Pierre, South Dakota

Two Hundred Thirty Six miles west of Sioux Falls, we pulled into Pierre, SD, at about 4 in the afternoon after a leisurely drive on Interstate 90, and a brief jaunt north on US83. Before turning north at Vivian, we stopped at a fantastic rest stop that not only overlooks the Missouri, but has an interesting sculpture.

Named "Dignity" this 50 foot high stainless steel sculpture depicts an indigenous woman in Plains-style clothing receiving a star quilt. The sculpture honors the culture of the Lakota and Dakota peoples who are indigenous to the area. Claude Lamphere is the artist.

A medallion notes that the site was visited by the Corps of Discovery (Lewis and Clark) in 1804, and the friendship they established with native peoples.

As we were leaving, we noticed a cute little teardrop trailer. It would sure look good behind a freshly painted 1940 Ford pickup.

We arrived at River View RV Park, site 51 at about 4 pm.

The park is in the process of remodeling, with a bunch of new sites added over the last year. We picked the longest site available in the new section, and we're happy that the utilities are absolutely perfectly placed and work well. If we had any concern it would be the dirt/gravel roads and sites. It's dusty, but will settle down over time. Sasha is miffed that the grass/sod in the dog run is brand new and is being kept very wet while it develops new roots. She doesn't like to get her feet wet!

The rv park is on the west bank of the Missouri River, actually in the town of Ft. Pierre. Ft Pierre is part of the Pierre micropolitan area and was established around 1832, but an American trading post had been operating here since 1813. The population is just north of 2,000. The rv park sits on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River.

Just down the road from the park is the Verendrye Monument, which commemorates the first recorded visit of Europeans to this area.

On March 30, 1743, Francois and Louis-Joseph Verendrye reached this area while searching for a route to the Pacific Ocean. While unsuccessful in their search, they penetrated further into the interior of North America 61 years before Lewis and Clark. After visiting with local Arikaras, they buried a lead plate at the site of the monument to lay claim to the upper Missouri for France. The plate was forgotten until 1913, when a group of school children found it on an outing and thought to sell the lead to a local print shop. It was recognized as an artifact and saved. It now resides in a local museum.

The inscription on the plate translates: "In the twenty-sixth year of the reign of Louis XV, the most illustrious Lord Marquis of Beauharnois, 1741, Pierre Gaultier De La Verrendrye placed this." A reproduction is placed on the monument.

After setting up, we bundled Sasha into the car and drove into downtown Fort Pierre. OK. Then we crossed the Missouri and followed the main highway south along the river. A few side trips here and there led us to a sign that caught our eye.

We've found that South Dakotans like to gamble when we saw a casino on just about every street in Sioux Falls, but we hadn't seen this particular combination of businesses...

Pierre is the Capitol City of South Dakota, and downtown street corners are decorated with statues of past governors. We like this one of Nils A. Boe, governor from 1965 to 1969, because he evidently loved dogs!

The Sioux Street Cruise was taking place, so we stopped to look a some cars.

Since Pierre, on the east side of the Missouri, is the Capitol, we went looking for the State House. 

Probably not.....