Hello Everyone,
Located in Rapid City, South Dakota, the Journey Museum and Learning Center lives up to its name. The museum is a time travel trip through the Black Hills. It starts with Native American stories of the earth’s creation and ends with the pioneers of the late 1800's. Along the way, visitors learn a fascinating story about the area’s paleontology, archaeology, geology, and Native Americans.
This 58,000 square foot museum is unique in that almost all of its artifacts (more than 5,000 on display at one time) come from within a hundred-mile radius of Rapid City. Another aspect making it special is that it is partnered with four other organizations to provide these collections.
The city of Rapid City helped get the Museum built as a Vision 2012 project. Today, the city supports the Museum with an annual investment covering approximately 40% of its yearly operational needs. This relationship with the Museum has existed since it opened May 18, 1997.
LOOK AROUND OUTSIDE
In the Journey Museum’s Western Dakota Native Gardens, volunteers maintain several acres of gardens of native plants from the Great Plains and the Black Hills area. The goal is to restore these gardens to the medicinal, edible, and spiritual plants grown and utilized by the Plains Indians. Heritage corn, squash, and beans are some of the crops that have been planted. The planting area’s circular shape was derived from the Native American culture. On the south grounds, visitors find trees, shrubs, and flowers. This plant life attracts wildlife as birds, rabbits, mice, and deer have discovered this environment.
While outside, observe the building. Its design was meant to reflect the Black Hills rising out of the ground like a mountain thrusting up from the surrounding landscape. More than 300 red sandstone boulders surround the building accenting these gardens. They were chosen for their unique shapes and patterns. They come from the Red Valley, Homestake Gold Mine, and the Spearfish Formation also known as the Red Racetrack.
START YOUR JOURNEY
Start your journey in the lobby where you can’t help but notice the huge banners of the region’s predecessors. At the 144-seat Wells Fargo Theater, watch educational films. The 14-minute film The Journey provides an overview of the museum. Over the Black Hills, a 21-minute movie, is an aerial view of South Dakota depicting how various cultures influence our lives. Lakota Star Knowledge, 29 minutes long, teaches viewers about the stars via Lakota stories and modern science. Daily show times vary so check with the Visitor Services desk.
In the lobby, you will also find The Journey Trading Company, their gift shop. It carries a variety of locally made items as well as lots of regional books for all ages, tapes, and CDs. Shoppers find Black Hills Gold jewelry by Landstrom, South Dakota wines and food products, educational toys, and Native American-made crafts.
Then head for the Star Room. This dark room provides visitors with a representation of the time period between the forming of the universe and the beginning of the rock record in the Black Hills. Scientists place the start of the solar system at around 4.5 billion years ago. Visitors hear the scientific and Native American beliefs of how the universe was formed.
GEOLOGY/PALEONTOLOGY
The South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Museum of Geology brings geology and paleontology to life. Its collection has grown from a humble mineral collection to a world class assemblage of regional fossils, minerals, and ores. The School has been a leader in collecting and curating many fossils from all over the world. In this section of the Journey Museum, they provide, via artifacts and information, a better understanding of the geological time line.
On two cutaway rock walls, one sees a 2.5 billion-year rock record of the area. Textured varieties of banded and layered colors represent the Black Hills and the White River Badlands. If you dug a deep trench through the Black Hills, you would discover the rocks on that trench’s walls comprise 95% of all geological formations found on earth.
Defined within five specific prehistoric periods are the various granites, shales, limestones, and sandstones. The text relates how and why these transitions took place in the region and how similar changes could have occurred at other places throughout the world. On these cutaways, you will also learn when various animals and marine life could be found in the Black Hills.
One display consists of rocks and minerals from the Black Hills, prairie, and Badlands of Western South Dakota that people are free to touch. All are numbered and tied to a list identifying them.
Mining has existed since gold was discovered in the Black Hills in 1874. Pegmatite was mined heavily until World War II and exists on a limited basis today. In marketable quantities, gold, silver, tin, copper, uranium, coal, and bentonite have been extracted. Oil exists in basins north and west of the Black Hills.
Many fossils are on loan from the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research located in Hill City, South Dakota. Dinosaurs are well represented at the Journey Museum. You can touch dinosaur bones found in the region and see models of a Triceratops, the state’s official dinosaur, and a Tyrannosaurus. Both have roaring sound tracks.
One rock at the Journey Museum has 11 different fossil tracks. It was found by the South Dakota School of Mines. As part of the Sioux Sandstone Formation, it was deposited around 66 to 100 million years ago. It is unclear exactly what dinosaur tracks are present on it, but they appear to be multiple meat-eating theropods as well as plant-eating hadrosaurs. The track of a Theropod had three points and a very long toe while the one of a Hadrosaur was wide and had three short toes.
You’ll also notice a cast of an Allosaurus, a carnivorous reptile from the Jurassic Era. During the time they roamed, 55 to 145 million years ago, they were most numerous of the theropods. They could be 12 feet high, 40 feet long, and weigh 5,000 pounds. They walked on two legs using their tail for balance. The Allosaurus hunted in packs for herbivorous dinosaurs.
