VISITING THE COUNTRY'S HEARTLAND

A trip through the the upper Midwest and the West provides a good look at what this country is all about.

Traveling across the flatlands of South Dakota you are greeted by a beautiful, if perhaps threatening, scene of low lying clouds atop the green pasture land.

In South Dakota one should also stop and see Mt. Rushmore, even if they have been there before. New additions to the facilities there make it even more of a pleasure and educational experience to visit the famous four presidents in stone. The story of how this monument to America was devised and the hard work into transforming a mountain side into a gigantic sculpture continues to amaze. It is told graphically by good exhibits in the expanded visitor center.

Nearby, for a few dollars and with a camera with long lens, a visitor can get up and close with the face of Crazy Horse carved out of a mountain. This is the only part of a massive project of the Indian chief on a horse that currently is visible. A nice visitors center provides much information on projects and on Indians in general.

There is an increasing interest in the importance of the Indian in this part of the country. This is evidenced by the renaming of the Custer Battlefield Memorial as the Little Big Horn Memorial to coincide with a new memorial to the Indians who lost their lives in the famous battle.

History and beauty abound in South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and Kansas. Take a look this summer.