Tag: missouri river

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River Conservation — Where’s the Downside?

By Cory Allen Heidelberger

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service have a pretty good idea. (No, not closing down the D.C. Booth Fish Hatchery in Spearfish; that’s a dumb idea.) The feds would like to create the Niobrara Confluence and Ponca Bluffs Conservation Area along the Missouri River between Pickstown and Sioux City. They’d like to purchase land and conservation easements from willing landowners in South Dakota and Nebraska to “conserve important wildlife habitats, increase quality recreational opportunities, preserve sensitive cultural sites, and maintain sustainable farming and ranching operations in the region.”

Let’s see: landowners get paid, critters get cover, hunters and kayakers get better scenery…where’s the downside?

Senator Dan Lederman (R-16/Dakota Dunes) must see a downside. He’s hollering that the Niobrara/Ponca conservation plan is a nefarious “federal land grab” that “threatens private property rights.” Lederman’s conservative henchblog is promulgating accusations that the feds haven’t given affected landowners enough notice or enough time to comment on the plan.

I can only assume that Lederman’s attacks are motivated by political considerations. They certainly aren’t motivated by facts or a consistent commitment to conservation or property rights.

The Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service have been gathering public input on the Niobrara/Ponca project since winter 2012. The current comment period, which ends September 30, is actually an extension (announced last June) of the original comment period, which was opened on April 2. The feds have more than doubled the comment period to give citizens six months to study and weigh in on the project’s draft environmental impact statement.

The feds have invited public scrutiny in many ways. In addition to the usual notices in the Federal Register, they have sent landowners postcards with information on the conservation easement plan. They have held two rounds of public meetings throughout the project area. When the April meetings got snowed out, FWS and NPS rescheduled. They’re not exactly keeping the Niobrara/Ponca project secret.

As for the threat to private property rights, I can’t figure out what Senator Lederman is talking about. Everything the feds say about the Niobrara/Ponca plan speaks of working with willing, voluntary landowners. FWS and NPS can’t use eminent domain to force landowners to sell… unlike TransCanada, which uses eminent domain to build its Keystone pipeline system, a project Lederman and friends wholeheartedly support.

If you don’t like the Niobrara/Ponca conservation plan, if you still want to be able to drain and plant crops and build industrial feedlots on your land, go ahead: the feds can’t make you sell them your land or grant you a conservation easement for this project.

But if you own land near the Missouri or Niobrara, and if you’ve been sparing some prairie grass and wetlands the plow, and if you’d like some compensation for taking a pass on six-dollar corn, the feds have a good deal for you, for river critters, and for the rest of us… if, and only if, you are willing.

Editor’s Note: Cory Heidelberger is our political columnist from the left. For a right-wing perspective on politics, please look for columns by Dr. Ken Blanchard every other Monday on this site.

Cory Allen Heidelberger writes the Madville Times political blog. He grew up on the shores of Lake Herman. He studied math and history at SDSU and information systems at DSU, and has taught math, English, speech, and French at high schools East and West River.


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Meanderings Along the Missouri

Michele Richter shared these photos of the Missouri River near Minneconjou, Little Bend and South Whitlock recreation areas. Richter grew up in Lake Andes and currently lives in Spearfish. She fell in love with photography after taking a course at Black Hills State University. “I have a love of landscape and nature photography, but really if something catches my eye…watch out,” Richter jokes. Visit this link to see more of her work or purchase prints.

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Where the Mighty Mo Bends

By Christian Begeman

The Mighty Missouri. You can’t do a landmark series without talking about the great river that cuts our state in half. I never knew the river before the big dams were constructed. My earliest memory of the Missouri is coming down red-top hill on old Highway 20 near where the Grand River joins Lake Oahe just west of Mobridge. It was the biggest body of water I had ever seen. (This held true until I was in high school and saw the Gulf of Mexico from Galveston Island in Texas.) The Missouri is a thing of beauty even in its dammed state. The hills and bluffs on either side provide cover for wildlife and are rugged enough to have never been touched by the farmer’s plow. This means they are havens for prairie wildflowers as well.