The fossil of a base of a plant called a cycad is also exhibited. The plant looked like a cross between a fern and a palm and grew to a large size. The specimen shown is from between 100 and 140 million years ago. Some cycads lived to be over a thousand years old. They are related to plants living today and have been around for 290 million years.
The Paleontology Field Tent is a model of an on site dig. At this interactive exhibit, you can dig for dinosaur bones, do dinosaur themed puzzles, and touch real fossils. The tent features an actual fossil preparation lab where visitors view tools used by paleontologists in the field. Sometimes a retired paleontologist is present who is willing to answer your questions.
ARCHAEOLOGY
The Archaeological Research Center is a program of the South Dakota State Historical Society under the direction of the state archaeologist. The Center provides Journey Museum visitors a peek into the lives of prehistoric peoples of the Northern Plains some 10,000 years ago through artifacts and information.
It is believed that the first people to the Black Hills region were the ancestors of the Arikara 700 years ago. The Journey Museum displays fascinating artifacts of these ancient peoples. Visitors find tools and items of adornment fashioned from the bones of mammals and birds such as fish hooks, harpoons, needles, awls, whistles, and beads. You also see a stone ax, ceremonial conch shell mask, and a knife handle fashioned from an antler.
A large Clovis point dated more than 10,000 years ago and pots from Indians of the Middle Missouri and Central Plains cultures are also exhibited. A diorama of an archaeological excavation of an ancient Paleoindian camp displays tools and techniques that archaeologists use.
Since they did not leave written records, early cultures left their ideas on petroglyphs (rock art). Look for examples of these in the museum.
The Archaeological Research Center maintains an outreach lab at the Journey Museum. They clean, identify, and catalog artifacts here from various excavations. Sometimes staff is on hand to answer your questions.
Education of children and adults is a central focus of the Journey Museum. Visitors find in this section an archaeological dig pit. It provides a hands-on experience of a field excavation including the opportunity to discover ancient stone tools, mammoth bones, and other artifacts.
SIOUX INDIAN MUSEUM
The Journey Museum’s Sioux Indian Museum, founded in 1939, operates under the direction of the Indian Arts and Craft Board, within the federal Department of the Interior. It’s one of three museums nationwide operated by the Board which was created in 1935. The other two are in Montana and Oklahoma. The Board’s purpose was to promote American Indian and Alaska Native economic development.
Many of the 5, 500 artifacts in the museum are from the John A. Anderson collection. Anderson, born in Sweden in 1869, was a civilian photographer who accompanied General George Crook onto the Ridge and Rosebud reservations in 1889. He befriended the Indians there and in 1893 became manager and bookkeeper of the trading post at Rosebud Agency.
He collected first as a hobby, then later as a passion, Plains Indian handicrafts from the 1890s to the 1930s. His collection was first exhibited in Rapid City in 1935 at an old Sioux Indian School and in 1936 at a new city museum which he curated.
Observe the many photographs from the John Anderson collection depicting the Sioux way of life. Then listen to Nellie Two Bulls, a holographic Indian who tells three stories of Sioux life.
One diorama depicts several types of clothing they would have worn for different occasions and purposes such as a beaded dress and porcupine quilled moccasins. The Sioux employed geometric shapes in designs to embellish their clothing, homes, and utilitarian pieces.
Deer and buffalo were a part of everyday life of the Sioux people. At the Sioux Museum, learn how the Indians used every part of the creatures they harvested. They used them for food, clothing, tools, ceremonial items, and tipis. Approximately 85% of the tipis were made from buffalo hides. Two tipis made from multiple buffalo hides, stitched together with sinew, are displayed. Visitors are free to touch the deer and buffalo hides.
Look for the pelts that are on exhibit. The beaver, muskrat, and fox were valued for their furs and often used at trade agencies to obtain tobacco, beads, and cloth. Porcupine quills were commonly used to adorn clothing.
Feathers from birds of prey such as eagles, hawks, and owls were valued for their spiritual importance and used to make various items. War bonnets composed of eagle feathers were worn by chiefs because the Sioux regarded eagles as the most powerful of all animals. Feathers were also used to make arrows and ceremonial fans. Federal laws protect feathers today.
You’ll see a Native America wax figure. Francis Red Tomahawk was the model for this. He attended the first government school for Indians in Carlisle, Pennsylvania where he played football with Jim Thorpe. He was the first full blooded Indian to receive endorsement for public office in North Dakota as candidate for the nomination of North Dakota’s Secretary of State.
Visitors see flutes and Native American saddles. They also view blankets, moccasins, purses, Kachina dolls, and artwork on buffalo hides. Drawers hold some of these items. Don’t miss the man’s shirt worn at the Ghost Dance at Pine Ridge Reservation.
Children’s items such as cradle boards and toys are exhibited. Toys were vital as teaching tools that taught Indian children the responsibilities of adults. Mothers and grandmothers would craft faceless dolls for young girls. These could be elaborately adorned to imitate adult fashions. Rag dolls, made from the end pieces of skin from which moccasins had been cut, were often a child’s first doll.
