Day 18 - Vermillion, SD

Severe weather kept me in Vermilion all day, which gave me time to meet some wonderfully hospitable local residents and take in some fascinating sights.

On August 25, 1804, Lewis, Clark and seven othes from the Corps of discovery hiked to the top of Spirit Mound near Vermilion to check into reports from Native Americans that there were miniature people who shot deadly arrows inhabiting the mound.  They found nothing to substantiate those stories, but from the mound they were able to see for the first time something equally interesting to them - large herds of buffalo roaming the plains.

 

I spent the afternoon at the renowned National Music Museum on the campus of the University of South Dakota, where I learned that the jing tinglers, flu floopers, tar tinkers and who hoovers that Dr. Seuss wrote about do actually exist.

 

Finally, I was able to see the Missouri River much as it appeared to Lewis and Clark meandering through the plains.