We arrived in Keystone South Dakota on the night of July 11th. Rob had flown in from Florida that day and was waiting for us at our motel. The next day we got up early and drove to the Badlands. Somebody asked me why it was called the Badlands and after seeing it I could understand why it was called by that name. It had a rugged beauty but it would definitely be hard to survive there for any length of time. The Lakota Sioux named this area Mako Sica which translates to "Badlands". Early French explorers called it les mauvaises terres a traveser which means (‘bad lands to travel across’). This was literally true. When it rains the wet clay becomes slick and sticky making travel difficult. The terrain is very rough with jagged canyons and buttes. It is very cold in the winter and very hot and dry in the summer. The few water sources are muddy and unsafe to drink. The Indians used it primarily for hunting but it was not used for permanent habitation. An interesting fact is that when the idea was put forward that this area should become a national park the suggested name was Wonderland National Park. The Badlands consists of 244,000 acres. It is one of the richest fossil beds which has the fossils of prehistoric horses and rhinos.
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| Lisa Segroves |
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| Melanie and Russell Qualls |
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