Buffalo, South Dakota

So, here we are, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, and Granpa has to respond to the call of nature, has to go see a man about a horse, (needs to take a leak!)  We think we've found a place in this tinsy-tiny town called Buffalo.  Well, we did - but it was padlocked!  However, guess what we did find?  Another jewel that you would never ever hear about in a brochure.  If Granpa hadn't had to "go" we would have whizzed right through here and missed the awesomeness of this.

If you ask me, small town America is alive and well - you just have to get off of the Interstates to find it!  This town of Buffalo, South Dakota was name for a buffalo wallow - a place where the buffalo will rub, roll, and - well - wallow.  Corbin Conroy of Custer, South Dakota designed this buffalo.  On
its side is depicted, within a tipi, the Bison Society as a circle of bison protecting the herd, while the Lakota Warrior Society is shown around the tipi protecting the family and tribe.

On the other side is a design to honor veterans and warriors as well as the buffalo culture:

There was also this cute lil' guy:

And there are interpretive signs about the Homesteaders, the Medora-Deadwood Stage Line, nearby Ludlow Cave which Custer explored and named after one of his men during Custer's Black Hills Expedition of 1874, a sign reporting on that expedition, another discussing a "bizarre" battle between the Crow and Sioux Indians in 1822, and yet another detailing General Crook's "Starvation March" after Custer's  battle of the Little Big Horn.

Have any of my older readers ever heard of Tex Fletcher, the "Singing Cowboy?"  I always thought the singing cowboy was Gene Autry - but apparently not.  There's an interpretive sign here about this guy - because he lived here!  His real name was Geremino "Jerry" Bisceglia, born in January, 1909 in Harrison, New York. (HEY!  Grandaddy Jim was born in New York in 1908.)  Tex Fletcher (let's see, he was born in New York, grew up in Buffalo, South Dakota, but he was named "Tex," hmmmm.)  Anyway,  Tex was even featured in Ripley's "Believe it or Not" because of his ability to recall from memory more than 4,000 songs!  Wowser!  He died in 1987 back in New York.

Another interpretive sign discusses Harding County (which is where Buffalo is located.)  (No, kids, Granma Jo was born in Harden County - and that was in Texas.) It talks about palaeontologists having found the bones of of tyrannosaurus rex, triceratops, and "various other fossils."  Also, the living game in the area are deer, antelope, pheasants (as we can testify to) as well as coyotes, fox, badgers, raccoons, prairie dogs, rabbits, and occasional mountain lions.  They even have a photo of the first Harding County officials:

Did you know that it is said men wore those big ol' mustaches back then to hide their bad teeth - or the fact that they had no teeth?  Guess they didn't have flouride and AquaFresh back then, huh?  Notice that they nearly all had mustaches.  (Man, the things you kids take for granted these days...)

And, last but not least, an interpretive sign about Tipperary, the bucking bronc that threw ninety-one cowboys including two champion saddle bronc riders!  He lived from 1905 to 1932 (when he died in the blizzard of '32) and had songs written about him.  He was inducted into the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage in 1976 and into the PRCA ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1979.

But let's not forget ol' Three Toes, the wolf!  It's estimated that between 1909 and 1925 he killed over $50,000 worth of livestock. ($250,000 in today's dollars!)  He lost toes in a wolf trap, and that forevermore marked his path of death, left an unmistakable trail.  However, this wily ol' wolf  took to stampeding sheep in order to obliterate his escape trail.  It's said that one time he hid in the carcass of an old horse and another time leaped across a 30-foot wide chasm to escape pursuing dogs and men.  His story is worth reading - but to get it all, YOU will have to go to Buffalo, South Dakota!

All of that, and Granpa still has to pee!