Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Trailblazers Travel over 4,000 Miles To See 10 States

Thirty five Prescott Trailblazers left June 15 and traveled over 4,000 miles through Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

Before leaving Arkansas, the group was met by the vice president for development of the Walton Art Center in Fayetteville for a guided tour of the center, a guided tour of the Bud Walton Arena and through the downtown area. Lunch was arranged for them at the Ozark Brewery.

In Mitchell, South Dakota, the group toured the world's only corn palace. The palace is of Moorish architecture. It is decorated inside and out with pictorial murals made entirely of thousands of bushels of native corn, grains and grasses.

They toured the 244,000-acre Badlands National Park in South Dakota. The park is a lunar landscape created by millions of years of wind and water erosion, according to literature. It is one of the most stunning geological displays on earth. Rich in fossils, this parched rugged terrain reveals mysteries of a distant past.

After touring the Badlands National Park, the group traveled to Wall, South Dakota, to the world's largest drug store. The store's Western Art Gallery Restaurant features a world class collection of western art. Wall Drug survived the depression by offering free ice water to thirsty travelers.

Special evening vespers were held for the trailblazers at Chapel in the Hills, which is a replica of the famous 800-year-old Borgund Stave Church in Norway that features unique architecture and intricate wood carving.

The Trailblazers boarded a Gray Line of the Black Hills bus for an all day scenic lectured tour of the Black Hills. The tour included Keystone Gold Town, Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Crazy Horse Monument, Iron Mountain Road, Sylvan Lake and Custer State Park. The tour completely circled Harney Peak, the highest elevation east of the Rockies. The famous Needles Highway winds through some of the most magnificent granite formations in the world.

Mount Rushmore stands as a powerful symbol of American heritage. It was a thrill for the group to see carved from the mountainside of solid granite, the gigantic busts of the four great American Presidents -- George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, overlooking a land they so deeply loved.

And the group saw history in the making at the Crazy Horse Mountain carving now in progress, which is a tribute to the American Indian. The nine-story-high face of Crazy Horse is scheduled for completion by 1998. They also visited the beautiful Indian Museum of North America.

One night while in Rapid City, South Dakota, the group traveled out to the Flying T Chuckwagon Ranch for supper and a great western show with the Flying T Wranglers.

While in Rapid City, they toured the famous Hotel Alex Johnson. The two-story lobby was designed to pay homage to the American Indian culture.

Southeast of Hardin, the group stopped and visited the historical site Little Bighorns Battlefield National Monument at the Crow Agency, which commemorates the site of the Indian Victory over General Custer's Seventh Calvary.

In Billings, Montana, they were met by a tour guide and toured the historical part of the city and toured the Moss Mansion. This turn-of-the- century mansion, elegantly restored, provided a glimpse in the life of Preston York, one of Billings' most prominent early residents. The Great American Car Race was a big happening that day. Besides those vintage cars actually in the race, several blocks downtown were blocked off to display the Yellowstone Roaring 20's Duster and Goggles Car Show that the trailblazers enjoyed.

The group enjoyed another great tour when they arrived in Butte, Montana. They toured the National Historical district, Victorian neighborhoods, Copper King Mansion and St. Lawrence Church, which was built in 1897 from donations from Butte miners. They toured the Anselmo Mineyard. It is the best surviving example of the surface support facilities that once served the Butte mines during its heyday as a world class mining center. They went to the Berkely Pit, which was the largest truck-operated open pit copper mine in the U.S. until 1982. The Trailblazers saw the Granite Mountain Memorial, an open air plaza dedicated to the 168 men killed in hardrock mining's worst disaster.

The Trailblazers also enjoyed seeing Our Lady of the Rockies, a 90- foot statue sitting atop the continental divide, which is 8,510 feet above sea level, overlooking Butte.

When the group arrived in Helena, Montana, they were met by a tour guide and toured the State Capitol, went to the House of Respresentatives where they viewed Charles M. Russell's famed mural "Lewis and Clark Meeting Indians at Ross Hole." They toured St. Helena Cathedral. This cathedral is modeled after the Votive Church in Vienna, Austria, and a cathedral in Cologne, Germany. The cathedral is a magnificent addition to its Rocky Mountain setting. It has irreplaceable stained glass windows, beautiful paints and an imported white marble alter. The group viewed a historic gold collection in the downtown area at the Norwest Bank of Montana and toured the Mackay Gallery of Charles M. Russell Art. Helena was known as the City of Gold and was a mining boom town in 1864.

In Cheyenne, Wyoming, the tour guide took them to the State Capitol, through the historical part of the city, to the F. E. Warren Air Force Base and a museum.

The group enjoyed going to the Myriad Botanical Garden and seeing the State Capitol in Oklahoma City.

Devotionals were given on the bus on Sunday mornings by Mary Lou Cottingham and Johnnie Estes and prayer by Billie Ridling. Singing of hymns was led by Lorena Ford.

Those making the trip from Prescot were tour director Sybil Sherman, Bobbie Gautsche, Ann Wilson, Virginia Easterling, James and Ann Oliver, Marie Eley, Mariam Purtle, W.J. and Blanche Oliver, Billie Ridling and Mary Lou Cottingham.

W.E. McFarland of Emmet also went.

Going from Ashdown were Sarah Ward, Mary Moore, Johnnie Estes, Lorena Ford, Mary Sue Mills, Ollie Mae Waren and Virginia Latimer.

From Texarkana Alma Brewer, Frances Lee McGinnis and Verna Marie Stutsman also went.

Len and Winnie Harrell and Nelle Thomason of Hampton went.

Scott Langley and Mildred Buffaloe of Magnolia went on the trip.

Others going were Mary Frances Moore and Joe Morgan of Stephens; Norma Hansford of Star City; Eleanor Yarling of Universal City, Texas; Vance Thompson of Shreveport, La.; and Peggy Butrick and Sue Cornwell of Summitt, Miss.