welcome to the callenharty.com yellowstone trip day six page

6/20/02, 11:20 p.m., Rapid City, South Dakota
Well, here we are back in Rapid City after another eventful day.
Yesterday was very relaxed. We stayed in Cody all day, except for the few mile trip to the dam. It was what we needed to do to be able to finish the trip and get home without being totally exhausted.

The Cody Fighters street gunfight was about as cheesy as I had expected (and hoped for), so it was a pleasant diversion. Of course, Brian and I both couldn’t help but look at it from a theatrical/directorial point of view. For example, someone started the show without apparently having checked his microphone. These are guys who do this night after night and should be doing that as a regular part of their preparation. But it was supposed to be somewhat trashy, so it didn’t really matter so much.

After the gunfight we got a bite to eat and then went to the rodeo. It was entertaining, but I was mostly interested in photographing it. It didn’t start until 8:30 p.m.., so the light wasn’t the greatest for me. I got some good shots, but not a lot. Bareback

Today we decided to head back to Rapid City by taking Alternate U. S. 14, a more northerly route over the Bighorn Mountains. There were some breathtaking views, although it seemed to be much safer and less treacherous than the other route. We made a couple exceptional stops along the way.

Heart Mountain Camp, Wyoming
The first was at Heart Mountain Camp, a Japanese internment camp during World War II, which at the time was the third largest city in Wyoming. Over 10,000 Japanese citizens were interned here in a small city in the middle of the mountains. At the site today there is a small memorial and a couple of the old barracks still exist, as well as a large chimney. Heart Mountain Camp

It was a moving and eerie place to visit, and to know that we had interned that many of our own citizens there out of nothing short of racism was hard to digest, especially given the attitude that is being seen these days about Arabs. One has to wonder if it can happen again and, of course, the answer is yes, because the Japanese camps were forgotten for years (as were the countless prisoner of war camps all over the country). Those who forget history are, as they say, doomed to repeat it.

I can’t accurately describe the feelings I had there, especially under the shadows of the beautiful mountain ironically named Heart Mountain. Heart Mountain

I tried to imagine the thousands of people, but all I could hear were echoes in the occasional wind. I saw the decay of the buildings that were part of the camp and all I could think of was the decay of the human spirit. While most of this trip has been uplifting and mystical, this was mystical in a different way, as a potent reminder of the illogicality of racism, hatred, and war. We went away silently, as did the internees when the war was over.

An especially poignant moment at the site was the discovery of a letter that had been taped to the side wall of one of the barracks less than a week ago. It was written by a woman who had met a Japanese man in a hospital in Washington, who had told her about the place. She had come to see it for herself and was obviously devastated by it. Her letter was heartfelt and moving and asked the same questions that I asked, “How could we do this unbelievable thing to our fellow citizens?” It left Brian and I both on the verge of tears. We left after videotaping me reading the letter and, like the internees, left with silent memories in our hearts.

After the camp we continued on Highway 14-A and made a sudden decision to check out Bighorn National Forest, just a few miles off the road. The place is huge and there was nobody there but for a few fishermen and us. There was an incredible canyon and the Pryor Mountains, Red Rocks
Pryor Mountains Desolation Tree
home of the remnants of the Spanish horses that were originally brought to this country and used to run free over the entire countryside. There are now somewhere between 120-150 of these horses left, Wild Horse
and only about 500 total wild horses in the entire U. S. We were fortunate enough to see half a dozen of them, including a pair with a colt that we got to see nursing. The adult pair stood side by side with their necks touching each other, and just stayed in that position for the longest time. Pryor Mountain Wild Horses
It was like humans holding hands. It seemed like love. I couldn’t help but think that anyone who says animals have no emotions is crazy.

Hillside at Bighorn Canyon

Bighorn
Bighorn Sheep, Bighorn Canyon, Montana

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