Salt Lake City Views

Slides from 1963

 

Custer’s Last Stand

Located in southeastern Montana, Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument memorializes the site of the Battle of the Little Bighorn which took place on June 25-26, 1876.

 

Photo taken by Jean E. Straatmeyer June 26, 2012

It was an overwhelming victory for the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes led by Crazy Horse, Chief Gall and inspired by the visions of Sitting Bull.

 

Photo from 2012

The US 7^th Cavalry, including the Custer Battalion led by George Armstrong Custer, suffered a severe defeat.





35 mm slide by Gene Straatmeyer
Circa 1966-1969

 

The US casualty count was 268 dead and 55 injured.

The Native Americans have never determined exact statistics, but a reasonable guess is 136 dead and 160 wounded.



Photo from 2012

Devils Tower in 1966

We were young.
          Going West.
                    Exploring new vistas.  
                              Enjoying God's creation in Wyoming.
                                 

Geologists agree that Devils Tower was formed by the intrusion of igneous material, but they cannot agree on exactly how that process took place. Geologists Carpenter and Russell studied Devils Tower in the late 19th century and came to the conclusion that the Tower was formed by an igneous intrusion. Later geologists searched for further explanations. Several geologists believe the molten rock comprising the Tower might not have surfaced; other researchers are convinced the tower is all that remains of what once was a large explosive volcano.

 

35mm photo by H. Gene Straatmeyer

 This is a view of the west face of the tower.

35mm photo by H. Gene Straatmeyer

We walked all around this huge monolith. This is the East face.

Devils Tower in geological context. The oval-shaped mesa around the Tower suggests the old volcano's shape. The red rock is the Permian-Triassic Spearfish Formation, and above that is the younger, white Gypsum Springs Formation. Aerial photo, 2010.

 

Thanks to Wikipedia for the information and the aerial shot above.

"Old Faithful"

1966

 

 

I remember waiting, waiting, waiting for this amazing scene.

 

 



Mt. Rushmore - 44 years of change

In the year 1967 our family took a trip to Mount Rushmore in the South Dakota Black Hills.

In the year 2010, we were privileged to take our two youngest granddaughters to see the same sight.

The only changes I see are a few additional trees. But the build-up of tourist activities is HUGE!

I would even say - overwhelming!


This is where they "herd" the tourists along the way to the viewing station.

 A buffalo - just in case any tourist misses the live ones down the road.

Above, is a huge picture of one of the presidential noses. There is a large gallery showing the history of Mt. Rushmore.

This is a depiction of buffalo hide drawings on the wall of a saloon.

From Iowa to Alaska in 1970

  

In 1970 we began our new life in Fairbanks, Alaska.

We left a beautiful open country setting in Iowa for a great adventure in North Country.

Colfax Center Presbyterian Church, cemetery and manse in 1970.

It is strange how odd furniture looks 
in the open air instead of in its place in the house.



Here, Cindee had suffered a bee sting

on the back of her leg and the only mirror available

to check it out was sitting on the ground beside the church.

 

 

We had a huge auction sale where folks came from miles around to get a glimpse of our stuff. We sold as much as we could and sent the rest by moving van. We waited many weeks for that van to finally reach Fairbanks.

We made the trip in a 2-door Ford LTD. We thought it would be safer for our kids than a 4-door. That was before seat belts, so our two girls each picked a side in the back seat while Mike bounced back and forth, many times stretching out on the back ledge. We traveled slowly and carefully on those 1100 miles of gravel roads.

Eventually, after ten days of travel, on September 29, 1970, we drove into Fairbanks. There was snow on the streets, the lawns, the houses and everywhere. We didn’t see the bare ground or the streets again until perhaps April. These pictures show how the snow piles up higher and higher. In those days, it was unheard of to have a wind storm or blizzard in Fairbanks.

The church (instead of being in the open country) was located right in the heart of the city. We spent nearly eight years learning to love Alaska so much that when we left, we said we’d be back.

 

And we were! It took twelve years.

The Julien Dubuque Monument

On one of our many trips to Dubuque, Iowa

this picture was captured.

1965

 

 

The Julien Dubuque Monument stands on the edge of the bluff above Catfish Creek in the Mines of Spain Recreation Area.

 

Julien Dubuque  married Potosa, daughter of Peosta, the chief of the Mesquakie Indians. Dubuque died in March of 1810 and when he died the Mesquakie buried him with tribal honors beneath a log mausoleum at the site of the current monument. The Julien Dubuque monument was built in 1897 and sits high above the Mississippi River. It overlooks the Mines of Spain property in the town that would eventually bear his name.

The information above was gleaned from the City of Dubuque website:

http://www.cityofdubuque.org/index.aspx?NID=706

Christmas Morning

From time to time I like to go back to look at and share great shots from our old 35mm slides.

Remember "Chatty Cathy?"
The year was probably Christmas, 1964.