Day #71 5/22/2011 Miller, SD to Lake Preston, SD 87 miles

It was 87 rural miles from Miller, South Dakota to Lake Preston, South Dakota.  Here is how we went.


Considering that Miller, SD is such a small town (2000 population=1530, 2010 population=1489), the night was brutally noise...actually, the noisiest night of the trip.  It was some time around 2a.m. and all holy heck broke loose with guys in a nearby room making it sound like they were demolishing the building.  The manager, who lived somewhere in the building with his family, finally materialized and things quieted down.

We enjoyed our oatmeal (with raisins, of course) and headed out before sunrise.

Some wild young guys had raised holy heck at 2am until the manager arrived.
There were rocks in the hallways.    Probably not your average night in Miller.

I'd like to tell you something moving and historic about Miller, but history was tough to come by.  On the other hand, apparently Miller has jobs "in agriculture, health care, IT, hospitality, and more. People just like you work in Miller."  Just like me...and you.  And with that thought, like pretty much all of Montana and Wyoming, Miller is 99.15% Caucasian.  That means that the 0.07% African-American population equals 1 and the 0.2% Asian population are probably the family of 3 from India who are running the Super 8 we just stayed in.

"Pump n Pak?"  Really?  That's right up there with the Sac-n-Pac we came across in Texas.   Click on

 that link and you can be an FB Pump n Pak  friend.  Or not.  I think we need a Sac 'n Pump.

We made our way past the quaint downtown -which Bob failed to photograph - and quickly reached the outskirts of Miller.

You can also "friend" Bob's Drive-In on their Facebook page. Anyway, Beefalo is a fertile hybrid of the domestic cattle species Bos taurus and the American Bison.  According to the  American Beefalo Association (who knew?) "Full-blood Beefalo are exactly 3/8 bison and 5/8 bovine, with any of the beef breeds making up the latter part of the equation."  Creating this bison abomination has not been good for the American bison as only four genetically unmixed American bison herds left, and only one that is  brucellosis-free, the Wind Cave Bison Herd which roams Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota.

You probably did not know that South Dakota has six remaining drive-in theaters and that one of them is here in Miller.  It's only open for the summer.

The Midway Drive-In Theater was built in 1953 and, after a windstorm blew the screen down in 1963, was rebuilt.  The theater hosts a classic car show and flea market, too.

Cycling along SD14 we passed scores of miles of rural farmland and a pattern emerged.  At 40 mile intervals, or so, grain elevators would appear in the distance.  As we neared, we could see that the grain elevators were ensconced in a small town, a very small town, usually in the range of 100-300 people with a few blocks of streets in any direction from the "town center".   What made it all happen was the railroad track that pulled up, directly under the grain elevators, allowing the corn, soybean or wheat to be loaded directly into the hopper car.  Whereas the history of the South Texas towns , near-towns and ghost towns along US90 could be told in the history of the Southern Pacific's Sunset Route, the economy of this area of South Dakota ran on the rail.

The Iowa, Chicago and Eastern Railway is actually operated by the Canadian Pacific Railway out of Alberta, Canada.  In the late 19th century, European-American settlement intensified after a gold rush in the Black Hills and the construction of railroads from the east.  Click on the photo for a better view.

In the Florida panhandle and the Texas hill country, we biked by large tracts of land set aside for hunting.  These hunting clubs were on acres of private property, wooded in FL and TX but flat and wet in South Dakota

I find the thought of bow hunting to be appealing, certainly more appealing than hunting with a rifle.    While a hunter can operate from 600 yards, or more, a bow hunter has to approach from less than 50 yards.  Anyway, I figured this arrow and target was a marker for a nearby hunting ground until I contacted Peggy of the Huron Chamber and Visitors Bureau (she's the executive director)  and asked for some help.  After contacting her colleagues, Peggy informed me that the arrow and target represented the artistic creation of locals Rosemary and Lester Moeller, who are known in the area for their community involvement and was meant as a conversation piece.  Clearly, it is.

A midst the scores of miles of farmland, there was low-lying wetland everywhere.  And wherever there was wetland, there were fowl: pheasant, geese and duck.  Pheasants had this stereotypically phunny of way of taking off when they saw/heard you approach: they would take flight with their big pheasant bottom hanging down.  Then, as they got up to cruising, their bodies would streamline.

Seeing all the game birds floating and flying, it became clear: if I lived here, I'd be hunting.  How could you not?  I had the same thought when we were in the Texas hill country and there were more deer roadkill than people.  Duck: it's what's for dinner.

