Bikers Unchained

Leaving the Black Hills of Dakota, we head due west again although not quite retracing the route of the drive to Rapid City. Shortly after leaving Rapid City, we pass by Sturgis, the home of the world famous (or perhaps I should say, infamous) annual motorcycle rally. This event attracted some 300,000 enthusiasts this year between August 7-16 from all across the country, mostly on Harleys. This was the largest gathering anywhere in the world since the start of the pandemic. By all accounts, social distancing recommendations were ignored, and few if any wore masks - but then again, few if any wear crash helmets! We stayed on the freeway and so bypassed Sturgis itself. But even though we're in the area more than a week after the official end of the jamboree, we encountered many "stragglers". And to any motorbike enthusiasts who may be reading this, I mean absolutely no disrespect but the bikers (driver and passenger) are easily recognizable because so many of them look like cartoon caricatures. If you can picture that in your mind's eye, you'll know exactly what I mean....! Several of the towns we pass through, not least Keystone close to Mt Rushmore are full of paraphernalia aimed at the bikers - not just leather wear and helmets but T-shirts printed with images of Trump waving a gun (protecting your 2nd amendment rights) and not a few with slogans which, 1st amendment rights notwithstanding, would be frowned upon if not outright banned in other western democracies.

Crossing the state line back into Wyoming the first couple of hundred miles along the Interstate are mostly empty prairie (other than a few cows) similar to the route further south which we'd taken going east. At one point, the Interstate turns to the northeast and just shy of the Montana state line, we turn off and take the road which goes through Big Horn National Forest and Big Horn Canyon. Steep with lots of tight curves and bends, this is very different Wyoming! In fact some of the most spectacular scenery we've come across at any time on this road trip. It was getting late in the day and unfortunately we didn't really have any time to stop, so this is on the list of areas we'll have to come back to...

Ride’em Cowboy

Our destination a few miles past the Big Horn area is the "real" western town of Cody. Home of the Cody Stampede and describing itself as the "Rodeo Capital of the World", we had no time to stop in Big Horn as we have tickets that evening to the nightly Rodeo which takes place every evening from the beginning of June through the end of August.

Even in this very conservative neck of the woods, social distancing guidelines are very much encouraged and the Rodeo sells just a limited number of tickets each night so that the fans can be suitably separated from one another. (We even spotted a billboard displaying local boy, former VP Dick Cheney sporting a mask accompanied by the caption “Real Wyomingites Wear Masks”). We get there a little before the start of the evening's events so that I can have my photo taken atop a 2000lb bull. Sandra snapped some really good photos which I then inadvertently deleted....! We sat through all of the events - broncos bucking, steers roping, women barrel racing, bull riding - and so on.

The evening kicked off with the usual flag waving, displays of patriotism and prayers. Unfortunately some of the event commentary over the arena PA system is interspersed with what I will just describe as "humour" in poor taste, with among other things, references to the "China virus" and the supposed involvement of prominent Democratic politicians quite a lot of which was greeted with enthusiastic cheers by sections of the crowd...

Ethnic Cleansing

Cody is named for William "Buffalo Bill" Cody, a 19th century pioneer of the American West, who after "retiring" from opening up the west became a high-profile celebrity showman, quite literally a legend in his own lifetime. He travelled extensively around the US and Europe with his Wild West show and by the close of the 19th century was quite probably, the world's most recognized figure. Other than the Rodeo, Cody's most prominent attraction is the Buffalo Bill Wild West Center which includes numerous museums and features.

The most visited are the exhibition of Cody's life (somewhat mythologized and glamorized, I suspect) and the Cody Gun Museum (which we skipped). For us, the best (and probably least visited) section is the museum devoted to the Plains Indian Culture from the late 1700's to 1890 which includes several tableau and many original artifacts from the period.

The Plains Indian Culture was deliberately wiped out during several decades of the 19th century by both the government and the military as America expanded westward. The Indians' land was needed for ranchers, trappers, the railroad and the buffalo which was central to the Culture were slaughtered to the point of near extinction mostly for their pelts. The Indians who weren't massacred or who didn't die from introduced diseases (such as smallpox) or starvation were not only forced onto reservations but were also forced to give up their culture: their language, beliefs and customs were made illegal.

The museum exhibits don't try to sugar-coat any of this. The consequences of this attempt at ethnic cleansing are of course, still very much apparent today....

Day 12: Rapid City, South Dakota-Cody, Wyoming: 435 miles

Day 13: Cody, Wyoming