Date: 18 May 2001 (Friday)

Start: Carney Park, O’Neill NE

End: Municipal Park, Pierre SD (206 miles)

Up early and out of O’Neill. The trip was short and uneventful via US281, US18, I90, and US183.

We arrived early in Pierre and stopped at the Visitor’s Center. They gave us directions to the municipal campground, a booklet for a driving tour of the area, and recommendations for restaurants.

The campground is odd; several poles with electric outlets for four vehicles (or more) are in the center of a large gravel parking lot. The restrooms are at one end, the grass tent-camping area is to one side and the Missouri River beyond that. The city marina is at the other end.

The campers arrange their RVs with the sterns to the poles side by side and end to end so four vehicles feed off each pole. A dump station and water fill up station are located on the city side of the park.

We had lunch at Mad Mary’s then hit the road on the driving tour.

We went to the Verendrye monument, a place where the Verendrye brothers left a lead plate in 1743 to establish claim of the territory for France. The plate was found in 1913 by three teenagers.

Then we went to Fort Pierre Chouteau, site of the first(?) fur-trading post in the region in the early 1800’s. At one time there were six trading posts simultaneously on the river at Pierre. The goods of Europe were sent to Pierre and furs brought back.

Then we went to the Oahe dam, just above Pierre. It’s 245’ high, 9,300’ long, and 3,500’ wide at the base. It’s the second largest earth dam in the world. The lake behind it stretches to Bismark ND, some 230 miles, and affords more shoreline than California.

Onward to the SD Cultural Heritage Center. This spectacular museum is set into a hill, giving it outstanding energy efficiency. It houses exhibits about Indian history and lives, Pioneer living, and the political history of SD, with space for more. Currently, there’s an exhibit entitled "Skeletons of the Prairies", a beautiful set of photos of abandoned barns.

This center is a must-see. The exhibits are very well done, the building is beautiful and there are many volunteers to help.

Touring the State Capitol building next, just down the hill from the center, we found a fairly standard marble and stone edifice. It does have a nice dome and some unique features, but basically it is the capitol building.

We tired after this and returned to the campground, leaving only to eat (again at Mad Mary’s – a steakhouse).

The neighbors pulled in with a dog named Rudy, after Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It seems he has not much fur on the top of his nose just behind the moist part and stayed out all day one day only to get a sunburn. Hence, the name.

We saw a rainbow during a very light rain shower, and a beautful sunset on the Missouri River.

Pierre seems like a nice small town.