DAY #16 – JUNE 25, 2021- MITCHELL, SD – FORT DODGE, IOWA - A PALACE OF CORN

 

Well, last night I spent a long time coming up with a plan for today but about 11 p.m. I finally made a decision and if all goes according to plan when this day ends, I will be back in the State of Iowa. Yep, I decided to forgo traveling to Nebraska. I will save that for another adventure.

The Comfort Inn here in Mitchell, South Dakota as a good choice. The room was clean and there was lots of parking. But like most motels the coffee was horrible. I did tough it out and make a cup in the in-room coffee maker just to get me through until I can find something better.

I kind of piddled around and killed a little time this morning because there is something here in Mitchell that I wanted to see before leaving town. But it doesn’t open until 9 a.m. So, at 9 a.m. on the dot I pulled out of the hotel and made the 3-mile trek into downtown Mitchell.

Finding a parking spot was really easy and I only had a short walk to the “World Famous Corn Palace.” I have heard about this place for years and many of my traveling friends told me that I just had to stop and see it in person. So, here I am.

The Corn Palace is a multi-use venue right in downtown Mitchell. Each year the exterior design of the corn mural is replaced with a new theme.  The murals are created entirely of Corn and corn related materials.  Each year the city of Mitchell hosts its Corn Festival where the new design is revealed, then over the next several weeks or months the new design is created on the exterior of the building. I was talking to one of the ladies that works at the Palace, and she said that depending on the design it could cost up to $200,000 to create the new design.

The Corn Place is a multi-use arena that hosts everything from polka festivals, and crafts shows, to sporting events.  The Palace is home to the Dakota Wesleyan University and the Mitchell High.

After milling around the outside of the Corn Palace, I discovered it was open and it was hosting some kind of Craft Show or merchandise event. So, I went inside to check it out.  Surrounding the basketball court there are several small mural panel that are also created entirely out of corn. I milled around the floor where the vendors for the merchandise show were set up. I managed to purchase a few souvenirs before ending my visit and hitting the road.

After leaving the Corn Palace I made my way back toward Interstate 90. Only this time I am going to cross under the interstate and head due south to the town of Yankton, South Dakota. But first I stopped at the I-90 Travel Center and gassed up.  I have been really pleased with the gas mileage that My Honda Accord is getting. So far, I have traveled just over 4,5 00 miles and I’m getting just a little over 38-miles per gallon. Not Bad. After getting gas, I discarded the nasty hotel Coffee and got some decent Truckstop coffee. Now, it’s time to make some miles.

Traveling the back roads of South Dakota can be slow going at times but I really don’t mind. This is all new to me and I can enjoy “the road less traveled.” It took me almost 2-hours to travel the roughly 85 miles from Mitchell to Yankton.

Yankton is a small city on the north bank of the Missouri River. If I were to cross the Missouri River I would be in Nebraska. But I am going to save Nebraska for another Adventure. There is only one reason that I wanted to come to Yankton and that was to visit the Grave of Jack McCall.

This wasn’t part or any plan that I had for this adventure. But when I was back in at the Cemetery in Deadwood the lady at the entrance station told me the story about Jack McCall.  So, I knew, if possible, I wanted to come here and shoot footage for a YouTube Video.

Thanks, to Google Maps I arrived at Sacred Heat Cemetery in Yankton and set about trying to locate the grave of “Broken Nose” Jack McCall.  That turned out to be a little bit more difficult that I anticipated. There was no GPS Coordinates on the Find-A-Grave Site, and the only clue was his grave was in the Southwest Corner.

This is a large cemetery so walking the entire cemetery was not an option. I did walk two complete sections where I thought the grave might be but was unsuccessful. The was a guy on a lawn mower a few sections over and I thought, what the heck, let’s ask him if he knows where the grave is.

As I approached him it became obvious that he was a trustee prisoner from the local jail. I hesitated to approach him but finally said what the hell. As I approached him, he turned the mower off and said, “Let me guess, you are looking for Jack McCall’s Grave.” I said that I was and ask if he could point me in the right direction.

He walked over to a pickup truck parked about 50-yards away and told me to follow him.  I followed him all the way across the cemetery where he pointed out the small gravestone of Jack McCall.  My Jailhouse Guide was cool, and we spent a few minutes talking about some of the other people who he met while they were looking for Ole Jack’s Grave. 

Now who was Jack McCall and why did I come here just to visit his grave. Well, as I said when I was back at the Cemetery in Deadwood, the last at the entrance station told me an interesting story about Jack. 

Broken Nose Jack McCall was the man who shot Wild Bill Hickok in that Deadwood Saloon.  But the interesting part of the story was that Jack McCall was tried in a “miner’s court,” where he claimed that he kill Wild Bill because he had killed Jack brother earlier in Abilene, Kansas. The local Miners Jury took about two hours to acquit him and Ole Jack Walked way a free man. 

But the story doesn’t end there. Jack was hated and harassed and eventually forced to flee to Wyoming. While in Wyoming Jack continued to Boast that that he had killed Hickok in a fair fight. But it was widely known that Jack Shot Hickok in the Back. While in Wyoming Jack was arrested and again charged with the Murder of Hickok.  The federal court ruled that the so-called Deadwood court had no legal jurisdiction and was not a “legal trial.” So, for that reason double jeopardy did not apply and that McCall could be trail again for the Hickok Murder.

