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The question that most people ask at the Indian Museum at the base of the mountain is when will the sculpture be completed. Who knows?

is the usual answer. Perhaps not even in our lifetimes. Shunning both federal and state monies, the family of Korczak seeks only public donations and 
admission fees of £6 per person or £15 a vehicle to fund their project (605-673-4681). So the going is slow, but then this part of the country has 
never been in a hurry.

The Black Hills are ancient, now ground down to a mere 6,000 feet from more than 30,000 feet high in prehistoric times, and they once loomed 
over not vast plains but the Pierre Sea that extended from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Circle. It is an archeologist's and geologist's dream. 
Dinosaur bones litter the landscape. Ancient fish are embedded in the walls of the Badlands. Woolly mammoths and prehistoric bears have been 
trapped in forgotten watering holes. One such dig, Mammoth Site, is open to the public and lies just outside the quaint town of Hot Springs, which 
indeed has a spa of hot springs. 

In 1974, a construction crew clearing land for a housing development stumbled on the tusks of a mammoth. Since then, the site has been 
protected by an enclosed, domed museum that allows year-round excavation of the spring-fed sinkhole that sucked in more than 100 mammoths 
26,000 years ago.

The dig also revealed a wide variety of free casinos online vanished species from the giant short-faced bear and camel to a raptor.

Walking along the elevated pathway constructed for visitors, I was able to watch firsthand as paleontologists, working alongside volunteers from 
Earthwatch, carefully brushed away eons of dirt to reveal the giant skeletons lying in situ (bones left as found), something most digs don't allow 
the public to see. Open every day, this working dig is worth a detour, no matter where you are headed ().

Hidden Beauty

A short drive away is another ancient site, one of the dozen caves that honeycomb the Black Hills. Here there are caves for everyone, from 
people like me to spelunkers. Discovered in 1881, The Wind Cave National Park (605-745-4600) with 83 miles of underground passages offers 
various levels of exploration based on your physical fitness. I chose the easiest, the Garden of Eden tour (£4), a one-hour, winding descent into 
the bowels of the earth where the strange webbing of boxwork decorates the cave walls. There are also century-old graffiti gracing the walls, the 
handiwork of early explorers who couldn't resist leaving their John Hancocks. 

At the turn of the century, tours were conducted by candlelight and without handrails or stairs cut into the rock. Now strategic but dim lights guide 
the way. When the park ranger switches off the lights, we are plunged into a darkness so dense that I literally cannot see my fingers when I wiggle 
them in front of my face.

When our group ascends from 57 degrees into the 90+ day and bright sunshine, I am more than ready to leave what seemed like the center of 
the earth.

Two of the joys of the Black Hills are its lush greenness and odd rock formations that seem to suddenly crop up out of nowhere. So be sure to get 
off the beaten track and even get lost for half an hour.

One of the most interesting drives is the 14-mile-long Needles Highway, or Highway 87, as it winds its way into Custer State Park. 

Lakes push up against the highway and around each bend is either a vista worth a Kodak moment or the core of old volcanic activity that has 
been sculpted by wind and time. The roads are narrow and twisty, so drive slowly, but who would want to rush through this scenery anyway? Plus 
you just might come upon a bison moseying down the road.

Many people love the unspoiled beauty of the Black Hills and often stay in one of its several lodges. Two favorites are historic Sylvan Lake Lodge 
(605-574-2561), which is so romantic that many couples get married there, and the State Game Lodge (605-255-4541), a stone and timber 
building that looks like something Teddy Roosevelt would have built. 

Both places are moderately priced and therefore very popular. Nestled at the foot of the Black Hills are two other places to stay, one a B&B, the 
Hayloft (800-317-6784), which is not only charming, but probably the cleanest place I have ever stayed. At £125 a night, with a delicious pancake 
and sausage breakfast included, the Hayloft is also convenient to Mt. Rushmore and Rapid City.

If you come in an RV or want to have your own little log cabin on an old ranch, then the Hart Ranch should be your destination. But again call 
ahead (605-399-2582) because this private membership resort fills up fast, thanks to an Olympic-size pool, horseback riding, tennis, and 
miniature golf. For £63 a night, I found the log cabin snug, complete with a kitchenette and TV. What more could I expect roughing it?

Perhaps you've noticed that I haven't talked too much about food. You don't go to the Dakotas for an eating experience. The coffee is weak and 
insipid; the plates of food are huge and artery popping; buffets groan under a load of starchy chow, and even steaks tend to be tough and 
tasteless. However, whenever you're offered a sweet roll, cinnamon or not, take it. They're colossal and delicious. As to where to eat -- you're on 
your own. Just be prepared to gain five pounds eating less-than-interesting food. But what the heck, you went to South Dakota Online Casinos for the scenery 
and the gaming, not the food.

