Garden Ramblings: Minuteman Missile Site and the "Badlands"

On Monday, Susie joined us and we left early (7:30 am!) to visit a Minuteman missile site and then go on to the Badlands. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and we took a back road, which led us through Scenic, South Dakota, a deserted town. It was very interesting, as the only thing that seemed to be operating there was the post office!

All along the way we saw colonies of prairie dogs, including the albino ones that live in the badlands.

Our first stop was at the missile site - this particular site has been disabled, and is now a part of the National Park Service. There are 15 missile sites in South Dakota, and were installed during the cold war, with warheads aimed directly at Russia. They are located underground, and, as part of the arms treaty, many were disabled.

There were 6 of us on our tour, which was led by a retired Major from the Air Force, who had actually lived and worked at the site when it was active. His hands-on experience made the tour very interesting, as did the fact that the other two people on our tour were from Russia! The Russian woman had grown up on an air force base, as her father had also worked on the Russian missile program - very interesting! The couple has lived in New York for the last 20 years, but having the Russian point of view was fantastic!

We took an elevator down to the command center, which was located about 20 ft. underground. The capsule was quite small, and was manned by two Air Force men or women, who worked 48 hour shifts. The door to the capsule was huge and heavy! We were down there for about 30 minutes, and towards the end, it began to feel a bit claustrophobic, and that was with the door open!

We also learned that there are about 500 of these missile sites located in the upper Great Plains, manned, and fully operational! A sobering thought!

The missile site was quite a contrast to the mammoth site that we had visited the day before!

After the missile tour, we stopped at the Prairie Homestead - a preserved, original homestead that was settled between 1900 and 1913 Homesteaders were given about 80 acres of land, with the stipulation that they would raise crops. The house was sod construction, built into a hillside. Sod walls, dirt floors, wood-burning stove, wash tub and board! I can't imagine how incredibly hard life was there, particularly in the winter. Standing in the middle of that sod house made me want to go home and embrace all of our appliances!!

There were also many white prairie dogs there, too. Cute little critters, but they certainly can be destructive!

Then, on to the Badlands!! Badlands National Park is an amazing geological phenomenon! The sculpted mountains and valleys are breath-taking. It almost has a lunar landscape feel. This is where the "bad guys" hid out when the law was after them - it was probably a safe place to hide! The millions of pictures we took don't begin to do the scenery justice - you'll just have to see it for yourself!

Our last stop before heading home was at Wall Drugs! Wall drugs is located in Wall, SD, and for a time, was the only thing there! It was opened by a pharmacist and his wife in 1931. They nearly starved to death, until his wife had the idea to put a sign on the road offering free ice water! This brought cars in off the highway, and business has boomed ever since! And they still give free ice water! We had dinner in the restaurant there, and I had my first ever buffalo burger! Excellent!!

What a full and wonderful day! Thanks, Vivian and Susie!

One of the shops in Scenic, SD. Incidentally, we saw on the news yesterday that Scenic has been bought by a church! It will be interesting to see how it develops

Some of the white prairie dogs we saw in and around the Badlands

The missile site. The entrance to the capsule was inside a non-descript brown building

Awaiting our tour

This picture shows the capsules being lowered into the ground

This is the door to the capsule. Apparently the doors each have their own artwork, similar to the artwork of military aircraft

This is where two crewmen lived and worked in 48 hour shifts. Apparently when women began serving, this caused quite a stir among Air Force wives!

The command panel

We've always heard about "pushing the button" to enable a missile launch. However, a key is used - two keys, in fact. They are located far enough apart that it requires both people in the capsule to activate them simultaneously. Double click on the picture to enlarge it to see the launch key slot.

Prairie homestead

Outside the homestead. You can see the wash tub and wringer on the ground.

Inside the two room homestead. Very, very basic! And how would you keep dirt floors clean?

The iron bedstead in the second room. I have tremendous respect for our forbears! I remember visiting my father's family in Nebraska - while they didn't live in a sod house, they did live in a house that was built underground.