So, he was taken to Yankton and on December 4, 1876 Broken Nose Jack McCall went on trial for the Murder of Wild Bill Hickok. Two days later December 6, 1876, he was found guilty and sentenced to hang.

At 10:15 on the morning of March 1, 1877, Jack McCall was executed here in Yankton. If he had just kept his mouth shut in the days following the murder of Wild Bill Hickok, he would have escaped the hangman’s noose. But because as the lady in Deadwood said, Jack was stupid and liked to talk, and that cost him his life.

After, taking the time to record some YouTube Footage, it was time to leave Yankton and head toward Sioux City, Iowa some 70-miles away.

It took me about and hour and a half to make the 70-mile drive along the banks of the Missouri River. The first part of the drive was along South Dakota Highway 50 past Vermillion to Interstate 29.

Once on I-29, it was a quick trip down to Sioux Falls. It was a little after 1 p.m. when I arrived in Sioux City. During this adventure I have visited a bunch of sites relating to the Lewis and Clark Exposition of 1804-1806.  Before I leave Sioux City, there is one final Lewis and Clark Site that I want to visit.

At 1:30 p.m. I headed up to the top of a hill where a 100-foot-tall obelisk marks the grave of Sergeant Charles Floyd, who was the only man to die during the Lewis and Clark Exposition. Charles Floyd was one of the first people to join the exposition to explore the Louisiana Purchase.

As the exposition made their way up the Missouri River in July 1804, Sergeant Charles Floyd took ill. His condition continued to deteriorate and on August 20, 1804, while the party camped here on the banks of the Missouri River, Sergeant Floyd died. A brief Funeral Service was held and Floyd was buried on a Bluff overlooking the river. William Clark marked his grave with a solid cedar post but by 1857 erosion had damaged the grave and washed much of the area.

Much of Sergeant Floyd’s remains were collected and reburied about 500-feet east of the original Grave. The on August 20, 1895, 91-years after his death, Sergeant Charles Floyd was reinterred for the final time here high on a hill overlooking the Original Lewis and Clark Campsite, his original grave and the Missouri River.

Five Years later construction began this 100-foot-tall monument that marks his final resting place.

I had considered spending the night here in Sioux City, but it was still early afternoon and too early to stop. I wanted to drive another couple of Hours, so, while parked at the Sergeant Floyd Monument I began exploring options. 

It took me about 15-minutes before I settled on the Sleep Inn & Suites in Fort Dodge, Iowa.  I didn’t want to back track and eat the same ground twice.  Fort Dodge was about 150 miles away. If all goes well my trek out U. S. Highway 20 would take a little over 2-hours and a half.

In looking at my Travel Book that I saw a note about a couple of Famous Graves located in Union Cemetery in Humboldt, Iowa. It I had the time it would require about a 20-miles detour.  So off I went.

Some two hours later I left U. S. Route 20 and started north on Iowa Route 7 and U. S. 169.  About 30-minutes later, Google Maps led me right to Union Cemetery in Humboldt.  There are two notable people buried here and I want to record some YouTube footage of both graves.

But wouldn’t you know it just as I pulled into the cemetery, that black cloud that had been following me for the better part of the last hour caught up with me and the sky opened up. I checked the weather radar and hopefully the hardest rain would pass in about 20-minutes.

So, I waited. After about 40 minutes the rain slacked up enough for me to record some footage of the final resting place of Professional Wrestler Frank Gotch.

Frank Gotch is considered by many to be the greatest wrestler of all time. He was born here in Humboldt and trained by a professional Wrestler named Farmer Burns. Professional Wrestling back in the later 1800’s and early 1900’s was an actual sport. It wasn’t anything like the staged TV stuff we see today.  In 1904, Gotch who stood 6 feet tall and weight about 200 pounds won the American Heavyweight Champion and in 1908 he would become the World Heavyweight Champions.

He retired from Professional wrestling in 1913 but stayed active by joining the circus where he would offer to pay any man $250 who could last 15-minutes with him. He took on all comers and never had to pay.

A few years later he left the circus and moved back to Humboldt where his health began to fail. He died on December 17, 1917, and was entombed in the Family Mausoleum here in Union Cemetery.

Just as I was finishing up the Gotch Footage the rain picked up again and I had to wait another 20-minutes to visit the Final resting Place of Broadcast Journalist Harry Reasoner. I remember growing up watch Newman Harry Reasoner report on news stories for CBS and later for ABC News.  He later hosted the ABC Evening News with Howard K. Smith, but he is perhaps best known as a long-time contributor on CBS News show 60 Minutes.

Between Rain showers I recorded enough footage and snapped a few Picture. Now it’s time to head 20-miles south to the Sleep Inn in Fort Dodge.

At a little after 5:30 p.m. I pulled into the Sleep Inn & Suites in Fort Dodge, Iowa. As usual Check In was quick and in no time flat I was settled in my room.  There is not much around here and since I was tired, I opted for a McDonald Supper.

I got my supper to go and brought it back to my room and set about backing up the days photos, writing my daily blog and planning for tomorrow.  While I was planning tomorrow journey, it began to realize this wonderful adventure was just a few days from coming to an end.

But I still have a few days left so stick around. The adventure Continues.