I didn’t spend a lot of time in Sundance, Wyoming. I was staying out in Spearfish, SD, because my hotel was $36 a night, a rate so cheap the woman at the front desk when she checked me in did a double take. She said I did better than any employee rate she’d seen in years. Not sure if it was a glitch on Orbitz or just the universe paying me back for the overpriced hotels I found myself in at Baker, MT, and now in Chadron, NE.
Point is, after finishing the marathon this morning at the Crook County Fairgrounds, I only had a short window of time to see the single entry from Roadside America before having to get back on the road to shower and check out of my Spearfish place. That one item of interest? A statue to the Sundance Kid, the famed outlaw of Butch and Sundance fame.
Born Harry Alonzo Longabaugh in Montclair, PA, the Sundance Kid went west as a young man of 15. A few years later, he would steal a gun, a horse, and a saddle from a ranch in Sundance, WY. He didn’t make out like a bandit… or maybe he did, as he was caught, tried, and convicted to 18 months in the local jail. It was here that he took the name of the town for his outlaw moniker — the Sundance Kid.
To commemorate this auspicious… or inauspicious… link to the town’s history, the good people erected this statue outside the Crook County Museum. It was more of a ballyhoo barker, meant to lure gawkers inside to hear the rest of the story. I didn’t have time and so merely snapped a photo and google’d the details from wikipedia, summarizing them above for your convenience. Why should you google when I’ve already googled? Ya know?
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On the 2 hour plus drive from Spearfish, SD, to Chadron, NE, I was tempted by a few points of interest, both legitimate and roadside america-y. I missed the Journey Museum. It actually sounds pretty great, but when I found out it WASN’T all about the prog rock group, well, I just couldn’t justify the detour.
But look at the Journey Museum’s logline:
The Journey Museum & Learning Center helps curious children and adults to learn and play in a dynamic atmosphere so that they can discover that arts, science, and culture have no boundaries.
Were I not trying to make decent time, I would totally have been up for that.
And I honestly would have liked to have seen Wounded Knee, though I know it would have broken my heart and made me so sad about our country’s past sins.
I did however stop at the classic “You’re Now Entering…” or “Welcome To…” state signs on the highway. This nice German couple snapped a photo for me.
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Chadron, NE, offers a single entry in the RA directory as well — the Museum of the Fur Trade. I was fully prepared to turn my snark to 11… but you know what? While it’s not my thing, I respect the passion and desire to share that passion about something. It’s a surprisingly well done museum and I readily admit my ignorance of all things fur trade and history surrounding the fur trade in pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial times is perhaps unparalleled. Literally, I’m not sure anyone knows LESS about this stuff than me. So in reality I would be a great target audience for this museum as I’m sure it could offer great lessons and insights. Instead, I took a photo of this sign:
But in all seriousness, it’s a pretty impressive display of historical artifact and cultural insight. Again, not my thing, but I admired the perhaps confirmational biases of the stereotypically earnest and sincere MidWestern vibe of the place… even if they seem to imply The Revenant won the Best Picture Oscar.