 It turns out that the several hundred miles of farmland we were seeing was not producing produce that was solely for the food chain.  South Dakota is the 6th leading producer of corn-based ethanol in the country.   Were you aware that a bushel of corn produces 2.8 gallons of ethanol and reduces the price of gasoline by 40¢/gallon?  Were you?  I wasn't.

On the other hand, since ethanol production creates competing demand for corn, it drives up its price and reduces its availability for the food market.  And then there's the issue of Federal subsidies for corn growers...no, it's not a complex issue.  A 2010 study by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that in fiscal year 2009, tax credits for corn reduced federal revenues by around $5 billion  Harms Oil Company is a veteran-owned business was founded in 1976 by Duane Harms...who I'm sure is not short of charm.

Almost exactly halfway between Miller, South Dakota and our days end at Lake Preston was Huron.  Population 12592 and  named after the Huron Indians   Huron is a result of railroad and land booms in the 1880s. The early history of the town is closely linked with the Chicago and Northwestern Railway.  SD14, which had been totally rural and quiet for 43 miles, became a little more hectic as it curved around Huron...it made me miss the South Dakota farmland. On the other hand, Huron harbored the World's Largest Pheasant.  Yowza.

28 tons of fiberglass and steel, spanning 40', the Huron Pheasant (one bird to rule them all) pays homage to  Huron's reputation of the Pheasant Capitol of the World.  Actually, the more I read about Huron, the more interesting it looks.  Huron is home to many special events throughout the year.  Did you know that there are 60 separate locations declaring they are the world's largest something? (like the world's largest pecan...or olive...or coffee pot.)

If you've wondered where turkeys come from, I think it's Huron.  Dakota Provisions represents the coming together of 44 turkey growers in an effort to preserve their family businesses.  The result is a state-of-the-art turkey factory that churns out 8 million turkeys a year while employing a bunch of Huronians.

I'm not sure if this is industrial turkey farming at its worst or, as the Dakota Provisions site implies, that these are  prairie grown turkeys simply brought here for...ummm...processing.   Personally, I've been buying heritage turkeys from Heritage Foods.  Smoke 'em, I do.

After a mile or so of Huron, we were again cycling along farms and wetland and, a few miles later, reached the next dot-of-a-town, Cavour, population=141.  Named after Count Cavor, an Italian statesman and builder of railroads in Italy, Cavour was founded in 1880 with the land settlement acts and railroads building across South Dakota. 

60 households and a grain elevator along the railroad track, Cavour struggles as it loses population to the  surrounding larger  cities, like Huron.  Cavour is in a prime pheasant hunting area of the state with several hunting lodges close by.  

Cavour must be proud of its native Michael Fitzmaurice, a recipient of the military's highest military award, the Medal of Honor.  Very special stuff and sorta typified one thing about the bike trip: surprises in unexpected places.

The official citation reads:  Rank and organization: Specialist Fourth Class, U.S. Army, Troop D, 2d Squadron, 17th Cavalry, 101st Airborne Division. Place and date: Khe Sanh, Republic of Vietnam, 23 March 1971. Entered service at: Jamestown, N. Dak. Born: 9 March 1950, Jamestown, N. Dak . Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sp4c. Fitzmaurice, 3d Platoon, Troop D, distinguished himself at Khe Sanh. Sp4c. Fitzmaurice and 3 fellow soldiers were occupying a bunker when a company of North Vietnamese sappers infiltrated the area. At the onset of the attack Sp4c. Fitzmaurice observed 3 explosive charges which had been thrown into the bunker by the enemy. Realizing the imminent danger to his comrades, and with complete disregard for his personal safety, he hurled 2 of the charges out of the bunker. He then threw his flak vest and himself over the remaining charge. By this courageous act he absorbed the blast and shielded his fellow-soldiers. Although suffering from serious multiple wounds and partial loss of sight, he charged out of the bunker, and engaged the enemy until his rifle was damaged by the blast of an enemy hand grenade. While in search of another weapon, Sp4c. Fitzmaurice encountered and overcame an enemy sapper in hand-to-hand combat. Having obtained another weapon, he returned to his original fighting position and inflicted additional casualties on the attacking enemy. Although seriously wounded, Sp4c. Fitzmaurice refused to be medically evacuated, preferring to remain at his post. Sp4c. Fitzmaurice's extraordinary heroism in action at the risk of his life contributed significantly to the successful defense of the position and resulted in saving the lives of a number of his fellow soldiers. These acts of heroism go above and beyond the call of duty, are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service, and reflect great credit on Sp4c. Fitzmaurice and the U.S. Army.

Unlike, say, Dryden, Texas, Cavour had someplace to stop, freshen up (i.e., pee), and grab another Snicker's bar.

We made a short stop at the Highway 14 Roadhouse in Cavour.  

