(07/05/12) On our way to a rodeo!

On the road early this morning because of a small change to our plans. We had a 7 hour drive from Rapid City, SD to Cody, WY today. We added in a side jaunt to Devil’s Tower just to check it out. On the way, we passed Vore Buffalo Jump National Monument and decided to stop.

Native American tribes used to get together and work in groups, mainly in the fall to organize and execute a Buffalo Jump, wherein the drove a herd over a cliff to their deaths. These slaughters would kill hundreds at a time. A shaman (think buffalo whisperer) would cover himself in a hide and go out near the herd and imitate the sounds of an injured calf. The cows would then come to investigate. Hunters would then coax and pressure other herd members to join and follow the group. Buffalo are not very bright, and prefer to be in a group, so rounding them up followed their natural instincts. The shaman would then lead the buffalo toward the cliff edge and at the last minute, other Native Americans would jump up at the sides waving cloths and others would drive in from behind, effectively making the buffalo think moving forward was the safest plan of action. Of course, things didn’t work out that way. We spent more than an hour talking to the volunteer, Jeremy, who is studying to be a teacher. We held bison bones, an empty tanned bladder, a hide and a skull. We played the matching game of match the body part to what it was used for, hands on and fun. I knew from 2^nd grade that Native Americans used every single part of the buffalo and that nothing got wasted. The hands on activity really hit that point home. Did you know bison’s brains were used as a tanning element and were also consumed to provide for fat needed in their diets?

Devil’s Tower was massive. We were driving along and there it was, sticking up out of ground, all by its lonesome. It did look odd on the landscape. We hiked the Tower Trail, 1.3 miles, which went around the entire base of the feature. We were able to spot where pieces of the original wooden ladder were constructed for the first pair of climbers’ ascent. All that remains are the side boards; all of the wooden rungs have long since rotted away. We were glad for the binoculars in our backpack. We looked and looked, but there were no climbers active on the sides. Bummer!

Tonight, we will stay in Cody, WY and try to find the same cache as a student of mine, Morgan, did when she and her family came through the area a few weeks before us. We are headed to the nightly Cody Rodeo for some nail biting excitement. I hope we are not out too late and that we sleep well because tomorrow, we climb Avalanche Peak!