Western Tour (Aug 1-10, 1998)
We can see 4 great American presidents in Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota. Their eyes are verticaly same size with
our height. They are said to have achieved the most important things for civilization such as the giant facial figures showes on the rock.
There is Crazy Horse little far from the Mount Rushmore. He was a leader of Lakota, which is one tribe of native Americans. Recently American come to
have a better opinion historicaly of native Amrican. They call them native American instead of Indian.
Many famous actors and actresses of western movies stayed this hotel. It is just like in the western era.
Deadwood is a real western era's town. The Franklin Hotel is also in Deadwood. The town remains traditional shops and casinos besides oldfashioned
buildings of the western time.
Have you ever seen this mountain somehow ? Maybe you have seen it in some SF movie. I don't know the movie's title in English, but the movie is very famous
in Japan, too. If you remember the movie, would you like to please write on our e-mail?
The Devils Tower is isolated in desolate plain. It has many mysterious vertical stripes, which was thought the scar of a huge bear's scratching
by native American.
There live many prairie dogs around the Devils Tower. They dig to make a very long and deep tunnel, which is thier house.
But it causes some trouble because it catches and wounds a domestic animal.
Yellowstone has been called by native American for the rock color is yellow, and nowadays it is the name of the area.
A river streams between yellow rocks. The river gathers the water from hot springs, but it isn't hot.
The yellowstone National Park spreads Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana.
This hot spring spouts very highly to the heaven around every one hour. We see 500 years old water, because it takes 500 years for the water
to soak into rock and reach a crater bottom.
This is Grand Teton National Park. We are standing in front of Jackson Lake. Jackson Lake's water is the water flown into from Yellowston's hotsprings.
But the weather is so cool that it lowers the water's temperature as fish lives there. The water is clean and glitters like a mirror. We see many tiny fish.
The behind mountain is called Teton Range. The Teton Range rose through sporadic earthquake. The front valley floor filled with green is called Jackson Hole.
The Jackson Hole subsided in the opposite direction through the earthquake. The Teton Range and the Jackson Hole moved like giant trap doors.
The Grand Teton's valley floor is rich in soil, so that many kinds of plants grow and many animals live there. Near there is the reserve for elk.
I feel that America is basicly a Christian country. Even in the Western pioneer era, they already had thier church like this picture.
Around the Grand Teton there are many marmots, which are a kind of mouse but bigger than it. They come to beg food for us as soon as they find us.
We enjoyed the Western life. We joined Bar-T-5 tour, which was started in 1854 by Nick. Nick was adopted by Indian and live with them.
Two powerful horses pull our covered wagon around 20 people ride in.
This is the Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah. The name came from Ebenezer Bryce. He came here to live and harvest timber in 1875.
The people ,who lived near his home, called the canyon Bryce's Canyon. The Bryce Canyon was under the water millions of years ago. At that time a great seaway
desopsited verious sediments there and their remnants form the oldest and lowest gray-brown rocks at Bryce Canyon. Then later rivers and streams carried and remained
iron-rich, limy sediments there and the sediments became the reddish-pink rocks and newer and upper at Bryce Canyon. And at last they were uplifted, began to dry and
weather.
We walked down one of the trails. It is about 2,000 feet deep. We were very impressed at the beautiful, huge read cliff and the clean bluest sky in our life.
There looks desolated but there is many lives. In the lower canyon high trees grow and small animals live there.
Top Page
Mount Rushmore
Crazy Horse
The Historic Franklin Hotel
Deadwood
Devils Tower
Devils Tower
Prairie Dog
Prairie Dog
Prairie Dog
Yellowstone
Hot spring (Yellowstone)
Geyser (Yellowstone)
Geyser (Yellowstone)
Grand Teton
Grand Teton
Grand Teton
Grand Teton
Marmot
Jackson Hole
Jackson Hole
Jackson Hole
Bryce Canyon
Bryce Canyon
Bryce Canyon
Squirrel
Zion
Zion
Monument Valley
Monument Valley
Monument Valley
Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon
Las Vegas