SOUTH DAKOTA
GREAT FACES AND GREAT PLACES
JUNE 7-14, 2017
WITH
THE ETV ENDOWMENT
AND
PATRICK MCMILLAN
ETV ENDOWMENT
SOUTH DAKOTA
GREAT FACES AND GREAT PLACES
with PATRICK McMILLAN
JUNE 7-14, 2017
Day One: Wednesday-June 7, 2017: Arrivals in Rapid City, South Dakota.
Arrive in your gateway city to the prairies and the Black Hills - Rapid City, South Dakota. Your
guide will meet you at the baggage claim area and assist with luggage and hotel transfer. We
look forward to our festive Reception and Welcome Dinner at 6:30 pm at our hotel.
Meals Included: (Reception and D)
Day Two: Thursday-June 8, 2017: Wild Idea Buffalo Company Ranch, tour
and lunch. Wind Cave National Park.
After breakfast we head to the Wild Idea Buffalo Ranch on
the prairies, just outside of Rapid City. An informative two-hour
tour will include a discussion of Wild Idea’s preservation and
conservation practices, a tour of the ranch and a close-up ride
through the bison herd, with photo opportunities. Patrick filmed
a show at the ranch and knows owners Dan and Jill O’Brien well.
Dan is considered one of the most powerful literary voices on
the Plains and is the award-winning author of several books,
including Buffalo for the Broken Heart. Patrick recommends
travelers read this book before our trip to get a sense of the
tough life on the Plains. After our tour, we will enjoy lunch at
the ranch. This afternoon we head south into Custer State Park
to visit Wind Cave National Park, formed in the limestone
layers that underlie this intact prairie island region. The 4th longest cave in the world, its name
comes from barometric wind currents at its entrance. We will take a ranger-guided tour where
we might see frostwork, popcorn and a rare formation called boxwork. We also stop at the
Visitor’s Center and take a short walk on the intact prairie trail. We return to Rapid City for the
evening. Meals Included: (B, L)
Day Three: Friday-June 9, 2017: Badlands National
Park with Patrick McMillan.
Our destination today is a tour of Badlands National Park
conducted by Patrick McMillan. We head east out of Rapid City
to the land the Lakota call “Mako Sica” or bad land. The rugged
beauty of the Badlands draws visitors from around the world. These striking geologic deposits
contain one of the world’s richest fossil beds. Ancient mammals such as the rhino, horse and
saber-toothed cat once roamed here. The park’s 244,000 acres protect an expanse of mixedgrass prairie where bison, bighorn sheep, prairie dogs and black-footed ferrets live today. We
will tour the park and take some walks at various view points including the Fossil Walk and a
visit to Conata Basin. We will enjoy a box lunch in the park. After our visit, we head back to
Rapid City with a brief stop at the famous Wall Drug. Meals Included: (B, L,)
Day Four: Saturday-June 10, 2017: The Vore Buffalo Jump and Devil’s Tower
National Monument.
Plains Indians built their culture around the buffalo. Bison were
the primary food source as well as the source of many of the
material items they used. Studies of Indian religion and
philosophy confirm that Indians revered the animals upon which
they depended. Traditional Indians believe that there were actual
kinship relationships between humans and other life forms, and
that humans are inextricably a part of – not separate from – the natural world. The Vore
Buffalo Jump tries to explain this profound relationship between buffalo and Plains Indians.
After our visit, we head to Devil’s Tower National Monument
for a picnic lunch at the base and a glimpse of a black-tail prairie
dog town. Then we head up to the Tower for a walk around the
base. Our first National Monument declared in 1906 by Teddy
Roosevelt, Devil’s Tower is a laccolithic butte composed of
igneous rock. It stands 1200 feet above the Belle Fouche River
and is near the Missouri Buttes. Meals Included: (B, L)
Day Five: Sunday-June 11, 2017: Jeep to the Buffalo Custer State
Park/Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse Monument.
Our first stop this morning is at the State Game Lodge for a jeep ride into the Custer State
Park wild buffalo herd. We board six-passenger vehicles
and ride into the park looking for the herd. June is a great
time to see the “red babies” born in April or May. We will
enjoy lunch at the State Game Lodge Pheasant Room
before our next stop at the Crazy Horse Memorial for
pictures, a visit and a ride to the base of the mountain for a
closer view of the work being done on this famous
mountain. The final stop today is at Mount Rushmore
National Memorial. The famed artist Gutzon Borglum from 1927-1942 sculpted this iconic
Presidential memorial into the granite of the Black Hills. We have time for stops at the Visitor’s
Center, to see the Avenue of the Flags and to browse the historical exhibits. You may also want
to take a walk on the Presidential Trail before returning to our Rapid City hotel. Meals
Included: (B, L)
Day Six: Monday-June 12, 2017: Museum of the Fur Trade, Chadron
Nebraska/Fort Robinson/ Meng-Hudson Bison Kill Research Center.
