The Mammoth Dig and Wild Horse Sanctuary

While I was poking around on line and in the “Before you Die” bucket lists, Sandy was doing her own research.


About this time I got an email from her asking me to check out a link she had found. It was for the Mammoth Site of Hot Springs, SD.

That kicked my little brain into gear and I remembered that the badlands are big fossil hunting grounds. There have been many dinosaur discoveries in SD. It seems to me that one of the most controversial finds in my memory was found somewhere in the Black Hills of South Dakota. One of the largest and best preserved T Rex specimen was found in 1990 in the western Black Hills. That find , if memory serves, set off a series of court disputes to determine ownership. I’m not sure how it was finally resolved but I do know that at some point the skeleton was on the auction block and was eventually purchased by the Field Museum in Chicago.

The bones were the shipped off to be restored and light weight casts were made to be exhibited. I have actually seen a “Sue” skull that is on exhibit at the Museum of Science in Boston. But I digress. I offer that story simply to support my interest in fossils and the fossil hunting that goes on in this area of South Dakota. So to find out that there is an actual “dig” in progress that tourists can visit was quite exciting to me. My sister shares this interest. In fact , her enthusiasm probably is greater than mine so this definitely went on our “must do” list.
　http://www.mammothsite.com/
　
I, too, was coming up with suggestions and one that I placed as high as Sandy placed Mount Rushmore was the Wild Horse Sanctuary also in Hot Springs, SD. When I went to Sedona a few years ago I heard stories that there were still wild horses but I didn’t see any and no one could tell me where to locate them. I gather they are just small scattered bands so since we were heading into the west again, I googled South Dakota and Wild Horses and the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary came up. From their website I found that there were private tours as well as Van tours. Because I wanted to take pictures I didn’t want to be in a van of tourists. I went through that at the Grand Canyon and by the time you get the heads of your fellow passengers out of the way your photo subject was long gone.

I knew we had to stay within a budget, neither my sister nor I had a lot of extra money to “blow”, but I didn’t want to let this opportunity pass so I put on my most persuasive augment and presented my sister with the pros and cons of the private tour. I didn’t ask for the photography tour, even that was beyond my means but $100 for 2 hours with a guide didn’t seem too excessive to me. I’m lucky because Sandy also likes horses so after a bit of discussion she agreed to the arrangement I was hoping for. I called the Sanctuary and made our reservations putting down a 50% deposit so we were committed. Our itinerary was growing.

　
　http://www.wildmustangs.com/

Tomorrow: Vintage trains