| The trail leads first to Fort Laramie, the best-known | | | | you'll dine appropriately on buffalo steak! |
| milepost on the Oregon Trail. Wagon wheel ruts are | | | | Kevin Costner's Tatanka ("buffalo" in the Lakota |
| still visible in nearby Guernsey, mute testimony to the | | | | language), and historic Deadwood. The Black Hills were |
| thousands of emigrants who carried their hopes and | | | | the sacred Paha Sapa of the Sioux, the last Native |
| ambitions westward over a hundred years ago. The | | | | tribe to submit to the United States government in the |
| living history exhibits and interpretive tour of the fort | | | | late 19th century. The tribes were completely |
| provide a deeper understanding of both the westward | | | | dependent on the buffalo for subsistence, and with it's |
| expansion movement and the Native Americans who | | | | demise came their own. Fortunately, the buffalo |
| staked their lives on preventing it. Tonight enjoy an | | | | (scientific name: Bison Bison) survived, and are today |
| authentic Oregon Trail cookout served in the shadow | | | | no longer endangered. The Sioux have also recovered |
| of one of the trail's most distinguished landmarks, | | | | and attendees will learn about their buffalo culture at |
| Chimney Rock. Following dinner participants sing songs | | | | Tatanka: Story of the Bison near Deadwood. |
| around the campfire and reflect on the spirit of the | | | | Centerpiece of the attraction is a larger-than-life |
| pioneers who passed this way on their westward | | | | bronze sculpture featuring 14 bison being pursued by 3 |
| journey. | | | | Native American riders. An Educational Center depicts |
| On the way to the Black Hills, the sacred Paha Sapa | | | | the story of bison and man through interactive exhibits. |
| of the Sioux, visit Fort Robinson, a strategically located | | | | Visitors will visit authentic tipis interpreted by a Lakota |
| military and Indian agency during the final Indian Wars, | | | | Native and gain a unique snapshot of Indian life as it |
| where Crazy Horse breathed his last. After lunch in | | | | was during the height of the Buffalo Culture around the |
| the "commissary" (your first opportunity to savor | | | | year 1840. |
| buffalo burgers), explore the fort's historic points of | | | | Like all Vanishing Trails Expeditions, the Old West Trail |
| interest. Next visit the outstanding Museum of the Fur | | | | features living history, special speakers and events, |
| Trade which explains the importance and influence of | | | | authentic meals, interpretive centers, historic sites and |
| this trade on the area. After settling in to your home | | | | other activities specifically related to the theme of the |
| for the next two nights in Rapid City, attend the | | | | tour. These programs allow participants to experience |
| awe-inspiring evening lighting ceremony at Mount | | | | first-hand the sites where the pivotal events of the |
| Rushmore, the Shrine of Democracy. | | | | history of the West actually took place. |
| On the second day in Rapid City, visit the Stav Kirke, | | | | Shebby Lee Tours' Vanishing Trails Expeditions |
| an exact replica of an 800-year-old church in Borgund, | | | | honoring America's westward expansion movement |
| Norway, before entering the Black Hills National Forest | | | | were introduced in 1993 with the Oregon Trail, and |
| (which encompasses over 1.2 million acres of western | | | | have grown to include the Lewis & Clark Trail, Teddy |
| South Dakota). Pay a second visit to Mount Rushmore | | | | Roosevelt's Dakota, Custer's Trail, Santa Fe Trail, |
| for daytime photos, and "dine with the Presidents" in | | | | American Legacy, Nez Perce Trail, Nevada's Living |
| the new Buffalo Cafeteria. In the afternoon visit nearby | | | | Ghost Towns, Siouxland: the Dakota Conflict, and |
| Crazy Horse Monument, the still-unfinished mountain | | | | Bleeding Kansas: Where the Civil War Began. |
| carving dedicated to Native Americans, and Custer | | | | All programs are led by tour directors carefully trained |
| State Park, one of the largest state parks in the | | | | not only in the nuts and bolts of leading a group tour, |
| country, where something special awaits you: an | | | | but in the historical background for every tour. They |
| open-air jeep ride through scenic Custer State Park in | | | | conduct the onboard discussions, provide necessary |
| search of the buffalo and other wildlife that roam free | | | | information for every stop and activity, and are there |
| in the Hills. Dinner tonight is at the State Game Lodge, | | | | to augment the primary interpreters and re-enactors |
| summer White House to two US Presidents - where | | | | who make the subject come alive. |