Tag: meade county

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West River’s Fleeting Fall Color

By Christian Begeman

The colors of fall can be elusive in a predominantly prairie state like South Dakota. Our national forests are mostly made up of evergreens. Autumn winds can blow relentlessly through the rest of the trees as winter’s long arm begins to creep down from the north. Wild weather swings, as evidenced by this past week’s brutal snowstorm on the west side of the state and tornados clipping the southeast corner, don’t help autumn’s splendor stay around for long either. To me, fall’s fleeting nature is what makes photographing its beauty so fun and fulfilling.

This year, I was able to break away from the normal routine to spend a few days searching for autumn color. From Sunday, September 29 through Tuesday, October 1, I made a wide circle through some of the prettiest country our state has to offer west of the Missouri. Last year, I discovered that the valleys and draws of the Sage Creek Wilderness offer some unique fall scenes with the Badlands as a backdrop. I got there maybe a week before the trees were in prime color, however, I found that the early morning sun backlighting the leaves brought out fall’s tints anyway.

My next stop was the northern Black Hills. This area contains two of the most scenic canyons in the state and they are particularly beautiful when dressed in autumn’s hues. Vanocker Canyon Road between Nemo and Sturgis is a short but beautiful drive. Spearfish Canyon’s scenic highway is also a must see during this season. At Savoy, you can get out and hike to waterfalls, alongside creeks and nature areas that will take your breath away.

Around a hundred miles north and a little east of the Black Hills is the furthest eastward unit of Custer National Forest. This narrow band of trees grace the tops and sides of the Slim Buttes of Harding County. I have seen and been impressed with other photographers’ images of that area taken in the fall and always wanted to go and experience it myself. I’m glad I did, as there are views and vistas that had me saying”wow” out loud. I’m not kidding. After only allowing for an afternoon’s visit, I was kicking myself for not allowing the whole weekend to explore. It’s that good.

On the way to the Slim Buttes, I stopped off in the Hoover, SD area to shoot the South Fork of the Moreau River. I grew up near the Moreau River proper around 90 miles to the east of Hoover so this landscape of cut banks, cottonwoods and cattle made me feel like I was home again. After spending the night in Isabel, I made an early morning stop at Little Moreau Recreation Area south of Timber Lake. This relatively wide and scenic creek valley in the middle of the prairie is thick with trees. I had never witnessed what it looked like in the fall before this year. The early morning view was not a disappointment. I had arrived a few days before prime colors, but the scene was still impressive. As a photographer, I’d rather catch fall early than late as the remaining greens can contrast nicely with the autumn’s yellow, oranges and reds.

My last stop was the Foster Bay Road of extreme northwest Stanley County. Here the draws were in full autumn splendor. I found bright reds in the thickets and rich oranges and yellows along the hillsides. I spent a good hour, just taking it all in. A lot of miles lay behind me, but viewing these last bursts of color before the dull and muted hues of winter arrive was truly a blessing. Yes, fall is fleeting in our great state, which means catching it even for just for a moment is a treasure. It’s a good life lesson, really. Life is fleeting, but there are moments and experiences that stand out in vivid color. Enjoy those moments, take pictures and treasure the views!


Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he’s not working at Midcontinent Communications he is often on the road photographing our prettiest spots around the state. Follow Begeman on his blog.

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From the Prairie

Jodene Shaw shared these photos from her ranch near White Owl in central Meade County. Shaw works at home on the ranch as a wife, mother of three kids, mixed media artist and photographer. She also incorporates photographs into collage art that can be purchased in her Etsy shop online.

“My Grandma Marj was a nature photographer and a birdwatcher. She shared both of those passions with me when I was a child. It has only been in the past three years that I have developed my love for art and photography into a business,” Shaw says. “My favorite subjects to photograph are wildflowers, birds, and rural life, and my family. My artwork weaves together my loves for faith in God, the beauty of nature and rural life, words, photography, and finding the sacred in ordinary.” View more of her work here.

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Purple Cone Flowers

Jodene Shaw shared these photos of flowers on her ranch near White Owl in central Meade County. Shaw works at home on the ranch as a wife, mother of three kids, mixed media artist and photographer. She teaches art classes at home and at Sturgis Photo and Gifts. She also incorporates photographs into collage art that can be purchased in her Etsy shoppe online. View more of her work here.