One winter while I was in college, I was in a small plane flying to Rapid City on a moonlit night. There was snow on the ground so the moonlight made all the contours of the land visible. One of the most interesting sights I saw that evening was the meandering of Big Bend on the Missouri. It is one thing to look at the biggest bend of any river in the United States on a map, but it is quite another to view it in person.

I’ve always been fascinated by this part of the state and just within the last few years discovered the Narrows of the Big Bend area just beyond Lower Brule. In the days of the steamboat freight and fur trading on the river, the boats would stop along the eastern shore of the Missouri and allow their passengers to stretch their legs and walk the mile and half across the Narrows while the boat traversed the full bend of well over 20 miles. I often wonder what kinds of stories or adventures happened on those hikes.

A short walk takes you up onto the bluffs between the bends of the Missouri and allows great views of Lake Sharpe in both directions. Wildflowers and birds abound. I’ve never seen as much blooming yucca anywhere else in the state. I visited three times this spring and early summer to catch as many wildflowers as possible. On my most recent trip, the yucca were in full bloom and I was even able to photograph a yucca moth, which is so closely related to yucca that it is the only insect that pollinates the plants.

Further up the river is another interesting bend to visit. The Mighty Mo seems to bend to the west to meet the Cheyenne River some twenty miles west of Onida. I’ve heard the view looking west from this area called Sunset Point, as one can see for miles down the Cheyenne from the high hills of the Little Bend narrows. The first time I visited this area was a brisk day in November. Lake Oahe was deep blue against the tan and brown bluffs. The view was just as exquisite when I visited again this spring. I tried my luck at Sunset Point, and although the sun sets quite a bit to the northwest this time of year, the scenery was still spectacular.

I’ve spent a lot of time enjoying the fishing and water recreation that the Missouri River system offers South Dakotans, but have just recently realized what a treasure the hills and bluffs that neighbor the mighty lakes are. Hiking the bluffs seem to take me back to an earlier time. With each step, the sounds of civilization seem to get lost behind the hills, leaving just the wildflowers and wind to keep me company — a little bit of heaven on earth for me.

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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South Dakota Kayak Challenge

The last natural and wild stretch of the 2,300-mile Missouri River is a 75-mile corridor from Yankton to Sioux City but eagles and herons usually outnumber people along the river. That changes on a Saturday every May with the South Dakota Kayak Challenge. Started four years ago, the kayak (and canoe) race attracts more than a hundred adventurers to the scenic waterway. The challenge was held Saturday (May 25) despite overcast skies and a strong east wind. Photos by Bernie Hunhoff.

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Central South Dakota’s Playground

“Fort Pierre has become central South Dakota’s playground,” says attorney John Duffy.”I don’t want to say that nothing fun ever happens in Pierre, but it’s hard compete with everything we have here.”

The town has the Stanley County fairgrounds, a youth center, a hockey rink and gymnasium. Horse races, rodeos, bucking matches, circuses, concerts and numerous other events are held there. The Missouri River draws boaters and fishermen.

Fort Pierre’s nightspots enjoy a reputation for being the scene of late-night political hijinks and compromises during Pierre’s annual legislative sessions. Since Fort Pierre operates on Mountain Time, it was once a tradition for some lawmakers and staffers to cross the river at 1 a.m. to continue their revelry. Mountain Time is still observed in the city after midnight, but earlier in the day townspeople generally set their watches to Central Time to stay in step with Pierre.

A less rowdy gathering spot is the Casey Tibbs Rodeo Center. It includes the Mattie Goff Newcombe Conference Center, a hilltop meeting facility that offers an expansive view of the Missouri River and the capital city of Pierre.

Rodeo legend Casey Tibbs in action.

Tibbs is still regarded as one of the top rodeo stars of all time. Much of his memorabilia is on exhibit at the center, along with exhibits from South Dakota’s other national champs as well as other rodeo characters.

Mattie Goff Newcombe was a famous trick rider in the 1920s. She perfected the Back Drag, a dangerous stunt in which she placed her feet in loops on either side of the saddle and then bent over backwards until her hands dragged on the ground.

She and her husband, Maynard, ranched for many years along the Cheyenne River. After she died in 2005 at age 98, a bequest from her estate made it possible for the Tibbs museum to finally become reality after 20 years of planning.

