water, and works without electricity) will work better with more lightweight fabrics than cotton. I can see where it will be handy for delicates and washing shirts, or when I just can’t stand to go to the laundromat. The washing machine is fitted with a lid which creates pressure inside the tub and forces detergent and water through the clothes when it is cranked – at least that’s the theory…if you want to check it out, see the Laundry Alternative. |
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| 18 August 2002 Lake Mitchell Campground Mitchell SD Yesterday was a glorious day – sunny, 70 degrees, breezy – a perfect day to see the Corn Palace (Mitchell’s primary tourist attraction) in all its glory! A tribute to small town boosterism, the Palace was thought up by the city fathers in 1892 as a promotional tool to lure settlers to South Dakota by showcasing all of the crops that could be grown here. The practice continues 110 years later as a tourist attraction in its own right. Why kill the golden goose? Highway signs begin advertising the Corn Palace as soon as you enter South Dakota, and by the time you reach Mitchell, an uncontrollable urge has seized you and you feel that you must check out this bizarre structure. And if you’re seriously into kitsch, as I am, the Corn Palace is not to be missed. The Palace is a permanent structure, its brick façade covered with plywood to which is affixed the various native grasses, grains and ears of corn which make up the murals and other designs which decorate the exterior. It’s sort of like a Paint-By-Number project, only this is ‘Corn-By-Number’! There are murals on the inside of the Corn Palace, too, and of course, the inevitable Gift Shop. Mitchell bills this as the ‘World’s Only Corn Palace’, and while such a building may be a rarity today, Mitchell did not invent the technique of ‘Corn-By-Number’. Decoration of temporary structures with native products was a common promotional technique used by various states, which displayed their wares in the Agricultural Buildings of World’s Fairs around the turn of the century, and beyond. Books about the Columbian Exposition (Chicago, 1892) and the Louisiana Exposition (St. Louis, 1904) have photographs of these structures. Perhaps someone on the town council attended the Columbian Exposition and saw these structures, and thought it would be a good promotional tool for Mitchell. Who knows? |