South Dakota

For some reason I started thinking about imagery in literature; I think it was talking with a colleague about teaching great books. After flipping through my mental roladex about great images from literature which have impacted me, I started thinking a bit about images from my life that have endured. It struck me as funny that some were in South Dakota.

I supposed that South Dakota is a nice enough place. Geographically it's more interesting than North Dakota, and those other middle states that all seem to run together for me. The Badlands are really quite beautiful. The first time I drove through the Badlands, I had no idea what to expect. I'd read about them in Louis L'Amour novels and in my mind they were associated with outlaws and ambushes. My first view of their colors and almost surreal beauty is imprinted on my mind. One minute I'm driving down a road surrounded by prairie and suddenly there are gorgeous, layered landforms like I had never seen. A friend once described the Badlands as "hills that go down instead of up." I've always liked that image.

I don't really consider South Dakota a cultural Mecca, although it does have Wall Drug and all the miles and miles of interesting road signs that lead to it. I got a great pair of boots at Wall Drug once, and a replica birch bark canoe which one day would sit atop my wedding cake. South Dakota also has Mt. Rushmore which, although these days seems a bit touristy and developed, was once pretty amazing. In 1981, I visited Mt. Rushmore for the first time. My mother, sister, and I were driving from Montana to Grand Island, Nebraska and stopped. We got to Mt. Rushmore early, in my memory it was 7:00 ish. (In fact, I think we hit the road early because of the scary incident at the Buffalo Bill Village in Wyoming, which offered great prices on rooms and free entertainment from crazy people next door - but that's a story for another day.) I remember parking our new Subaru in the lot and walking through the trees in the early morning sunlight. There were flags from all the states lining the path, and when we got to the observation deck and station, the sun was streaming on those huge stone faces. The national anthem was playing over loudspeakers and the rangers were hoisting the flag for the day. Never have I felt so in awe or proud of my country. I was so disappointed to revisit Rushmore in 1998 and not find that fullness of spirit I so remembered.

My other lasting image from South Dakota was Halloween 1991. My friend and I were seeing the country from the windows of our 1971 Volkswagon Bus, and decided to celebrate the holiday by splurging on a bottle of peppermint schnapps to put into our hot chocolate that night. We figured it would be a great change from our typcial daily diet of spam and beer. We pulled off I-90 into a small town, somewhere around Humbolt I believe, and stopped at the first gas station we saw. A group of costumed teens sat around in the back of a blue pickup truck and eyed us with interest as my friend rolled down her window and asked them for directions to a liquor store. We got directions, headed towards town and sure enough found the place. I wish I could remember the name, I know it was a man's name, something like "Dan's Place." Well, we got out of our little van and headed in to purchase a (hopefully) cheap bottle of celebration and get back on our way.

There's a scene in the film Easy Rider where Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda go into a restaurant, only to realize it's not exactly hippie friendly. That's sort of what it was like walking into Dan's Place. The place was primarily a bar, so when we entered, we five or six honest South Dakotans sitting sipping their suds. Just like in the movies, conversation stopped and heads turned. I asked the bartender if they sold packaged booze and he motioned and answered "In the cooler. There in the back." My friend and I smiled at the locals and headed towards the cooler and two shelves of liquor bottles that made up the liquor store. She grabbed the only bottle of schnapps they had I decided to go ahead and grab another 6 pack of liquid bread, just in case. As I turned and opened the cooler I realized that Dan's Place wasn't only a bar and liquor store; Dan was also a taxidermist! The shelf above the Coors cans was occupied by several dead pheasants and a grouse. In the bottom of the cooler was a small, hairy mammal of some sort; I didn't feel a need to investiage too closely. Needless to say paid quickly for our purchases, leaped back into the van and headed back to the Interstate.

Now I don't know for sure if it was the peace sign on the back of our bus that made us stick out or the Alaska license plates. Or maybe it was two young women in serious need of a shower and some clean tie-dye, buying booze. Whatever it was, it earned us some attention from the local police, who had us pulled over in a flash. We got out of the car, talked a bit, and I think they decided that we weren't a serious threat. Then again, maybe they felt secure in the knowledge that we were moving on down the road. Either way, we got our official South Dakota warning of traffic violation for crossing the white line when pulling onto a road way and headed east, firmly decided to make it across the state line before camping for the night.

I hope that some day my kids have a chance to hit the road and see the world in first person. Maybe it's time for us all to buy some new tie-dye...