Girls also received camp sets complete with small tipis, bison-knuckle horses, miniature travoises, and doll cradle boards. While this was a toy, the purpose was to teach the responsibilities of adult women to make a camp and care for the community.
Boys’ games taught them the responsibilities of becoming a man with sportsmanship and competition common themes. Sometimes as many as 50 boys would gather on a field to gamble their best top-with-a-whip to see whose top would spin the longest. Fathers and uncles created child-size bow and arrow sets and gave ponies so youngsters could excel at horsemanship.
In the Sioux Museum Discovery Room, visitors find examples of traditional Sioux games made by artist Mike Marshall. Visitors are welcome to play with them.
You’ll also spot peace medals. These were given to delegations who came to see the president in Washington, D.C. and to chiefs who signed peace treaties.
The Board mandated the Sioux Museum to promote contemporary art and artists of the region’s native communities. To accomplish this, their gallery displays works of art and crafts by emerging artists and craftspeople focusing on Sioux art. Visitors see a permanent collection as well as rotating exhibits. The gallery is also a great place to buy framed art as well as items for the home, jewelry, needlework, and sculptures.
Although the Sioux were experts on painting decorative designs on art, it wasn’t until the 1930s that they started painting on canvas. This was encouraged by WPA government sponsored art programs. Oscar Howe, known for his work for many years with the Mitchell Corn Palace, was one of the first Sioux artists to gain worldwide attention. His work is in the permanent collection.
MINNILUSA PIONEER MUSEUM
The Minnilusa Historical Association presents the Journey Museum’s Minnilusa Pioneer Museum. This group has been dedicated to preserving Black Hills history since 1935. In this section, visitors gain an understanding of the region’s pioneer history via nearly 20,000 artifacts, rare and out-of-print texts and letters, a Western history library, and a digital image collection.
The Duhamel Collection of Historic Sioux Indian Art is displayed in the Minnilusa Pioneer Museum section of the Journey Museum. Peter Duhamel, a Canadian from Montreal, developed with his partners a cattle business for many years before he became involved with banking. He founded the Duhamel and Ackerman Hardware Company in 1906 which became the Duhamel Company in 1909. They were known for manufacturing saddles and harnesses for over half a century. The Duhamel family amassed an extensive collection of fine Sioux craftswork - much of it obtained in trade. In 1985, when the post closed, Francis and Helen Duhamel gifted the collection to the care of the Minnilusa Pioneer Museum.
A collection highlight consists of hundreds of pairs of moccasins, some with price tags on them. Dozens of handmade dolls, war clubs, bows and arrows, hide scrapers, and much more are displayed.
French fur traders, mountain men, missionaries, and explorers were among the first non Native Americans to be seen by the Sioux. By the 1820s and 1830s, many Europeans had passed through the area who interacted with the Native Americans. It was the discovery of gold in 1874 and the rich farming lands that attracted a variety of pioneers and homesteaders.
You will learn about the Homestead Act and the life styles of pioneers who made their homes in the Black Hills. View a trapper’s cabin and the bedroom and dining room of a 1800s home. Visitors can even build a homesteader’s miniature log cabin.
Prior to the railroad’s arrival in 1886, oxen and mules were the primary means to transport supplies and equipment to the Black Hills. Most goods were brought overland from the Missouri River then off loaded at Fort Pierre or Chamberlain, South Dakota. The railroad also made it easier to reach the Black Hills. An interactive display in this section of the museum allows you to take a seat in a vintage 1800s railroad coach, turn a crank, and watch scenery roll by. Into horses instead of railroads, in this section, you can also try out some saddles.
Go through the Boardwalk where you can see all kinds of artifacts from the turn of the century that would have appeared in homes or stores. It includes a replica of Tom Sweeney’s hardware store, the first major hardware store in South Dakota. He was among Rapid City’s most prominent early merchants and had a store on the corner of Main and 7th Streets. His advertising resembled Wall Drug as signs saying “Tom Sweeney wants to see you” ranged from the Dakotas to Wyoming and Montana.
Illustrated story boards depict history about the pioneer days. These incorporate such topics as a map of Rapid City in 1883, the words of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty, and the history of Wounded Knee. Read about the interactions between Native Americans and early settlers during the period between their first encounters and modern day reconciliation. Others contain information about such local legends as Jim Bridger, General George Custer, Wild Bill Hickok, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and Red Cloud.
STANFORD ADELSTEIN GALLERY
This is the space for the temporary exhibits. When we were there in October 2018, we viewed The Music and Immigrants of the Dakotas about how music affected the homesteaders’ lives.
From Field to Field will feature artists James Pollock and Steven Randall. Song of the Sea: Carvings of St. Lawrence Island features the artwork of Alaska native carvers Edwin Noongwook, Ike Kulowiyi, and Ben Pungowiyi. The island has been home to the Yupik people who are known for their ivory and bone carving. Both shows will run until January 2020.
SIDE EXHIBITS
The museum houses several side exhibits. One, Black Hills Forests Then and Now is on forest ecology in the Black Hills. It is located at the end of the Pioneer Gallery next to the flood exhibit. It covers the changes in the Black Hills forests in the past 11,000 years and how timber has been used as a natural resource since humans occupied the area.