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Colts on Matt Ranch

Michele Schweitzer shared these photos from Matt Ranch near Red Owl. Cliff and Judy Matt own the ranch. Hired man Grady Gifford is shown working with a couple of the ranch’s colts.

“I am always put in a seat of respect and amazement when you see someone so great in what they do and humble in their position,” Schweitzer says. “What really gave me thought is how hard the South Dakota rancher works. Both Cliff and his hired man had been out since 5:00 a.m. haying. It was now approaching 6:00 p.m. and Grady had to break a couple colts. No supper yet, no complaints. It was just work to be done and there were more chores to follow.”

Schweitzer lives in Mobridge. View more of her photos at picsbymicimages.com.

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Between the Prairies and the Mountains

By Christian Begeman

Earlier this spring I rode with retired Bureau of Land Management Biologist Chuck Berdan to view and photograph Greater Sage Grouse mating displays. Along the way we started talking about interesting places in South Dakota for a photographer to visit. He told me that I needed to visit the Hogback and Racetrack surrounding the Black Hills in the springtime. This bio-diverse area, located where the plains meet the mountains, is full of wildflowers and wildlife — just what the doctor ordered for an outdoor photographer like me. The problem was that I had not heard about these landforms before. After further explanation by Chuck and some research in a few books about geology, I learned that I have indeed spent a lot of time on the Racetrack and crossed the Hogback numerous times without even realizing it.

When I was a kid, my family lived in Ziebach County. Whenever we drove down to Sturgis to visit my aunt and uncle, I distinctly remember coming into town on Highway 34 and going through steep cliffs just after passing Fort Meade. The hills and ridges that formed those first cliffs is the Hogback. I also remember that the rest of Sturgis was nestled in a somewhat wide valley with red dirt before the hills of the Black Hills really got going. This red valley is the Racetrack.

Chuck told me the Fort Meade Recreation Area was a great place to explore the Hogback. There are basically two areas to explore: the ridge portion south of Sturgis that borders Alkali Creek and the prairie portion to the north of town that goes right up to Bear Butte State Park. This area is steeped in history as well as culture. As you hike the trails, it is easy to picture yourself in the days of the Old West. There are stagecoach tracks visible and cavalry jumps still in place. There is even the grave of Curly Grimes, an outlaw buried where he was shot — on the shoulders of the Hogback just west of the campground.

If you take a larger step back into history and culture of the Native Americans, the place has an even more interesting story to tell. According to Lakota legend, the red valley Racetrack surrounding the Black Hills was created with the blood of animals in a great race. The buffalo won the race and was determined the supreme animal on the plains and sacred to the Lakota.

As for me and my camera, Chuck was absolutely right. The place is full of wildflowers and colorful birds and butterflies. I was surprised that a recreation area so close to a well-known South Dakota town was so unknown. The campsite on Alkali Creek was not even half full on the Saturday that I was there. I did, however, get to meet Sandy, the campground hosts’ three-legged dog. She had lost her 4th leg to a copperhead snakebite in Texas, but this injury didn’t faze her at all as she hiked happily with her owners. My guess is after an ordeal with a copperhead, an occasional encounter with the prairie rattlers that inhabit the Hogback and Racetrack probably wouldn’t scare her a bit … which is more than I can say for myself. Regardless, I plan on going back to the area in the fall to see what it looks like when the leaves of the trees turn. The time between seasons is always beautiful. Fittingly, I’m sure it will be even more so in this place between the prairies and the mountains.


Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he’s not working at Midcontinent Communications he is often on the road photographing our prettiest spots around the state. Follow Begeman on his blog. To view Christian’s columns featuring other unique spots in South Dakota’s landscape, visit his landmarks page.

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Threshing on the South Dakota Prairie

By Bernie Hunhoff

Editor’s Note: This story is revised from the July/August 1996 issue of South Dakota Magazine. To order a copy or to subscribe, call 800-456-5117.

Threshing time meant hot, sweaty days of back-breaking labor with sun in your eyes and dust in your mouth and noise from the grinding gears of heavy machinery bouncing between your ears. Itchy, scratchy chaff clung to wherever your skin was bare. And work stretched out in front of you, bundles and bundles of work piled in shocks that meandered in crooked rows over the yellow-stubbled horizon.

