South Dakota holds a special place in accounts of how the West was settled. Heading out from St. Louis in 1803 on President Thomas Jefferson's charge to explore the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase, Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and their Corps of Discovery followed along the mighty Missouri River--at 2,341 miles, the longest river in North America!--in the hope of establishing a water route to the Pacific Ocean. Alas, that dream would be dashed when the explorers found the river's source in today's Montana! But onward they forged over the mountains to the sea. As part of nationwide bicentennial celebrations in 1976, Kathy joined a group from the College of DuPage (Glen Ellyn, IL) to re-explore the route taken by Lewis and Clark from the Mississippi River to points westward. Roadside signs and landmark parks of the Lewis & Clark National Historical Trail become more frequent in South Dakota, where the Missouri cuts through the state from the southeast corner up to the central border with North Dakota.

Though 20th-century dams have tamed the waterway, the stark grandeur of this landscape still evokes a time when buffalo by the thousand roamed the plains. For our 2022 trip we mostly skirted along the southern portion of the state, but for a few days we were drawn to the lake region in the northeast.  Up there, we enjoyed a Harvest Hosts stay on what was once the childhood homestead of author Laura Ingalls Wilder, whose Little House on the Prairie books capture the spirit and determination of 19th-century Dakota Territory pioneers. A pass through Badlands National Park helped us understand what the early settlers were up against. Topping off our adventures in SD was a spin through the Black Hills (Mt. Rushmore!) and a stay at a working cattle ranch in the southwest corner of the state. We had hoped to see a simulated gunfight on the streets of historic Deadwood (they take place there everyday!), but that town was so inundated with tourists that we couldn't find a place to park our dear Morgan!