Originally from Moments by Valerie, a collection of memories (1961-1983), written in 1986 and presented to Larry on their first anniversary.
Evelyn (holding Krikit), Val, and Vicky, Chief Crazy Horse Memorial, Black Hills, South Dakota, 1966
The Black Hills of South Dakota are famous for their large bison herd. So, of course, when my family camped there, we wanted to see them. Choosing a likely looking area, we parked our car along a dirt road in a huge grassy field surrounded by rolling hills covered with the dark green pines which give the park its name. We hiked up over the nearest hills, through more grass, and more hills. After several hours all we had seen were a family of wild turkeys and a lot of beautiful scenery. Late in the day, we started back, certainly not too disappointed, as the day was lovely and the turkeys had been a nice surprise. While stopping to rest in the shade of the hilltop pines overlooking our parked car, we were treated to an ironic sight. There, towering over our little vehicle, was a huge bison! It slowly ambled away, as we realized that, even if we could get down there in time, it certainly wouldn't be the safest thing to do. Thus, we saw our bison, if only at a distance of over a half mile.
