Perhaps it was the splendid evening of cool temperatures and
only a whisk of a breeze. Maybe it
was the close proximity to Rapid City and a good speaker with a passion for his
subject. It could have been our
fascination with space and exploration. Or it might have been all of the above.
Whatever the reasons, it was likely a record-setting crowd
of hikers that surrounded the historic Stratobowl near Mount Rushmore west of
Rapid City last night (9/8/12) for the September Moon Walk sponsored by the
U.S. Forest Service.
Coordinator Amy Ballard said it was a fantastic turnout.
As the group assembled along a Forest Service road adjacent
to Mount Rushmore Road, Amy reminded the group that the Black Hills National
Forest is unique. Not just for the
Stratobowl, where high altitude balloons lifted off in 1934 and 1935 and moved
man farther along in our exploration of space, but for some other powerful – if
less flamboyant reasons.
First, she reminded the assembled group that more timber is
cut in the Black Hills than in any other national forest. Secondly, more cattle graze on the Black Hills National Forest than
graze on any other.
After a few housekeeping announcement, Amy introduced the
crowd to Arley Fadness, a retired Lutheran minister, whose interest in flight
may well be tracked back to the years even before he went to seminary. A native of Bristol, South Dakota,
Fadness worked for Boeing while it was developing and producing the Bomarc
Missiles back in the 1950’s and 1960’s.
Eventually, Fadness completed seminary work and ministered in several
communities across eastern South Dakota and in Minnesota. He retired as pastor in Mankotao,
Minnesota, and now lives in
Custer, where has more time to pursue his passion for flight and writing. He also does a bit of pastoring,
filling in most recently at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Spearfish.
After about a 45-minute trek along a two-path road to the
northwest, the group arrived at the rim overlooking the Stratobowl.
“We are standing by a national treasure,” Fadness told the
assembled group.
“This big round depression in the earth was and is like an
ampitheatre waiting for the call of history.” You'll find a gallery of photographs from this event in our Moon Walk Gallery.
Fadness outlined the significant liftoffs from the site,
including both Explorer I and Explorer II. Explorer II set an altitude record of 75,395 feet. Fadness then
gave highlights about subsequent flights that emanated from what used to be
known as “Moonlight Valley” before the Explorer flights took place. That was back in the days when the
Bonanza Bar Mining Company was operating in the vicinity in the 1890’s and into
the early Twentieth Century.
While the Army Air Corps was apparently a bit reluctant
initially to get involved with the 1934 Explorer flight, they finally endorsed
the endeavor – but they were unable to allocate enough funds to make it happen.
That’s when proponents approached the National Geographic
Society, which along with Kodak and other private firms, provided funding for
the event.
Fadness told how the selection of the site near Rapid City
was not a slam-dunk. There
were towns like North Platte, Nebraska; Lander, Wyoming; Denver, and other communities that were
anxious to have the event take place near their hometowns.
In the end, Rapid City won out.
A virtual village popped up in the valley, and national
publicity began to grow.
For an excellent detailed description of the Explorer I and
II flights written by Gregory Kennedy, follow this link to Stratocat.
And for another evening of fun and history, join us for the October Moon Walk to the Friendship Tower on Mount Roosevelt just north of Deadwood. It'll be October 6 at 7:00 p.m.
And for another evening of fun and history, join us for the October Moon Walk to the Friendship Tower on Mount Roosevelt just north of Deadwood. It'll be October 6 at 7:00 p.m.
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