With mining came logging abuse. In 1898, William McKinley created the Black Hills Forest Reserve of 1.2 million acres. That limited the amount of logging that could be done. In 1899, Homestake Mining Company received the first permit to log timber. The Black Hills Parks and Forests Association, located in Custer, South Dakota, is guardian of the timber resources. It is a division of state and federal agencies.
The Big Missouri Winter Count is like the Christmas letter of today. Important events of significance to a particular band for a year were recorded on buffalo and deer hides. These “calendars” recorded the tribe’s history and were known as “winter counts.” The museum displays a large one on a hide and several small ones on paper.
Located between the Sioux Museum and Pioneer Galleries, you will find photos and artifacts from General Custer’s Black Hills expedition of 1874. One shows the general posing with a grizzly bear. You will also see a gun, eating utensils, canteen, stirrup, and a knife. Take time to find out about Newton Winchell, the expedition’s geologist. His journal of the trip is displayed.
One of the artifacts is Dewey Beard’s bugle that was recovered from the Battle of Little Bighorn. Research indicates there were maybe five buglers at the battlefield so this is a very rare piece. It dates over a hundred years and was owned by his family for a while.
The Aviary Room is located off the hardware store in the Pioneer Gallery. It consists of the Henry Behrens collection. He was a Rapid City businessman and rancher who collected and mounted more than 350 species of birds and animals between 1881 and 1911. On view are a wolf, mountain lion, bison, bighorn sheep, porcupine, mountain goat, and prairie dog. All were taken within 25 miles of Rapid City.
Located at the end of the Pioneer Gallery, just past the story walls, you find the 1972 flood exhibit. It decimated a large part of Rapid City and either killed, injured, or left homeless thousands of the city’s residents. This exhibit is created as a memorial for this event. It contains maps, pictures, survivor testimonies, news archives, and information about recovery operations. It also has a short film that loops regularly that visitors can watch.
Learn about the Stratobowl. Alan Shepard was not the first American to travel into space. The National Geographic Society and the United States Air Army Corps of Engineers sponsored flights in huge helium filled balloons. On July 28, 1934, Explorer I was launched. It was a manned flight that reached a height of 60,000 feet. It was commanded by Major William E. Kepner with Captains Orvil A. Anderson and Albert W. Stevens. When the bag ripped, it went into a forced descent at Holdridge, Nebraska.
Explorer II launched from the Black Hills on November 11, 1935. Captains Anderson and Stevens landed twelve miles south of White Lake, South Dakota after a world record flight to 72,395 feet, the highest point ever reached by man. It remained in the air for eight hours and 13 minutes. It returned with a wealth of scientific information regarding high altitude photography, cosmic rays, and atmospheric conditions.
EVENTS
The Journey Museum holds several regularly scheduled events as well as special events. During the holiday season, one can expect to see collections of vintage toys, a themed giant tree, live music, and entertainment.
The museum holds Turtle Soup on select Fridays from noon to 1 p.m. It’s an opportunity to enjoy a bowl of soup while listening to a history lesson on historic figures and events that influenced Black Hills history. Learning Forums, occurring Sunday afternoons at 2:00 p.m., consists of 45-minute presentations on a vast variety of subjects followed by questions and discussions. A Summer Series occurs Fridays at 5:00 p.m. To see what is happening, go to the web site.
EDUCATION
The Journey Museum views education as part of their mission with weekly educational programs. Toddler Tuesday has interactive activities. Discovery Expedition combines activities, experiments, and crafts for the whole family. Journey into Space is a real-time trip through space using the museum’s NASA supported Uniview Digital Universe Program. “The goal is to get people to grow up with the museum,” said Troy Kilpatrick, museum director.
There are activity tables in every gallery for children and adults. These have coloring pages, books, and activities related to the gallery in which the tables are located.
A Children’s Learning Lab, powered by STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, math) is next to the archaeology area. Classes and drop by activities continue throughout the week. It’s stocked with coloring books, puzzles, games, microscope, puppets, books, and discovery boxes.
The museum provides customized learning experiences for school groups and makes outreach available with the museum’s Inflatable Planetarium program. Classes are held for adults and children.
DETAILS
The address for the Journey Museum and Learning Center is 222 New York Street in Rapid City. The telephone number is (605) 394-6923. Hours October 1 to April 30 are Monday through Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and on Sunday from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. From May 1 to September 30, the hours are Monday through Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Admissions are adults (18+) $12, seniors (age 62+) and military $10, students (ages 6-17) $7, and children ages five and under free with family. Admission is good for two consecutive days with receipt.
Located in Rapid City, South Dakota, the Journey Museum and Learning Center lives up to its name. The museum is a time travel trip through the Black Hills. It starts with Native American stories of the earth’s creation and ends with the pioneers of the late 1800's. Along the way, visitors learn a fascinating story about the area’s paleontology, archaeology, geology, and Native Americans.