Cowboys get lots of credit for working like fools for little pay all week and only getting into town on Saturday nights. Songs are sung of their riding and romancing. Some with good teeth even have a chance to make movies.

But no cowboy could match “woe was me” stories with a real thresherman. And even though the literary types who write the songs and books never did immortalize the threshing teams of the Great Plains states, their exploits are not forgotten. Their grey, steel-wheeled threshing machines (some call them separators) can be seen in all parts of South Dakota. Most were parked in tree groves, ready to be pulled from retirement when the new-fangled combine faltered.

When combines were first introduced in the middle years of the last century, no one trusted them to really work as promised. So a cautious farmer kept his thresher in the trees. He even kept it greased and oiled for safe-keeping. Once they felt comfortable with the combines, some worldly farmers pulled their threshers out by the road as a treat for tourists. There they sit today. City travelers still marvel at the contraptions. They mistake them for everything from primitive UFOs to tin-roofed covered wagons. Because the threshers were sitting by the road, somebody got the good idea of hanging signs on them. If nothing else, South Dakotans are a practical people. Nobody on Madison Avenue in New York City could have designed a more sturdy billboard.

Generally, the thresher signs point the way to the nearest museum. For many years, that’s as close to the museums as threshing machines were allowed. The cowboys’ saddles and boots and spurs were welcomed inside. But the threshing machine stayed out in the elements, left to rust and sink slowly in the sod.

It wasn’t until the 1960s that some South Dakotans realized a part of their agricultural heritage could be lost. Efforts were begun to restore their old machinery and put it on exhibit with the cowboy’s gear. The first organization to collect the machines on a grand scale was Prairie Village, which organized on the outskirts of Madison in 1961.

Farm history is fun for city and country folk alike at places like Menno’s Pioneer Power Show. Photo by Bernie Hunhoff.

Several years later, the Western Dakota Antique Club was formed at Sturgis to preserve old agricultural equipment from West River farms. “We’d been taking in some threshing shows in other areas and we were getting itchy to get something started ourselves,” said Ambrose Bachand, one of about 200 founders of the Sturgis club, when we spoke with him in 1996. Another founder, LeRoy Hardy, remembered when they hooked up to their first threshing machine and pulled it out of the tall grass. “It was in useable condition. It just had to be taken apart and cleaned and greased.”

Hardy, Bachand and most of the original members of the West River club were farmers or had grown up on farms. But they said the popularity of the old machinery isn’t limited to farm kids. “We’ve had lots of city people come to our shows,” said Bachand. “It’s a chance for them to see a little piece of history.”

“When they look at some of these big tractors the pioneers used to break up the sod 100 years ago, it’s plain you don’t have to be a farmer to enjoy that,” said Hayes.

Most threshing bees in the state have more than just a grain demonstration. Madison’s Prairie Village Steam Threshing Jamboree, the granddaddy of South Dakota’s harvest exhibitions, has over 50 turn-of-the-century buildings, including a sod house, country school, print shop, opera house and jail. Rides are available on steam locomotives. But old iron farm equipment still takes center stage. Farmers like to argue over whether the red (International Harvester) or green (John Deere) machines are most reliable; when if the truth were known, both colors and all other shades were cussed equally and repeatedly back in their real working days.

While there was little romance and adventure associated with the oats and wheat harvest 50 years ago, perhaps a certain nostalgia has settled in. All these celebrations seem to be a fitting remembrance to the threshing culture, which has a lot of catching-up to do to take its deserved place besides the cowboy mystique.

Grab a Pitchfork … Or Just Watch

Every threshing celebration has its own flavor, depending on the talents and collections of the local people. Visit one of South Dakota’s threshing demonstrations and volunteer to pitch a bundle or two to get a taste of our agricultural history.

