Thursday, September 21, 2017

We have two beautiful days in our 4 remaining days here, so we went to Belle Fourche to geo-cache and see some historic sites.  Belle Fourche was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spain in 1763.  The fur tappers in this area at that time were Frenchmen, and they pronounced Fourche, as 'Four shay'.  The residents of Belle Fourche today, pronounce it, 'Fooosh'.  I am making a point of it, because we had a discussion with our new friends back in Wittenberg, and he laughed at me when I pronounced it the French way.  So, Dennis and Ruth, I think I won this round!  We gathered this information from a volunteer at the John Spaulding Cabin, located on the grounds of the visitor center in Belle Fourche.  A geo-cache brought us to this cabin, and now for the history on that.  We knew John Spaulding came from Wisconsin, but when I inquired about the location in Wisconsin, I was very surprised to learn that he was born in 1849  in Bad Axe (now Vernon) County, Wisconsin.  I was also born in Vernon County!  John had a best friend that was a Winnebago Indian, and he taught John how to trap, hunt, and tan hides.  By the early 1870's John moved westward and settled in the Redwater Valley, where he built his own log home.  He served as a scout in that area, and was called 'Buckskin Johnny', because he always wore his buckskin clothing.  That cabin is the one that now stands on the grounds of the visitor center.  They have a wonderful museum at the visitor center, so after seeing what was all there, we decided to come back on Saturday, as it is going to rain that day.  I noticed someone's name on the register prior to my signing, and they were from Beaver Dam, WI.  There was also a couple from DeForest there, and a young couple came in from Lake Mills.  What a gathering!  What are the chances of all of us, being from some place in WI, to be at the visitor center at the same time.  The volunteer just smiled and said it warmed his heart to hear the stories.  We were now behind schedule for geo-caching, so we got most of them in Belle Fourche, and drove down to Spearfish and will return there tomorrow.

                                                       This is John Spaulding's cabin.

The geographic center of the United States, used to be in Lebanon, Kansas.  With the addition of Alaska and Hawaii, the geographic center moved to about 20 miles north of Belle Fourche. 

This was a tricky geo-cache, that we found today.  There is a piece of paper (log sheet) inside the metal tube in the middle that we geo-cachers need to sign with our handle.  We found 22 caches today, but hope to do better tomorrow.  We shouldn't run into anyone 'for conversation'.