Past Is Present

For lovers of Native American lore, the Sioux Reservation of Pine Ridge is always a must. Don't expect to see teepees. They are few and far 
between.
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Modern-day Indians are more apt to live in a mobile home. And they will be poor, poorer than any ethnic group in America. But if you're like me, 
you've come here for two major reasons: to see Wounded Knee and the Red Cloud Heritage Center. Wounded Knee is deep inside the Rez, at 
least an hour's drive, and the site of the 1890 massacre where the U.S. Army opened fire and slaughtered the people of Chief Big Foot, 300 
men, women, and children. 

Buried in a mass grave on a knoll, there is very little to distinguish it from the desolate countryside except for the iron arch and gates framed 
against the sky. 

It was here that the American Indian Movement took their stand against the Federal government in 1973. Even though defeated once again, the 
Sioux (or Lakota, as they call themselves) to this day still work for justice for their people. The new museum they are building commemorates both 
historic Wounded Knee incidents. For them, the past is present free online visitor counter.

Just outside the little town of Pine Ridge, which has been invaded by Pizza Hut and Dunkin' Donuts, is the Red Cloud Heritage Center 
(605-867-5491). Located in the school that the Sioux chief founded with the help of the Black Robes (the Jesuits) over a hundred years ago, the 
Red Cloud School still educates many of the Pine Ridge children. The Dead Man's Hand is legendary. A pair of aces and a pair of black eights. 
These were the cards Wild Bill Hickok was holding when he was shot in the back in Deadwood, North Dakota in 1876. And thanks to historic 
recreations and tours to Boot Hill, the town is still cashing in on the legend. Of course, since the Costner Boys rode into town (movie star Kevin 
and brother Dan), lots of cash is flowing down Deadwood Gulch these days. About £5 billion in the last decade, according to the latest stats. Not 
only did the Costners help restore the Wild West town to its disreputable self, they further revitalized it with gambling. Currently, there are only a 
handful of states that allow gambling off the Indian reservations: Louisiana, Mississippi, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey and North Dakota. 
If Las Vegas is Disneyland for adults, then historic Deadwood is the gaming equivalent of Williamsburg, Virginia. Want to see where Calamity 
Jane knocked back shots of whiskey or where Potato Creek Johnny snagged a gold nugget the size of a doorknob? Want to see the town that 
gold and greed made successful? Want to sleep in the same room where Teddy Roosevelt spent the night? Or how about Mary Hart of 
Entertainment Tonight? Then Deadwood's your kind of place.

Traveling with my brother, his wife and my daughter, I was eager to explore the little city of Deadwood nestled in the Black Hills, but as we began 
our climb to almost 5,000 feet, we were sandblasted by hail the size of dimes and a flash flood careening down the mountain road. We couldn't 
see and we couldn't stop. Thank God the storm free online casinos paper did. Welcome to Deadwood! 

However, the storm hadn't stopped the slots from ringing or the drinks from making the rounds. After all, this is the town that was three times 
destroyed by fire and floods, so what's a little hailstorm? Dumping our suitcases and heading for the saloons and tables, we were soon infected 
by the gambling bug.

Casinos Forbidden

Almost every old hotel, restaurant, and store offers some form of gaming. Even an antiques shop has slots right next to rocking chairs and green 
Depression glass. And Saloon #10 (where Hickok was gunned down) likes to boast that it's the only museum that allows drinking and gambling. 
There are 85 such gaming halls in Deadwood, the word casino being forbidden. And while the limit is £5 at any table or machine to keep the 
gambling fun and family-oriented, even cheapskates like myself can find heaven at not only 25-cent machines, but also penny slots. There is 
something for everybody.

Back in Time

What is most fun is the feeling you've stepped back in time. A quick look at old postcards from the late 1800's will verify that the only change in 
the town nowadays is that the streets are paved and the car has displaced the horse.

So be sure to get out and about, seeing the town that began as an illegal mining camp after prospectors found gold in "them thar hills" and stole 
the land from the Sioux. Overnight Deadwood blossomed (if that's the right word) into a thriving city of saloons, brothels, dance halls, and 
continuous poker games. A few upright citizens opened general stores, but for the most part in the late 1800's Deadwood was synonymous with 
sin. The killing of Hickok only verified that fact, especially when the jury found Crooked Nose Jack McCall innocent of shooting Wild Bill in the 
back.

Several years later he was retried in federal court, found guilty and hanged, all because he couldn't stop bragging about how he was the one who 
had done the dirty deed. Deadwood was also home to Calamity Jane, a woman who prided herself on being as tough as any hombre, even 
though she nursed a serious crush on Wild Bill. He was not attracted to the mannish Calamity, but that did not deter her passion for him in life or 
in death. After his murder, she increased her alcohol intake to medicate her sorrow and when she died, she requested that she be buried next to 
Hickok on Boot Hill, conveniently ignoring the fact that he had left a widow back East. History has joined Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane in 
death and legend, and if you go up the steep mountain road to Boot Hill, you will find them resting next to each other.