A few miles past Cavour, we passed what remained of Manchester, SD.  Manchester was founded in 1881 primarily to serve as a stop on the Chicago and North Western Railway.   

As with Texas, Lani dutifully stopped to read most of the historic markers along the road.

Following the Great Depression and through the rest of the 20th century, Manchester withered as its populace moved to nearby De Smet and Huron.  Manchester was essentially destroyed in 2003 by a mile-wide tornado, turning it into a ghost town.

The text reads:  Dakota Territory was created in 1861, and got its first big impetus in 1874 when gold was confirmed in the Black Hills by General Custer.  A hundred years later on August 27, 1961 , a gold rush was created by Joe Floyd’s KELO-LAND TV and Radio stations and the Dakota Territory Centennial Commission. 1,439 capsules were planted in a 200’ X 300’ gold field.  1,439 ‘prospectors’ armed with gold shovels, won in a summer-long contest conducted by the KELO-LAND Stations, entered the gold field to dig for $35,000 in cash and merchandise prizes.  In a separate field, governors of the 50 states or their substitutes dug on behalf of charity for $3,500.  On a signal from bandleader Lawrence Welk, the diggers unearthed their capsules and rushed for the ‘assay office’ to claim their prizes.  First prize of $10,000 was won by Mrs. Floyd Carlon of Sioux Falls.  More that 150,000 people, largest crowd in the state’s history, witnessed the ‘Gold Rush of 1961.’

...and then I started slowing down.  It was crazy, like someone had sapped the power from my legs.  Lani faded into the distance and while my legs continued to churn, I found myself wondering who-the-heck was Laura Ingalls Wilder and why was I cycling on her memorial highway?  And why was I slowing down?  Hopping off the bike to inspect it, the problem was obvious: my rear tire was losing air.  And y'know what was worse?  Lani had the pump.  And worse still?  ATT wireless coverage wasn't helping me out.  If you are cycling in the middle of rural America and no one is there to hear you scream, does it matter?

It was another hour of cycling on a failing tire before I finally caught up to Lani who was waiting for me just east of De Smet.  I was not happy and graciously allowed Lani to fix me up.  Again.  In the background is a billboard for Laura Ingalls Wilder original home.

Lani knew who Laura was: she (possibly in collaboration with her daughter) was the author of the incredibly successful Little House series, the popularity of which has spawned a multimillion dollar merchandising franchise, as well as the TV series, Little House on the Prairie.  Anyway, I was honored to have flatted out on her memorial highway.


We continued on past De Smet and were again surrounding my farmland.  Who knew the rural farmlands of South Dakota were so scenic?  Not me.

I love this farm; not only did it look absolutely iconic, but the fire-red barn door screamed out: photograph me.  You can view this farm from Google maps street view here.  It's just a little east of De Smet.  This picture will enlarge nicely if you click on it.  Maybe, perhaps, too nicely.

87 miles later - our record for the trip - we pulled into Lake Preston, population 599 and made our way to the only motel in town.

I know the sign says there are 737 Prestonians, but that's from the 2000 census.  

We had called ahead to the Lake Preston Motel to confirm that: 1] it was there and 2] had a room.  It turns out that there were a whole bunch of rooms as we arrived a little before fishing/hunting season.  It looked a little dicey as we biked up (and, believe us, we know dicey) but the owners were friendly and gracious, corraling the vicious little dog that stalked the parking lot.  (The dog warmed up to us.)

Special features at the Lake Preston Motel include a fish cleaning room, a freezer to store your fish before you head home, and an extra-large parking lot for the boat you are towing.  Not bad for $42.

There were no dining options in Lake Preston and we were too lame to walk/bike over to the Lake itself...actually, I don't think it even crossed our minds.  (Thinking about it now, I'm shamed.)  We did explore dining opportunities in Lake Preston (none) and, after walking to the nearby gas station/market, returned to our room and unwound.

A little rustic, but we had WiFi, so it was all good.

Returning from the nearby gas station/market, I picked up a can of chili beans to toss in with our lentils and quinoa.  Traveling tip: if you are dining out, skip dessert and pick up an ice cream bar, brownie, or some such other dessert at the nearest gas station/market for a fraction of what you'd be paying at a diner.

I can only wonder what "foreign objects" that needed extraction from the toilet and am glad I wasn't there for that.  Fish, maybe?

Since leaving Pierre, SD, we had covered about 158 miles of scenic South Dakota and it was more picturesque than I would have believed.  It was like an American version of the French countryside.  We only had another 50 miles of South Dakota before we entered Minnesota and I knew I'd be sorry to see it end.


Is anybody out there still following?