This 58,000 square foot museum is unique in that almost all of its artifacts (more than 5,000 on display at one time) come from within a hundred-mile radius of Rapid City. Another aspect making it special is that it is partnered with four other organizations to provide these collections.
The city of Rapid City helped get the Museum built as a Vision 2012 project. Today, the city supports the Museum with an annual investment covering approximately 40% of its yearly operational needs. This relationship with the Museum has existed since it opened May 18, 1997.
LOOK AROUND OUTSIDE
In the Journey Museum’s Western Dakota Native Gardens, volunteers maintain several acres of gardens of native plants from the Great Plains and the Black Hills area. The goal is to restore these gardens to the medicinal, edible, and spiritual plants grown and utilized by the Plains Indians. Heritage corn, squash, and beans are some of the crops that have been planted. The planting area’s circular shape was derived from the Native American culture. On the south grounds, visitors find trees, shrubs, and flowers. This plant life attracts wildlife as birds, rabbits, mice, and deer have discovered this environment.
While outside, observe the building. Its design was meant to reflect the Black Hills rising out of the ground like a mountain thrusting up from the surrounding landscape. More than 300 red sandstone boulders surround the building accenting these gardens. They were chosen for their unique shapes and patterns. They come from the Red Valley, Homestake Gold Mine, and the Spearfish Formation also known as the Red Racetrack.
START YOUR JOURNEY
Start your journey in the lobby where you can’t help but notice the huge banners of the region’s predecessors. At the 144-seat Wells Fargo Theater, watch educational films. The 14-minute film The Journey provides an overview of the museum. Over the Black Hills, a 21-minute movie, is an aerial view of South Dakota depicting how various cultures influence our lives. Lakota Star Knowledge, 29 minutes long, teaches viewers about the stars via Lakota stories and modern science. Daily show times vary so check with the Visitor Services desk.
In the lobby, you will also find The Journey Trading Company, their gift shop. It carries a variety of locally made items as well as lots of regional books for all ages, tapes, and CDs. Shoppers find Black Hills Gold jewelry by Landstrom, South Dakota wines and food products, educational toys, and Native American-made crafts.
Then head for the Star Room. This dark room provides visitors with a representation of the time period between the forming of the universe and the beginning of the rock record in the Black Hills. Scientists place the start of the solar system at around 4.5 billion years ago. Visitors hear the scientific and Native American beliefs of how the universe was formed.
GEOLOGY/PALEONTOLOGY
The South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Museum of Geology brings geology and paleontology to life. Its collection has grown from a humble mineral collection to a world class assemblage of regional fossils, minerals, and ores. The School has been a leader in collecting and curating many fossils from all over the world. In this section of the Journey Museum, they provide, via artifacts and information, a better understanding of the geological time line.
On two cutaway rock walls, one sees a 2.5 billion-year rock record of the area. Textured varieties of banded and layered colors represent the Black Hills and the White River Badlands. If you dug a deep trench through the Black Hills, you would discover the rocks on that trench’s walls comprise 95% of all geological formations found on earth.
Defined within five specific prehistoric periods are the various granites, shales, limestones, and sandstones. The text relates how and why these transitions took place in the region and how similar changes could have occurred at other places throughout the world. On these cutaways, you will also learn when various animals and marine life could be found in the Black Hills.
One display consists of rocks and minerals from the Black Hills, prairie, and Badlands of Western South Dakota that people are free to touch. All are numbered and tied to a list identifying them.
Mining has existed since gold was discovered in the Black Hills in 1874. Pegmatite was mined heavily until World War II and exists on a limited basis today. In marketable quantities, gold, silver, tin, copper, uranium, coal, and bentonite have been extracted. Oil exists in basins north and west of the Black Hills.
Many fossils are on loan from the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research located in Hill City, South Dakota. Dinosaurs are well represented at the Journey Museum. You can touch dinosaur bones found in the region and see models of a Triceratops, the state’s official dinosaur, and a Tyrannosaurus. Both have roaring sound tracks.
One rock at the Journey Museum has 11 different fossil tracks. It was found by the South Dakota School of Mines. As part of the Sioux Sandstone Formation, it was deposited around 66 to 100 million years ago. It is unclear exactly what dinosaur tracks are present on it, but they appear to be multiple meat-eating theropods as well as plant-eating hadrosaurs. The track of a Theropod had three points and a very long toe while the one of a Hadrosaur was wide and had three short toes.
You’ll also notice a cast of an Allosaurus, a carnivorous reptile from the Jurassic Era. During the time they roamed, 55 to 145 million years ago, they were most numerous of the theropods. They could be 12 feet high, 40 feet long, and weigh 5,000 pounds. They walked on two legs using their tail for balance. The Allosaurus hunted in packs for herbivorous dinosaurs.
The fossil of a base of a plant called a cycad is also exhibited. The plant looked like a cross between a fern and a palm and grew to a large size. The specimen shown is from between 100 and 140 million years ago. Some cycads lived to be over a thousand years old. They are related to plants living today and have been around for 290 million years.
