M &
M Paulson
Kadoka,
South Dakota
Pictures and Short Video Clips of Our Life in Western South Dakota
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There are plenty of videos from tourists and vacationers on the internet that show videos and pictures the hikes and overlooks in the Badlands, etc. It is said that the Badlands are similiar to the Moon, so you can look at so many pictures of the Moon - so I will try to be creative with my Badlands pics and will post those only. I drive through the badlands twice a week to teach in the town of Interior, so I may as well take a few pictures during the off-season when the tourists haven't scared away the deer, coyotes and mountain goats, etc. Besides, winter pics are rather unique when compared to the rest of the year.
I will try to find those sights and sounds the tourists don't know about!
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Three short videos I took while taking my dog for a walk - in the back areas of the Badlands.
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1. A Drive Up Sheep Mountain Table
These are short videos of a drive to the top of a Butte / Table, etc. This is a place that few people are aware of - especially tourists. When you make this trip, you encounter plains and farmland at the top - but as you drive through and approach the edges, you get a spectacular site as you view the expanse of this unknown portion of the Badlands National Park. This day, there were no other people on top... which is often the case. Very serene and quietly enjoyable. For anyone who tries to make the drive, make sure there is no rain in the immediate forecast and that there was no recent rains either!Sheep Mountain Panorama 1 - 40 seconds
Sheep Mountain Panorama 2 - 24 seconds
Sheep Mountain Panorama 3 - 26 seconds
Sheep Mountain Panorama 4 - 41 seconds
Sheep Mountain Panorama 5 - 24 seconds
Sheep Mountain Panorama 6 - 37 seconds
Sheep Mountain Panorama 7 - 16 seconds
Sheep Mountain Panorama 8 - 33 seconds
Sheep Mountain Panorama 9 - 1:14 seconds
Sheep Mountain Panorama 10 - 30 seconds
Sheep Mountain Panorama 11 - 47 seconds
Sheep Mountain Panorama 12 - 37 seconds
Sheep Mountain Departure - the drive back down - 4:06 secondsSheep Mountain Table Pictures!
Click here for pictures taken on July 4, 2011 from the top of Sheep Mountain Table.
So here are just a few short 'serene' moments in the backcountry - away from the tourists - out with the few ranchers that are out there.
Backdrive I - 1:28 seconds
Backdrive II - two visitors - 19 seconds
Backdrive III - two visitors - visitors stay behind me - 23 seconds
Backdrive IV - wide open country - a bit windy, though - 37 seconds
Backdrive V 58 seconds
Backdrive VI - 46 seconds
As part of the war effort, the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) took possession of 341,726 acres (138,292 ha) of land on the Pine Ridge Reservation, home of the Oglala Sioux people, for a gunnery range. Included in this range was 337 acres (136 ha) from the Badlands National Monument. This land was used extensively from 1942 through 1945 as an air-to-air and air-to-ground gunnery range including both precision and demolition bombing exercises. After the war, portions of the bombing range were used as an artillery range by the South Dakota National Guard. In 1968, most of the range was declared excess property by the USAF though 2,500 acres (1,000 ha) are retained by the USAF but no longer used.
Firing took place within most of the present day Stronghold District. Land was bought or leased from individual landowners and the Tribe in order to clear the area of human occupation. Old car bodies and 55 gallon drums painted bright yellow were used as targets. Bulls-eyes 250 feet (76 m) across were plowed into the ground and used as targets by bombardiers. Small automatic aircraft called "drones" and 60-foot (18 m) by 8-foot (2 m) screens dragged behind planes served as mobile targets. Today, the ground is littered with discarded bullet cases and unexploded ordnance.
For safety, 125 families were relocated from their farms and ranches in the 1940s. Those that remained nearby recall times when they had to dive under tractors while out cutting hay to avoid bombs dropped by planes miles outside of the boundary. In the town of Interior, both a church and the building housing the current post office were struck by six inch (152 mm) shells through the roof. Pilots operating out of Ellsworth Air Force Base near Rapid City, found it a real challenge to determine the exact boundaries of the range. Fortunately, there were no civilian casualties. However, at least a dozen flight crew personnel lost their lives in plane crashes.
Relax, this is not a rattlesnake.
This is a lot deeper and scarier than this picture can show.
There are some green areas - very few, but there are some.
A popular hike - the Nook Trail
Is that really a...?
Good snake finding trail.
Be careful, kids!
It does rain here, but it all turns into instant lake and flash floods
- then it is gone!
Soaring high - away from us all - if that bird only knew what was going
on down here, he would fly higher!
Good morning, Sunshine!
My morning drive to school.
Good morning!
This is what the tourists don't experience - the QUIET of the Badlands
- NO tourists anywhere!
This is where the prairie and the Badlands meet!
Who poisoned the water hole?
The old rail line which no longer exists - however the trestles are
still there!
This is why they also call the river the White River - lots of white
earthen features that you don't find in the Park.
Now this is quiet country!