“Casey’s the reason it got started,” says Dayle Tibbs Angyal, Casey’s niece and a longtime board member,”and Mattie’s the reason it got finished.”

For information on the rodeo museum, call 605-494-1094. To learn more about Fort Pierre’s attractions, contact the Pierre/Fort Pierre Chamber of Commerce at 605-224-7361.

Editor’s Note: This story is revised from the March/April 2010 issue of South Dakota Magazine. To order a copy or to subscribe, call 800-456-5117.


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Save the Missouri — Build a Metroplex!

By Cory Allen Heidelberger

Just a year and a half after record flooding along the Missouri, South Dakotans are fretting about falling water levels on the big river. This year’s drought is again leaving some Lake Oahe boat ramps high and dry. Our governor and Congressional delegation are girding for court battle against downstream states who want more water to float their boats.

But you know who’s really thirsty? Colorado. Arizona. California. Those states and their neighbors want to build an $11.2-billion pipeline that would pump Missouri River water from Leavenworth, Kansas, uphill along Interstate 70 to support their growing desert populations.

I’ve read over the past few years that the great wars of this century will be fought over water. Even domestically, our little squabbles with Louisiana and Mississippi over the relative economic importance of walleye fishing versus grain barges will pale compared to the fight we’ll have with five million Phoenix metro residents saying, “We need a drink!”

We might not get into a shooting match with the Southwest, but the political water war will be fought with votes. And when Las Vegas has more voters than North and South Dakota combined, we’re at a disadvantage.

If we want to protect the Missouri River, we may have to fight metroplexes with metroplexes. Instead of moving precious Missouri River water hundreds of miles to people in the desert, why not convince those people to move to the water? The Southwest has tricked people into setting up housekeeping in the middle of a desert (scorpions! tarantulas! aaaahhh!); it can’t be any harder to get people to move to the sun-kissed bluffs of the Missouri here on the moister, milder, mulchable plains.

But how do we get folks to move here and build those Missouri River metros on our shores? If the compelling logic of living right next to their water supply isn’t enough, maybe we need a new homestead program: buy out all the big farms and ranches along the river (all that ag chemical runoff is bad for water quality, right?), offer free plots of land with views of the river, maybe even subsidize locally grown straw bale houses.

Then again, it might be more logical to convince Americans to conserve water and not build cities in regions that can’t support them. From that perspective, too, a Missouri River metroplex (Pier-GettyMo? Chamber-Yank?), with plenty of fresh water and reasonably good nearby land for organic agriculture, would prove a better option than shipping Lake Oahe to Las Vegas.


Editor’s Note: Cory Heidelberger is our political columnist from the left. For a right-wing perspective on politics, please look for columns by Dr. Ken Blanchard every other Monday on this site.

Cory Allen Heidelberger writes the Madville Times political blog. He grew up on the shores of Lake Herman. He studied math and history at SDSU and information systems at DSU, and is currently teaching French at Spearfish High School. A longtime country dweller, Cory is enjoying “urban” living with his family in Spearfish.



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Cities at the Crossroads

By Paul Higbee

Photography by Chad Coppess


Thirty-some years ago I drove across South Dakota on an autumn evening. Baseball season was over but the AM radio airwaves crackled with news about New York Yankees manager Billy Martin. He had been involved in an ugly incident or offended someone with a remark, and rumors swirled that Yankees owner George Steinbrenner was about to give him the axe — again.

I spent that night in a Chamberlain motel, heard Martin discussed some more on an early morning TV show, then drove a couple miles across the Missouri River to Oacoma for breakfast at Al’s Oasis. Sitting a couple tables away was none other than Billy Martin, no worse for wear despite the public beating he was taking. He laughed with some pals, all of them dressed for hunting. I took Martin’s example to heart: if the manager of the New York Yankees could escape job pressures and grant himself a respite on the prairies and river bluffs of central South Dakota now and then, so should I.

Oddly enough I wasn’t that surprised to encounter Martin at Al’s Oasis. South Dakotans have grown accustomed to running into most anyone there. Know how to tell the difference between a South Dakotan and, say, an Iowan or Californian at Al’s? Watch the eyes. Upon entering the big dining area a South Dakotan will be scanning the room for acquaintances.