The Paleontology Field Tent is a model of an on site dig. At this interactive exhibit, you can dig for dinosaur bones, do dinosaur themed puzzles, and touch real fossils. The tent features an actual fossil preparation lab where visitors view tools used by paleontologists in the field. Sometimes a retired paleontologist is present who is willing to answer your questions.
ARCHAEOLOGY
The Archaeological Research Center is a program of the South Dakota State Historical Society under the direction of the state archaeologist. The Center provides Journey Museum visitors a peek into the lives of prehistoric peoples of the Northern Plains some 10,000 years ago through artifacts and information.
It is believed that the first people to the Black Hills region were the ancestors of the Arikara 700 years ago. The Journey Museum displays fascinating artifacts of these ancient peoples. Visitors find tools and items of adornment fashioned from the bones of mammals and birds such as fish hooks, harpoons, needles, awls, whistles, and beads. You also see a stone ax, ceremonial conch shell mask, and a knife handle fashioned from an antler.
A large Clovis point dated more than 10,000 years ago and pots from Indians of the Middle Missouri and Central Plains cultures are also exhibited. A diorama of an archaeological excavation of an ancient Paleoindian camp displays tools and techniques that archaeologists use.
Since they did not leave written records, early cultures left their ideas on petroglyphs (rock art). Look for examples of these in the museum.
The Archaeological Research Center maintains an outreach lab at the Journey Museum. They clean, identify, and catalog artifacts here from various excavations. Sometimes staff is on hand to answer your questions.
Education of children and adults is a central focus of the Journey Museum. Visitors find in this section an archaeological dig pit. It provides a hands-on experience of a field excavation including the opportunity to discover ancient stone tools, mammoth bones, and other artifacts.
SIOUX INDIAN MUSEUM
The Journey Museum’s Sioux Indian Museum, founded in 1939, operates under the direction of the Indian Arts and Craft Board, within the federal Department of the Interior. It’s one of three museums nationwide operated by the Board which was created in 1935. The other two are in Montana and Oklahoma. The Board’s purpose was to promote American Indian and Alaska Native economic development.
Many of the 5, 500 artifacts in the museum are from the John A. Anderson collection. Anderson, born in Sweden in 1869, was a civilian photographer who accompanied General George Crook onto the Ridge and Rosebud reservations in 1889. He befriended the Indians there and in 1893 became manager and bookkeeper of the trading post at Rosebud Agency.
He collected first as a hobby, then later as a passion, Plains Indian handicrafts from the 1890s to the 1930s. His collection was first exhibited in Rapid City in 1935 at an old Sioux Indian School and in 1936 at a new city museum which he curated.
Observe the many photographs from the John Anderson collection depicting the Sioux way of life. Then listen to Nellie Two Bulls, a holographic Indian who tells three stories of Sioux life.
One diorama depicts several types of clothing they would have worn for different occasions and purposes such as a beaded dress and porcupine quilled moccasins. The Sioux employed geometric shapes in designs to embellish their clothing, homes, and utilitarian pieces.
Deer and buffalo were a part of everyday life of the Sioux people. At the Sioux Museum, learn how the Indians used every part of the creatures they harvested. They used them for food, clothing, tools, ceremonial items, and tipis. Approximately 85% of the tipis were made from buffalo hides. Two tipis made from multiple buffalo hides, stitched together with sinew, are displayed. Visitors are free to touch the deer and buffalo hides.
Look for the pelts that are on exhibit. The beaver, muskrat, and fox were valued for their furs and often used at trade agencies to obtain tobacco, beads, and cloth. Porcupine quills were commonly used to adorn clothing.
Feathers from birds of prey such as eagles, hawks, and owls were valued for their spiritual importance and used to make various items. War bonnets composed of eagle feathers were worn by chiefs because the Sioux regarded eagles as the most powerful of all animals. Feathers were also used to make arrows and ceremonial fans. Federal laws protect feathers today.
You’ll see a Native America wax figure. Francis Red Tomahawk was the model for this. He attended the first government school for Indians in Carlisle, Pennsylvania where he played football with Jim Thorpe. He was the first full blooded Indian to receive endorsement for public office in North Dakota as candidate for the nomination of North Dakota’s Secretary of State.
Visitors see flutes and Native American saddles. They also view blankets, moccasins, purses, Kachina dolls, and artwork on buffalo hides. Drawers hold some of these items. Don’t miss the man’s shirt worn at the Ghost Dance at Pine Ridge Reservation.
Children’s items such as cradle boards and toys are exhibited. Toys were vital as teaching tools that taught Indian children the responsibilities of adults. Mothers and grandmothers would craft faceless dolls for young girls. These could be elaborately adorned to imitate adult fashions. Rag dolls, made from the end pieces of skin from which moccasins had been cut, were often a child’s first doll.
Girls also received camp sets complete with small tipis, bison-knuckle horses, miniature travoises, and doll cradle boards. While this was a toy, the purpose was to teach the responsibilities of adult women to make a camp and care for the community.
Boys’ games taught them the responsibilities of becoming a man with sportsmanship and competition common themes. Sometimes as many as 50 boys would gather on a field to gamble their best top-with-a-whip to see whose top would spin the longest. Fathers and uncles created child-size bow and arrow sets and gave ponies so youngsters could excel at horsemanship.
