The House on a Rock , Wisconsin

   There’s no way to adequately describe this place. Supposedly Alex Jordan wanted to work with Frank Lloyd Wright , the famous architect. But when Jordan showed Wright his building plans , Wright said " I wouldn’t hire you to design a cheese crate or a chicken coop. You’re not capable"  An angry Jordan then preceded to design and build his own house and later, with his son’s help , added many more rooms to display their ever growing collection of miscellaneous bits and pieces.  Many of the creations were built on site , almost exact copies of antiques and items like Tiffany lamps. Others are sheer fantasy , assembled from whatever they could pick up cheaply when buildings and factories were being demolished. And some are actually real.  So what is The House on a Rock? Not a museum , more like a huge work of art , partly totally tacky , partly complete genius. We spent five hours just going through all of the rooms!

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Black Hills , South Dakota

   This sculpture is actually in Montana at the location of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. In 1876 Montana, South Dakota and Wyoming were still territories and the Lakota and Cheyenne Indian tribes roamed throughout the Black Hills and the prairies. Conflicts with miners and settlers (who ignored previous treaties) during the 1800s eventually led  to this battle. Twenty one companies of soldiers ,including the men in Custer’s command ,were planning to surround the Indians camped on the plains by the Little Big Horn River. The Indians would then be forced back onto the reservations in western South Dakota. At least that was the plan! But Custer and his men were all killed and the Indians fled towards Canada. While most were captured ,Sitting Bull and about 200 of his people made it to Canada. In 1881 , due to lack of food and supplies , they returned to the US , surrendered and were placed on reservations.

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Heading East

We’ve started on our trip east through some of our favorite scenery in Montana. It’s way too cold to live here but it sure is beautiful in the spring.

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