Little Big Horn, Montana

Aug 17, 2012

Flying from Hardin, Montana.

The site of the battle of Little Big Horn.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/How-the-Battle-of-Little-Bighorn-Was-Won.html

This is the peaceful paradise setting where the Indians were camped when Custer's troops  attacked.
And let's remember that it was the troops who attacked the Indian camp
where women and children  lived.......
The Indians 'crime' was to refuse to be confined to the reserves allotted to them.
This is after having been pushed out of the Black hills, which had been promised to them..... 

But the Indians fought back, and 'kicked ass', and this was the result.......
I am definitely on the Indians' side in this sad story....

The markers show where soldiers fell, and Custer's last stand on the ridge behind.......
Off course the Indians couldn't be allowed to win in the end,
so they were later mercilessly crushed by the whole army follow-up........

Devil's Tower, Wyoming

Aug 18, 2012

Not flying here.

The sectional chart warns not to fly within 3 miles of the Devil's Tower....

And this is why, people everywhere....
This was a car show day.

I like this one best.

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Not aerial views, but on the same theme, is Sturgis, South Dakota.

I just missed the annual motorcycle rally when tens of thousands show up.

Some hung over stragglers still around...

This would have been a wild place last weekend....

The brilliant metal sculpture outside the saloon.

Missile silo

Aug 19, 2012

Flying from Wall, South Dakota.

Once into South Dakota the land goes flat and stays so forever to the east......

But that's an interesting installation in the foreground...
It's obvious now, but used to be camouflaged into the prairie.

It's an old extinct Minuteman missile silo,
 which used to have a nuclear bomb aimed at the USSR.....
Now the bomb is gone, but the missile remains as a tourist attraction.

The Badlands, South Dakota

Aug 19, 2012

Flying from Wall, South Dakota.

'The Badlands', pretty good description, eh....

The Badlands erosion begins abruptly, and is farmed right to the edge on this upper side.


On the lower side of the Badlands is another flat plain, but now poor soil, so no grain farming.

Click on 'Older Posts' to continue.

Black Hills, South Dakota

Aug 20, 2012

Flying from Custer State Park Airstrip, South Dakota.

These are the Black Hills, once the home of the Lakota Indians.
The area had been allotted to the Indians as their final reservation, but then gold was discovered here, so the Indians were forced out, which eventually lead to the Battle of the Little Big Horn.

Still the home of some buffalo herds.

But this is more symbolic of the plight of both the buffalo and the Indians these days.
Neither are free to graze and hunt their former lands,
 and both are now being fed from troughs......

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This is the Black Hills these days, totally tourist.......

I couldn't fly around these monuments due to all the tourists and the rangers watching.

But I did fly around the Crazy Horse Monument under construction.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazy_Horse_Memorial

Some more badlands erosion near the Black Hills

This structure was on Indian lands east of the Hills.
It must be very impressive inside that building.

Oregon Trail

21 Aug 13

Flying from Torrington, Wyoming

I've long wanted to follow the famed Oregon Trail.
I couldn't follow all of it on this trip, but did cross it a couple of times.
This is the remains of Old Ft. Laramie in SE Wyoming.
It was a vital rest and re-grouping station for the emigrants.

That would have been some almighty journey for whole families in those days

Denver, Colorado

Aug 25, 2012

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Flying from Erie, Colorado.

Leadville, Colorado, is the highest airport in the USA. (9,927ft)
My little 40hp ultralight would have been struggling to get over the high mountains to get there, but my friend Tony, flies his 100hp Savannah up there often, so I went for a ride.

Had to go high to get over the mountains,
but the Savannah handled it well.

Brekenridge ski area.

Climbers on top on a mountain.

When we got there the airport was closed due to re-finishing the runway....

Climax molybdenum mine, just re-opened last year.

A very extensive mining operation in a very public and sensitive area.

Lots of very stringent conditions being complied with.

A good example of what can be done.

Signs of the USA

Baseball diamonds and gridiron football fields.