In the Sioux Museum Discovery Room, visitors find examples of traditional Sioux games made by artist Mike Marshall. Visitors are welcome to play with them.
You’ll also spot peace medals. These were given to delegations who came to see the president in Washington, D.C. and to chiefs who signed peace treaties.
The Board mandated the Sioux Museum to promote contemporary art and artists of the region’s native communities. To accomplish this, their gallery displays works of art and crafts by emerging artists and craftspeople focusing on Sioux art. Visitors see a permanent collection as well as rotating exhibits. The gallery is also a great place to buy framed art as well as items for the home, jewelry, needlework, and sculptures.
Although the Sioux were experts on painting decorative designs on art, it wasn’t until the 1930s that they started painting on canvas. This was encouraged by WPA government sponsored art programs. Oscar Howe, known for his work for many years with the Mitchell Corn Palace, was one of the first Sioux artists to gain worldwide attention. His work is in the permanent collection.
MINNILUSA PIONEER MUSEUM
The Minnilusa Historical Association presents the Journey Museum’s Minnilusa Pioneer Museum. This group has been dedicated to preserving Black Hills history since 1935. In this section, visitors gain an understanding of the region’s pioneer history via nearly 20,000 artifacts, rare and out-of-print texts and letters, a Western history library, and a digital image collection.
The Duhamel Collection of Historic Sioux Indian Art is displayed in the Minnilusa Pioneer Museum section of the Journey Museum. Peter Duhamel, a Canadian from Montreal, developed with his partners a cattle business for many years before he became involved with banking. He founded the Duhamel and Ackerman Hardware Company in 1906 which became the Duhamel Company in 1909. They were known for manufacturing saddles and harnesses for over half a century. The Duhamel family amassed an extensive collection of fine Sioux craftswork - much of it obtained in trade. In 1985, when the post closed, Francis and Helen Duhamel gifted the collection to the care of the Minnilusa Pioneer Museum.
A collection highlight consists of hundreds of pairs of moccasins, some with price tags on them. Dozens of handmade dolls, war clubs, bows and arrows, hide scrapers, and much more are displayed.
French fur traders, mountain men, missionaries, and explorers were among the first non Native Americans to be seen by the Sioux. By the 1820s and 1830s, many Europeans had passed through the area who interacted with the Native Americans. It was the discovery of gold in 1874 and the rich farming lands that attracted a variety of pioneers and homesteaders.
You will learn about the Homestead Act and the life styles of pioneers who made their homes in the Black Hills. View a trapper’s cabin and the bedroom and dining room of a 1800s home. Visitors can even build a homesteader’s miniature log cabin.
Prior to the railroad’s arrival in 1886, oxen and mules were the primary means to transport supplies and equipment to the Black Hills. Most goods were brought overland from the Missouri River then off loaded at Fort Pierre or Chamberlain, South Dakota. The railroad also made it easier to reach the Black Hills. An interactive display in this section of the museum allows you to take a seat in a vintage 1800s railroad coach, turn a crank, and watch scenery roll by. Into horses instead of railroads, in this section, you can also try out some saddles.
Go through the Boardwalk where you can see all kinds of artifacts from the turn of the century that would have appeared in homes or stores. It includes a replica of Tom Sweeney’s hardware store, the first major hardware store in South Dakota. He was among Rapid City’s most prominent early merchants and had a store on the corner of Main and 7th Streets. His advertising resembled Wall Drug as signs saying “Tom Sweeney wants to see you” ranged from the Dakotas to Wyoming and Montana.
Illustrated story boards depict history about the pioneer days. These incorporate such topics as a map of Rapid City in 1883, the words of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty, and the history of Wounded Knee. Read about the interactions between Native Americans and early settlers during the period between their first encounters and modern day reconciliation. Others contain information about such local legends as Jim Bridger, General George Custer, Wild Bill Hickok, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and Red Cloud.
STANFORD ADELSTEIN GALLERY
This is the space for the temporary exhibits. When we were there in October 2018, we viewed The Music and Immigrants of the Dakotas about how music affected the homesteaders’ lives.
From Field to Field will feature artists James Pollock and Steven Randall. Song of the Sea: Carvings of St. Lawrence Island features the artwork of Alaska native carvers Edwin Noongwook, Ike Kulowiyi, and Ben Pungowiyi. The island has been home to the Yupik people who are known for their ivory and bone carving. Both shows will run until January 2020.
SIDE EXHIBITS
The museum houses several side exhibits. One, Black Hills Forests Then and Now is on forest ecology in the Black Hills. It is located at the end of the Pioneer Gallery next to the flood exhibit. It covers the changes in the Black Hills forests in the past 11,000 years and how timber has been used as a natural resource since humans occupied the area.
With mining came logging abuse. In 1898, William McKinley created the Black Hills Forest Reserve of 1.2 million acres. That limited the amount of logging that could be done. In 1899, Homestake Mining Company received the first permit to log timber. The Black Hills Parks and Forests Association, located in Custer, South Dakota, is guardian of the timber resources. It is a division of state and federal agencies.
