South Dakota with Fran Shaff

If you’ve seen the terrain in “Dances with Wolves” then you know the rolling hills of western South Dakota. If you followed Nicolas Cage in “National Treasure, Book of Secrets” or Cary Grant in “North by Northwest” to Mount Rushmore, then you’ve been to South Dakota’s Black Hills.Speaking of South Dakota films, a few decades ago two famous residents of Deadwood, Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok, were portrayed in a rather “unhistoric” way by Doris Day and Howard Keel. Hickock was a gambler who may or may not have had a romantic relationship with the rough and tumble Calamity Jane. He was killed in Deadwood in 1876 while playing poker, holding “aces and eights.” Today Deadwood, South Dakota, located in the Black Hills, is still a favorite stop for gamblers, and most of them, I believe, have better luck than Hickok did.

Not far from Deadwood is Sturgis, where, every August, hundreds of thousands of motorcyclists arrive to participate in the annual bike rally.

Western South Dakota from the badlands to the Black Hills, to the sprawling range land filled with antelope, prairie dogs, ferrets, coyotes, deer, fox and a variety of game birds is an open land everyone should see--at least in film if not in person.

Gold was discovered in the Black Hills in 1874, and a rush to cash in on a fortune took place soon after. A few years later, immigrants from Europe and Americans who relocated to the Dakota Territory and South Dakota discovered another kind of gold--wheat. Homesteaders quickly learned the rich black earth in the eastern flatlands was some of the best soil in the world for growing wheat.

Long before European and American settlers came to South Dakota to seek their fortunes the land was inhabited by several tribes of native peoples. The Dakota and Yankton Sioux, the Arikara, Cheyenne, Ponca and Lakota Sioux nations survived the challenging elements living off the produce of the land and wild game such as buffalo, deer and antelope.

Having grown up in South Dakota and having lived there during part of my adult life, I don’t know how the native peoples or the early settlers survived the harsh winters. The cold and snow are trials even now when all we need do to be warm is turn up the thermostat.

On the other hand, having taken in the beauty of the various landscapes, having enjoyed the peace, seen the magnificent sunsets, worked the black soil, harvested the rich produce of the land, I know what kept and continues to keep people staying on or settling in South Dakota anew.

Today South Dakota is a modern state in every sense of the word. If they have it in New York City, we have it in South Dakota--except, of course, for skyscrapers, traffic, an ocean and a state income tax. Instead of an ocean we have the great Missouri River. Instead of concrete skyscrapers we have majestic pines and the Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse monuments soaring toward the heavens.

But what about the symphony, authors and artists, you say? The growing, desirable city of Sioux Falls is home to the South Dakota Symphony, and it offers many cultural activities as do most cities in South Dakota. Author L. Frank Baum (The Wizard of Oz), who lived in Aberdeen, is fondly remembered by the city in their whimsical Storybook Land. Desmet hosts a pageant each year paying tribute to author Laura Ingalls Wilder (the “Little House” series) who lived in that area. The opulent Redlin Art Center in Watertown features many original oil paintings by beloved artist Terry Redlin. (His “America the Beautiful” series is exquisite.)

Unless you’re looking for palm trees or an ocean, South Dakota has just about everything anyone could want including some of the best fishing and hunting in the country, scenic dams, spring lilacs, apple orchards, grain fields, buttes, glacial lakes, top-notch universities and medical facilities and even a very famous palace--a corn palace. The Corn Palace in Mitchell sports beautiful frescos made of corn, grains and native grasses.

People frequently enjoy the rich history of the native peoples and early settlers in a multitude of South Dakota museums. Prairie Village in Madison and Centennial Village in Aberdeen offer visitors the opportunity to walk through 19^th Century towns. Many places in the Black Hills encourage tourists to experience the authentic Old West. If you’d like to visit South Dakota, but you can’t do it in person then please get to know this land through movies or books.

My “Heart Junction Series,” set in early 20^th Century South Dakota, consists of “Laura’s Lost Love,” “Stephanie’s Surprise,” and “Mari’s Miracle.” These classic love stories give readers insight into life as it existed a hundred years ago on the eastern plains of South Dakota. HJ Series books are available in paperback and e-book on the Internet, at libraries and through bookstores. You’ll find them in a museum too sometimes.

Oh, one more thing. If you happen to be traveling along I-90 through South Dakota for whatever reason, you’ve absolutely got to stop to see the Badlands (and Wall Drug). The rugged, colorful Badlands are living, magnificent works of art.