We check out of our Rapid City hotel this morning and head south into Nebraska with a stop in
Chadron to see the Museum of the Fur Trade. The American Fur Company started this post
in 1837. The museum’s extensive collections include
displays of original trade items, firearms, textiles, trade
goods and more. After this visit, we head to Fort
Robinson with a stop for lunch and a tour of the
buildings where the famed Oglala warrior, Crazy Horse,
was imprisoned and killed and to see the Cheyenne
breakout barracks where in 1878 Cheyenne Chief Dull
Knife and his people made a desperate bid for freedom.
We continue on this afternoon (weather permitting on dirt
roads) to the Meng-Hudson Bison Kill Educational
and Research Center. We will tour the facility and see the bone beds as well as hear a talk
about the history of this research facility. Following our tour, we head into Scottsbluff,
Nebraska for the night. Meals Included (B, L)
Day Seven: Tuesday-June 13, 2017: Agate Fossil Beds National Monument/
Fort Laramie National Historic Site.
Our first stop of the day is at the Agate Fossil Beds National Monument. Imbedded in the
sedimentary rock of this area are fossils formed some 20
million years ago. Time permitting you can choose from a 2.7
mile walk on the Fossil Trail and/or use your time to see the
12-minute movie at the Visitor’s Center, the paleontological
exhibits and the important James Cook Collection of Lakota
artifacts and gifts given in the late 1800s to the Cook family
from the famous Lakota Chief Red Cloud.
We then head southwest and into Wyoming for a picnic lunch and
stop at Fort Laramie National Historic Site. One of the most
important (if not the most important) frontier forts on the Oregon
Trail, Fort Laramie was established in 1832 along the Laramie River.
It was taken over by the United States Army in 1849 to protect
immigrants on the newly opened Oregon Trail. We will enjoy lunch at
the picnic grounds and then tour the parade grounds, the junior officer’s quarters called Old
Bedlam and take time to see the museum and enlisted men’s barracks. We head into Denver,
for our final night this afternoon. Enjoy a fun Farewell Dinner at our hotel. Meals Included
(B, L, D)
Day Eight: Wednesday-June 14, 2017: Individual Airport Departures Home
from Denver International Airport. Meals Included (B)
ETV ENDOWMENT
SOUTH DAKOTA
GREAT FACES AND GREAT PLACES
with PATRICK McMILLAN
JUNE 7-14, 2017
PRICE PER PERSON:
Single:
Double:
PRICE INCLUDES
* Professional tour guides – Patrick McMillan and Sally Bell
* $500 tax-deductible contribution to the ETV Endowment
* Deluxe coach transportation
* Airport transfers from Rapid City Regional Airport on Day One and to
Denver International Airport on Day Eight
* Seven nights’ hotel accommodations
* Seven breakfasts
* Six lunches
* Two dinners
* Tour includes visits and admission to:
 Wild Idea Buffalo Company Ranch
 Wind Cave National Park
 Badlands National Park; Fossil Walk and Conata Basin
 Vore Buffalo Jump
 Devil’s Tower National Monument
 Jeep Ride into Custer State Park
 Crazy Horse Memorial
 Mount Rushmore National Memorial
 Museum of the Fur Trade
 Fort Robinson
 Meng-Hudson Bison Kill Educational and Research Center
 Agate Fossil Beds National Monument
 Fort Laramie National Historic Site
* Baggage handling for one piece of luggage per person
* Bottled water and snacks on coach
* All applicable taxes
* Guide and driver gratuities
*
*
*
*
$4,199
$3,599
NOT INCLUDED:
Airfare to Rapid City, SD and from Denver, CO
Items of a personal nature/incidentals at hotels
Alcoholic beverages
Travel Insurance
NOTE: Please do not make flight arrangements for this trip until
you have been notified to do so by the ETV Endowment office.
ETV ENDOWMENT
SOUTH DAKOTA
GREAT FACES AND GREAT PLACES
with PATRICK McMILLAN
JUNE 7-14, 2017
HOTELS
June 7-11, 2017: 5 Nights
BW Ramkota Hotel & Conference Center
2111 N. Lacrosse Street
Rapid City, South Dakota 57701
Ph: 605) 737-5644
June 12, 2017: 1 Night
Holiday Inn Express
1821 Frontage Road
Scottsbluff, Nebraska 69361
Ph:(308) 632-1000
June 13, 2017: 1 Night
Doubletree Hilton North
4040 Quebec St
Denver, Colorado 80216
Ph: (303) 321-6666