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Bev's Journal We Proceeded On... Part II: The Journey West |
| 13 September 2002 Cook Lake Campground Black Hills National Forest Near Aladdin WY I feel that we are really in the West now. We spent the early afternoon in Sundance, trying to sort out the facts from the legend of the Sundance Kid. When he was a kid of 19 or 20, Harry Longabaugh AKA the Sundance Kid was imprisoned in the Sundance jail for 18 months. The State of Wyoming had to pay $358 to Crook County for his keep since the small penitentiary at Laramie was full. That amount was probably more than the value of the things that the Kid was convicted of taking, which goes to show that government was just as inefficient then as it is now. Longabaugh was eventually pardoned by the governor for his good behavior in jail and restored to his civil rights. It was sometime later that he got involved with Butch Cassidy and the Hole-In-The-Wall gang/Wild Bunch and starting robbing banks and trains. We proceeded on to take a look at Devils Tower. When you first see it, you get a jolt—it juts up out of the rolling hills, and demands your attention. It’s no wonder to me that the Indians of this area made it a sacred place. Even today, when you visit the base of Devils Tower (or as the Indians call it, “BearLodge”), you’ll see prayer bundles attached to several trees, sending prayers and supplications to the Great Spirit. Up close, the mountain is, if anything, more impressive. It was formed by molten magma shooting up through the earth’s surface, and then cooling and hardening. Over the eons, erosion has caused more of the tower to ‘appear’, and eventually, at the twilight of the world, it will crumble. It is an awesome sight. I was surprised to learn the other day that hunting is allowed in national forests (unless they are nature preserves). I guess I’ve had my head in the sand because the forest service literature makes mention of the fact that Forest Service land is multi-use, meaning that farmers may have grazing rights, and that at certain times of the year, hunting is allowed. Guess I’ll have to wear an orange hat or something if I do any hiking! I feel so sorry for all those little whitetail deer and wild turkeys that we keep seeing. |
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Close Encounter: Devils Tower, Wyoming |