The Big Missouri Winter Count is like the Christmas letter of today. Important events of significance to a particular band for a year were recorded on buffalo and deer hides. These “calendars” recorded the tribe’s history and were known as “winter counts.” The museum displays a large one on a hide and several small ones on paper.
Located between the Sioux Museum and Pioneer Galleries, you will find photos and artifacts from General Custer’s Black Hills expedition of 1874. One shows the general posing with a grizzly bear. You will also see a gun, eating utensils, canteen, stirrup, and a knife. Take time to find out about Newton Winchell, the expedition’s geologist. His journal of the trip is displayed.
One of the artifacts is Dewey Beard’s bugle that was recovered from the Battle of Little Bighorn. Research indicates there were maybe five buglers at the battlefield so this is a very rare piece. It dates over a hundred years and was owned by his family for a while.
The Aviary Room is located off the hardware store in the Pioneer Gallery. It consists of the Henry Behrens collection. He was a Rapid City businessman and rancher who collected and mounted more than 350 species of birds and animals between 1881 and 1911. On view are a wolf, mountain lion, bison, bighorn sheep, porcupine, mountain goat, and prairie dog. All were taken within 25 miles of Rapid City.
Located at the end of the Pioneer Gallery, just past the story walls, you find the 1972 flood exhibit. It decimated a large part of Rapid City and either killed, injured, or left homeless thousands of the city’s residents. This exhibit is created as a memorial for this event. It contains maps, pictures, survivor testimonies, news archives, and information about recovery operations. It also has a short film that loops regularly that visitors can watch.
Learn about the Stratobowl. Alan Shepard was not the first American to travel into space. The National Geographic Society and the United States Air Army Corps of Engineers sponsored flights in huge helium filled balloons. On July 28, 1934, Explorer I was launched. It was a manned flight that reached a height of 60,000 feet. It was commanded by Major William E. Kepner with Captains Orvil A. Anderson and Albert W. Stevens. When the bag ripped, it went into a forced descent at Holdridge, Nebraska.
Explorer II launched from the Black Hills on November 11, 1935. Captains Anderson and Stevens landed twelve miles south of White Lake, South Dakota after a world record flight to 72,395 feet, the highest point ever reached by man. It remained in the air for eight hours and 13 minutes. It returned with a wealth of scientific information regarding high altitude photography, cosmic rays, and atmospheric conditions.
EVENTS
The Journey Museum holds several regularly scheduled events as well as special events. During the holiday season, one can expect to see collections of vintage toys, a themed giant tree, live music, and entertainment.
The museum holds Turtle Soup on select Fridays from noon to 1 p.m. It’s an opportunity to enjoy a bowl of soup while listening to a history lesson on historic figures and events that influenced Black Hills history. Learning Forums, occurring Sunday afternoons at 2:00 p.m., consists of 45-minute presentations on a vast variety of subjects followed by questions and discussions. A Summer Series occurs Fridays at 5:00 p.m. To see what is happening, go to the web site.
EDUCATION
The Journey Museum views education as part of their mission with weekly educational programs. Toddler Tuesday has interactive activities. Discovery Expedition combines activities, experiments, and crafts for the whole family. Journey into Space is a real-time trip through space using the museum’s NASA supported Uniview Digital Universe Program. “The goal is to get people to grow up with the museum,” said Troy Kilpatrick, museum director.
There are activity tables in every gallery for children and adults. These have coloring pages, books, and activities related to the gallery in which the tables are located.
A Children’s Learning Lab, powered by STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, math) is next to the archaeology area. Classes and drop by activities continue throughout the week. It’s stocked with coloring books, puzzles, games, microscope, puppets, books, and discovery boxes.
The museum provides customized learning experiences for school groups and makes outreach available with the museum’s Inflatable Planetarium program. Classes are held for adults and children.
DETAILS
The address for the Journey Museum and Learning Center is 222 New York Street in Rapid City. The telephone number is (605) 394-6923. Hours October 1 to April 30 are Monday through Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and on Sunday from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. From May 1 to September 30, the hours are Monday through Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Admissions are adults (18+) $12, seniors (age 62+) and military $10, students (ages 6-17) $7, and children ages five and under free with family. Admission is good for two consecutive days with receipt.
Exterior of the Journey Museum
Troy Kilpatrick, The Director of The Journey Museum, Announcing Our Tour
Cutaway Rock Walls Providing a 2.5 Billion Year Record of the Area
Various Rocks and Minerals on Display
Note the Eleven Dinosaur Tracks
Triceratops, South Dakota's Official Dinosaur
One Roaring T Rex
Allosaurus Cast
Cast of a Cycad
Fossil Preparation Lab
Tipi Made of Buffalo Hide
Headdress made of Eagle Feathers
Wax Figure of Francis Red Tomahawk
Beautiful Beaded Coat
Pioneer Trapper's Cabin
Parlor of an 1800s Home
Replica of First Major Hardware Store in South Dakota
Mountain Lion - part of Henry Behrens Collection
Explorer II Model - Stratobowl Project
The Learning Lab