Sun Thursday . South Dakota

Welcome to a sacred, blessed, and beautiful place where Red Cloud, Crazy Horse, and Sitting Bull lived and prayed. Just north of Sturgis but towering over the terrain, is the majestic Bear's Butte. I lived in Sturgis for the better part of last summer. After work I would often drive to Bear's Butte at sunset and watch the shadows cross the golden plains and up the the butte. One day I hiked up top and was greeted by a soaring eagle and a First Nation group of tourists from a reservation in Nebraska. They told me they and their families have been coming here for generations. They camp at the foot of the tiny mountain for days, pray and leave prayer rags on the trees in an offering to their loved ones past. And just when I thought that was a special moment, they formed a circle and sang. I stood off to the side, thought of my family, and offered my own offerings of thanks. I did not know this community then. But standing upon Bear's Butte surrounded by song and sun, I knew there were undiscovered beauty and blessings waiting beyond tomorrow's horizon.