If ever there was a state crossroads, Al’s is it, and by extension so are all of Chamberlain and Oacoma. No South Dakotan needs to be reminded where these twin communities lie. Perhaps no other spot on I-90’s 412-mile stretch across the state grabs your attention quite like this one, where the highway drops into the Missouri River valley. Chamberlain, home to St. Joseph’s Indian School and the South Dakota Hall of Fame, sits on the east bank. Oacoma on the west side is smaller, yet holds its own with Cedar Shore Resort and the iconic Al’s Oasis, established in the 1950s when Al Mueller moved his family’s 30-year-old Oacoma grocery business toward the highway.

Hunting and fishing trips beyond count have been planned and later critiqued at Al’s. Boat trailers, as well as pickups transporting hunters, display license plates from across South Dakota and surrounding states. But unlike visitors, many of Chamberlain and Oacoma’s own people see river country recreation as much more than an occasional adventure. It’s central to a local lifestyle that makes leaving hard to imagine.

“I’m a river person,” said Richard Kirkpatrick, who’s also a National Guard recruiter living in Oacoma and working in Chamberlain. Over the years he and his wife Tina, and their three children, have hit the river in the family’s boat for water skiing or just escaping summer’s heat. They’ve fished for walleye and catfish, Kirkpatrick says,”or anything that bites. I like shore fishing, too, just sitting and enjoying the day. There’s always wildlife along the river to watch if you’re not catching fish.”

Pay a Visit to Our Crossroad Cities

Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center houses a renowned collection of Lakota, Dakota and Nakota art.


Visitors and residents tend to zip between Chamberlain and Oacoma in a couple minutes via the four-lane, 1970s era interstate highway bridge. Next time you’re traveling down I-90, take a few minutes to enjoy the scenery, grab a piece of pie at Al’s and take in some of the local attractions.

  • Locals never stop thinking up new ways to put their impressive stretch of water to recreational use, like River City Racin’, an annual hydroplane race, and the Chamberlain-Oacoma Chamber of Commerce‘s ice fishing tournament.
  • Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery made camp along the river just below the future Oacoma town site in September 1804. Chamberlain’s I-90 rest stop at mile marker 264 offers museum-quality displays interpreting Lewis and Clark’s visit, and sits atop a bluff with a stunning view of the river and the location of the Corps’ campsite on the other side.
  • The pretty school grounds of St. Joseph’s Indian School, site of the excellent Akta Lakota Museum and Cultural Center, are another major destination. Don’t miss Our Lady of the Sioux Chapel, where Oscar Howe’s powerful Indian Christ tapestry hangs.
  • Located on the Missouri River, Oacoma’s Cedar Shore Resort was bound to be a great destination for boaters, fishermen, and hunters. What’s more, it’s gained popularity as a centrally located place to rendezvous for meetings and conventions, regularly drawing conferences of 1,000 or so.
  • The South Dakota Hall of Fame in Chamberlain honors South Dakotans who made national or international names for themselves in politics, sports, entertainment, journalism and other fields. It also includes men and women whose fame never extended much beyond their hometowns, but whose lifetime work permanently enhanced those communities and improved the lives of future generations. There’s something wonderfully South Dakotan about this hall: an acknowledgement that greatness can take you far away or keep you close and devoted to home.


Editor’s Note: This story is revised from the March/April 2011 issue of South Dakota Magazine. To order a copy or to subscribe, call 800-456-5117.



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An Extreme Missouri River Challenge

By Laura Johnson

An afternoon spent tubing, kayaking or water skiing on the Missouri River is adventure enough for most people, but England’s Dave Cornthwaite isn’t most people. He has skateboarded across Australia and sailed from Mexico to Honolulu, and now his adventuring is bringing him to South Dakota.

Cornthwaite’s next expedition will take him from Chamberlain to St. Louis, Mo. via the Mighty Mo, swimming all the way. That’s a thousand miles of paddling — 20 miles a day over 50 days. This stunt is one of 25 trips Cornthwaite plans to take using different forms of non-motorized transport.

