Reproduction of a lodge. This was the warmest bed in the building. Notice all the wood used in construction.
We had several stops Wednesday. We saw the world’s only corn palace in Mitchel, SD; the Lewis & Clark camp site on the Missouri River, and Wall Drugstore in Wall, SD (It’s as super tourist trap, kind of like South of the Border). The best stop by far was a prehistoric Indian village in Mitchel, SD. The Indians were part of the Mississippi culture. They occupied the area in about 1000 AD. They lived at the site for about 120 years. We learned quite a bit about these people.
The Dig
These people were farmers, with their “3 Sisters” gardens of corn, squash, and beans. They built lodge buildings of about 20 x 40 feet for each family, typically of 3 generations and about 15 people. The first thing we didn’t know but learned is that these people were terrible housekeepers. They did their meat processing, tool making, etc.; and just left their leavings on the ground. When the the ground got to fowled, they went down to the river and carried mud up to the village. They buried their junk under the mud, and went on doing what they do. They did this several times over the 120 years they were at this site.
Outside of the Dig
The other thing we learned is that their lodge buildings lasted about 10 years. After that, they would burn the old building (or just let it fall down) and build a new one. After 120 years, they had used all the lumber in the area and had to move on to another site. So much for living with nature.
The dig is inside a building which sits on several piers. The site includes parts of two lodges and the space between the lodges — the “back yard” where the Indians worked. Archaeologists have worked on this site for over 20 years, and expect to continue for another 50.
Thursday we had a short, 2-hour drive from Wall to Jewel Cave. It took us all day to check in and get settled. Today we had a day of training. We get one more day of training tomorrow. Next week we will shadow another ranger. The week after that another ranger will shadow us. Then we’re on our own. We missed several important training days. They will make no effort to provide us materials to read on our own or to provide additional training on those subjects. We received a tour outline which had at least one major error. We found that out by accident when I asked a question today. Our uniform shirts are way too large. We are a little less than impressed.
The housing, however, is great. They have a two-story building with living units. Mostly summer help has to live with a roommate. We have our own one-bedroom apartment with a full kitchen. We have a TV and a DVD player. They even gave us a desk (which they usually don’t supply.) We got the internet set up the first day we were here. We reported some minor plumbing issues. They were fixed the same day. In spite of getting a little less than a great training experience, this should be a very good summer.