After more than two weeks on the Lewis and Clark Trail we finally got a warm sunny day (it would be short-lived) and took advantage of it by washing the Dutch Star and Honda CR-V. The Missouri River is nothing like it was 200 years ago when the Corps of Discovery went up stream. There is a park where the Little Sioux River empties into the Missouri River showing the location of the present Missouri and the location of 200 years ago. Part of the river has moved two miles. (Click on the picture to the right. The dark blue shows the present river and the light blue shows the flow of the river as Lewis and Clark saw and mapped it.)

Our next stop was Lion's Park in Vermillion, South Dakota, a small beautiful park in downtown that is free for three nights and $5 a night thereafter. The park provides 30-amp electric, available water and dump and restrooms. With the price of fuel so high it is nice to save money on camping fees. The only problem was the weather. It rained daily with 3.5 inches one day and we had our usual tornado warnings. Since we have been on the Trail twenty-two confirmed tornados have been reported within ten miles of where we camped.

The University of South Dakota is located in the small town of Vermillion and the National Music Museum is on campus. The museum is rivaled only by museums in such cultural centers and Berlin, Brussels, Paris and Vienna. We were given audio sets with headphones that give the history of ninety instruments and displays. In eight galleries the museum houses more than 10,000 rare antique musical instruments from all over the world. On display are rare Stradivari violins and one of only two surviving Stradivari guitars. The museum is the only place in the world where one can find two 18th century grand pianos with the specific type of action conceived by the piano's inventor, Bartolomeo Cristofori. Instruments by the Conn Company were responsible for the American band movement in the late 19th / early 20th century and about 500 of their instruments are on display. To learn the history of musical instruments and see the original instruments we suggest you visit the National Music Museum. (Free, donations accepted)

Lewis and Clark stopped at present-day Vermillion and hiked eight miles north of the river to Spirit Mound. They had heard reports of eighteen inch tall Indians with large heads and poisonous arrows defending the mound. After a four hour walk to the mound in hot temperatures they found no such Indians and returned to their boats. However, near Spirit Mound they had their first sighting of large herds of buffalo.

If Blue Bunny Ice Cream had been in operation 200 years ago surely Lewis and Clark would have taken a side trip to Le mars, Iowa to eat some delicious ice cream - we did. The town has been designated the "Ice Cream Capital of the World" since more ice cream is produced in that town than by a single company than in any city in the nation. We had been there before, but Don and Gloria had not so we wanted to share ice cream with them. During a tour of the museum we learned much about ice cream and it's production such as 75,000 cows are needed to supply milk and cream for Blue Bunny. After the tour we each ate one large scoop which is about all a human can eat.

Starting at Yankton, South Dakota a series of dams turn the Missouri River into a series of lakes across South Dakota, North Dakota and Montana. The dams have no locks so navigation above Yankton on the river is not possible. Gavins Point Dam was completed in 1957 at Calumet Bluff where Lewis and Clark hosted a Grand Council with Yankton Sioux. This meeting was significant in that it was the first meeting with a Sioux Tribe. Today a beautiful Lewis and Clark Center sits on the bluff.

Off the Trail we stopped at Mitchell, South Dakota to see the Corn Palace. Just wanting to stay one night we boondocked at Cabela's (sporting goods and clothing). They have a large store and 31 paved pull-thru boondocking sites each 70 feet long by 17 feet wide, plus a dump station. They are located just off I-90 exit 332 and near Wal-Mart.

The first Corn Palace was built in 1892, the second in 1905 and the present one in 1921. The building is decorated each year with a new theme and Lewis and Clark was selected for this year. In September each year twenty local residents are hired to redecorate the building. Each ear of corn is cut in half and nailed flat side to the building. It takes 3 months to redecorate. Farmer Dean Strand has developed eleven colors of corn and since 1983 has supplied all the corn, grasses and grain for decorating the Corn Palace. It takes 275,000 ears of corn (10 colors Indian corn), 3,000 bushels of grains and grasses (milo, rye, sour dock) and over a ton of nails, staples and wire. The Corn Palace is free.

Keeping with the spirit of Lewis and Clark in camping free we rolled into Pierre, South Dakota and stayed in Griffin City Park. (We learned Pierre is pronounced "pier" by the locals.) The campground on the river has 30-amp electric, water and sewer dump available and its free. There is a paved walking trail 4.2 miles along the river in one direction and 2.2 miles in the other direction. Pierre, a city of 13,000, is the Capital of South Dakota. Construction on the State Capitol Building was completed in 1910 and an annex was added in 1932. As in the Missouri State Capitol, we entered the South Dakota State Capitol and saw no security. Both buildings were open to the public for people to come and go as they chose. We took a self-guided tour and walked around the grounds. On a hill behind the Capitol is the South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center, a building set mostly underground to make it more energy efficient. Inside we toured the museum with displays showing South Dakota life from Indian tribes to present. It is a very interesting museum.

Across the river in Fort Pierre we visited two historic sites - Bad River and Verendrye Monument. Where Bad River (named for the incidents Lewis and Clark had there) empties into the Missouri River Lewis and Clark met with about 50 to 60 chiefs and warriors of the powerful Lakota Teton Sioux and had three tense meetings, the first with weapons drawn and pointed on both sides. Teton Chief Black Buffalo managed to diffuse the situation and no one was injured on either side. The Captains named the river Bad River and the Corps on high alert for several days stayed on the boats and camped on the island in the Missouri River across from our campsite.

In 1743 the Verendrye brothers from France were trying to find the famed Northwest Passage and on a hill at present-day Fort Pierre they buried a lead plate claiming the land for the King of France. The plate was found in 1913 by some school children and is now on display at the South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center. The plate proved the land was claimed by France and it is amazing the plate was ever found. Historical markers have been erected on the site that gives a spectacular view of Pierre.

A scenic drive took us down highway 1806 which is named for the year Lewis and Clark completed their return trip. The road skirts the Missouri River and goes through Crow Creek and Lower Brule Sioux reservations. There is an interesting bend in the river called The Narrows where the river comes within 2,000 yards of itself but a boat trip around the bend is 30 miles. Lewis and Clark noted the bend in their journals and we stood on the hill they surely used to see the bend in the river. It was an easy climb to the top with prickly pears cactus in full blossom and a view of both sides of the river in the bend. At Big Bend Dam, the second dam up the Missouri River we paused for a picnic lunch and a walk around the park and campground.

Before leaving Pierre we drove a few miles north to Oahe Dam, the third dam up the Missouri River. Oahe Dam is the second largest rolled earth dam in the world being 245 feet high and 9,300 feet long. The dam creates Lake Oahe, the fourth largest reservoir in the nation which stretches 231 and covers 347,000 acres. It begins at Pierre, the capital of South Dakota, and extends to Bismarck, the capital of North Dakota. Generators at the dam generate enough electricity to meet the annual needs of 259,000 homes. (Nearly all the homes in the state.)

As we continue on the Lewis and Clark Trail our next stop will be Bismarck, North Dakota so check back for Part 4.