All this swimming isn’t done just for kicks, though. Dave’s missions raise money for the AV Foundation, which provides drinking water and other support to East African communities and schools, and CoppaFeel, a British breast cancer awareness organization. He also hopes to educate along the way about environmental issues, the importance of getting involved, and the life-enriching joys of adventure.

Cedar Shore Resort in Oacoma will be hosting a welcoming event for Cornthwaite and his support team on August 9. You can also follow his exploits on Facebook, Twitter, or simply stand on the Missouri River shoreline and shout your encouragement as the red-headed Englishman swims by next month.

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Keeping Cool in a Great Lake

By Christian Begeman

This summer reminds me of the hot and dry summers growing up in rural Ziebach County. The days that you thought you were walking into an oven when leaving the house for chores in the afternoon. The days when we only had one window air conditioner in the whole house. Our living room was the only sanctuary from the heat. Even the normally cool basement was too warm and muggy to be comfortable. My bedroom was on the main floor — on the opposite side of the house from the air conditioner. My whole back wall was westward-facing, so the room could be unbearable on hot July days. On the worst nights, when there wasn’t even an evening breeze to tickle the curtains of my open window, I remember filling up my water pistol and shooting it straight in the air above me. The droplets of water would rain down some relief and soon I’d drift off into dreams of exploring the Amazon rainforest or the Sahara desert.

I will admit that hot summer days are good for one thing. The heat makes any time spent on South Dakota’s recreational waters that much more refreshing. I lived about an hour and 15 minutes from Lake Oahe and have fond memories of jet skiing, water skiing and fishing on the Missouri River. Further down the river, on Lake Francis Case near the Highway 44 bridge, are two recreation areas that are havens for water lovers. Snake Creek Recreation Area lies on the eastern shore. Just a few miles north on the western side of the river is Buryanek Recreation Area. Both parks have great shorelines for frolicking in the water, numerous campgrounds, dock access for watercraft, and they both offer beautiful scenery of the Missouri River breaks. They are pretty much the perfect place for a hot summer cool-down vacation.

When I was there earlier this month, I asked a friend of mine if I could join his family out on the water and shoot some photos from the boat. Jeremiah DeJong and his family happily obliged. We took a quick tour of the area and even dusted off the water skis to see what kind of photos we could get. Jeremiah is on the water quite a bit here as he is an avid fisherman. Like any good fisherman, he had a whopper of a story to tell me. Last fall as he was out on the water early in the morning, he noticed a rather large land animal crossing the river. A nice sized buck was swimming the mile wide expanse of water from one shore to the other. I wouldn’t have believed him if he didn’t have the photos to prove it on his cell phone. I got winded dog paddling with a life jacket on while trying to shoot some photos with my waterproof GoPro camera. I can’t imagine swimming the whole way across. Since it was in the fall, I’m guessing the old buck got wind of a female or two he wanted to visit across the water. Apparently Lake Francis Case could not stop him on his quest of love.

Buryanek was mostly under water last year due to the record flooding on the Missouri River system. I stayed in a camping cabin there Saturday evening and was amazed that the whole place was up and running smoothly. The only evidence of the flood were the high water marks on the trees and outhouses. I stayed out on the shore late into the night to get a shot of the Milky Way above the water. In the distance you could see the lights of cars crossing the Platte-Winner Bridge and the faint lights of Snake Creek’s campgrounds. The evening breeze and gentle waves of the evening brought relief from another hot July day in South Dakota. It reminded me of one of my first tenting experiences on the shores of Lake Oahe with my brothers and members of our church youth group. Those are good memories. It is good to know that places like Snake Creek and Buryanek still offer kids young and old the chance to create new memories of vacations on the shores of South Dakota’s Great Lakes.

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.



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Sand Dunes

Dramatic changes occurred in the Missouri River valley when the waters receded from the 500-year-flood of last summer. The transformation is especially vivid in the Springfield vicinity, where miles and miles of river bottom are now covered with fine white sand. Here are some photos, taken this week during 30-40 mph winds that gave the river dunes a desert appearance. Photos by Bernie Hunhoff.