Aug. 3-5: Southeast South Dakota Threshing Show, Lennox. 712-737-2671.
Aug. 10-12: Humboldt Threshing Show.
Aug. 11-12: Twin Brooks Threshing Show.
Aug. 17-19: Black Hills Steam and Gas Threshing Bee, Sturgis.
Aug. 18-19: Rosholt Area Threshing Bee.
Aug. 23-26: Prairie Village Steam Threshing Jamboree, Madison.
Sept. 7-9: James Valley Threshing Show, Andover.
Sept. 8-9: Kuchen & Old Time Harvest Festival, Delmont.
Sept. 22-23: Pioneer Power Show, Menno.
Sept. 28-30: Coal Springs Antique Show & Threshing Bee, Meadow. 788-2854.

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The Rugged Spirituality of Bear Butte

By Christian Begeman


Just a few miles north and east of Sturgis, South Dakota is one of the most interesting places to visit in the state. No, I’m not talking about Buffalo Chip Campground or anything to do with the annual motorcycle rally. I’m talking about Bear Butte State Park. It is a place of vibrant history and rugged beauty as well as deep spiritual significance.

Rising over 1,200 feet above the surrounding prairie at an elevation of 4,426 feet above sea level, the butte has an interesting geological story too. Eons ago, volcanic activity forced magma up against the earth’s crust to push out rock. For some reason, the volcano failed to erupt. Time, weather and wind eroded the landscape around the rocks to give us what we see as Bear Butte today.

Centuries later, the butte became a place of deep spiritual meaning to various Plains Indian tribes, the most recent being the Cheyenne and the Lakota (or Sioux). Sweet Medicine of the Cheyenne is often compared to Moses of Judaism and Christianity as he spent time as an exile on the butte where Ma’heo’o (God) met with him and gave him the basis of Cheyenne moral, spiritual, and political customs. Later the Sioux would hold annual councils at the base of the butte to gauge their strength for the year as well as catch up on the news of the land.

I’ve heard a couple accounts of the butte’s origin. One that has been attributed to the Lakota goes something like this; one day some children were out playing and a large bear they accidentally disturbed started chasing them. (Some retellings say one of the children was pretending to be a bear and actually changed into one.) The children outran the bear and climbed up on a large tree stump. As the bear approached the stump, the tree stump grew and grew and so did the bear. His claws raked the sides of the stump causing deep gashes on the side. Then an eagle rescued the children and flew them east and very high in the sky. The bear chased but soon grew weary and fell into a slumber at the foot of the Black Hills. The children became the constellation that we know as the Pleiades (or Seven Sisters). The bear became Bear Butte and the scarred tree stump is what we now know as Devil’s Tower in present-day Wyoming.

The Bear Butte region also echoes with many of the great names of the Old West. Red Cloud, Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse are all said to have been there often. According to some stories, Crazy Horse is even said to be buried somewhere near the butte. Custer and his infamous expedition to the Black Hills to confirm the stories of gold camped at the base of the butte as well. The Bismarck to Deadwood Stage Trail passed just to the west and north of the butte. In fact, you can still see evidence of the ruts at the marker on Cotton Creek Road a few miles north of the butte.

I had the honor of visiting with Jim Jandreau, the park manager, about the sacredness of the butte. He offered some keen insight as to why the place was considered holy. Not only is it a high and beautiful place, but the beauty is distinctly rugged and hard edged. Only spirits would live in a hard place like this and therefore it was reasoned that the butte must be very close to the spirit world. As you hike the butte, you will see numerous prayer flags and prayer offerings tied to branches along the way. Sometimes you will see homemade beadwork accompanying eagle’s feathers as well. A homemade gift is considered one of the highest honors to be given in Lakota culture.

I climbed the butte just after sunup on a Sunday morning. The landscape was hazy as a result of fires to the south and west. I was worried that my photos would suffer, but the butte was full of beauty I did not expect. Various wildflowers, birds and wildlife accompanied me on my hike. Later in the day a brief yet fierce thunderstorm rolled up and over the butte. As it passed, a rainbow appeared to the northeast. Then as the sun set, the departing storm clouds were painted pinks and purples. I couldn’t have asked for a better day in one of South Dakota’s most interesting and special state parks. It is my hope this place is kept and protected for all to experience for many years to come.

A rainbow emerges after the storm.

Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he’s not working at Midcontinent Communications he is often on the road photographing our prettiest spots around the state. Follow Begeman on his blog. To view Christian’s columns on other South Dakota state parks and recreation areas, visit his state parks page.