American Grit in the Badlands | History Traveler Episode 78
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- čas přidán 16. 08. 2020
- Anyone who has visiting the Badlands of South Dakota can attest to how inhospitable and rugged the country can be. Yet many throughout history have called this place home. We're exploring the history of this area in one of the most scenic episodes that we've ever shot. Enjoy!
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My Grandfather's homestead overlooked the Badlands of North Dakota, between Medora and Sentinel Butte. They settled there about the same time as the Brown Homestead was built. My father tended sheep in the coulees there. The family left in 1925, after a particularly harsh winter. My father was just 15, but the Badlands remained an important part of his identity for his whole life.
Interesting! Thanks for sharing that 👍🏻
My great-grandma Berg (my Mom's grandma) lived in a soddy when she was a girl in North Dakota. I guess they couldn't make a go of it there and they moved to Wisconsin. Locusts, drought, disease, prairie fires, there was so much that could go wrong. Settlers were gamblers, willing to risk everything on one season's crop. -- One thing that isnt talked about much: Some of them went insane. Imagine living in the East where trees were everywhere and then moving to a treeless prairie. Nothing but rolling grass as high as your knee or more. Miles and miles of wind-blown grass. Like waves in the ocean. No neighbors for 50 miles maybe, if you were one of the first to settle a region. Deprived of stimulation, time took it's toll. Some of them went stark raving nuts.
Interesting! I don't know how anybody made it there. Pretty harsh country.
The beauty of that part of the country cannot be captured on film.
100% agree
No amount of video footage can capture the roughness of the bad lands. I highly recommend a personal visit for anyone if you ever get a chance. Well done video and thanks for the memories of my trip.
Totally agree. Thanks!
Criss crossed this country for 3 decades and 'The Dakotas', is one of my favorite places on the map.
Not just for how rugged and beautiful it is but, also for the diverse people who inhabited those areas and made it home, before and after Manifest Destiny.
Completely agree! 🇺🇸
I love South Dakota from the corn palace to the bad lands to deadwood and the history of wild bill and the monument of crazy horse
I actually did videos on ALL of those places. More in the coming weeks :)
Used to drive by it everyday when I worked out there for 2 summers.
Awesome place..!
It sure is! Loved my time out there.
amazing footage for an amazing history. Thank you so much from France
Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for watching!
The Badlands are amazing! I've been there and it seemed almost like desert country -- very dry and HOT in the middle of June. I loved the visit immensely! And the sodhouse is unbelievable. To think that families actually lived in these blew my mind!
Totally agree! I loved it there. Seemed like I was on another planet.
You do such beautiful work. Thanks!
Thank you so much! I appreciate that. It helps to have scenic places like this to shoot :)
Very nice. Thanks to you and your family for taking some time out of your vacation to share this. Stay safe.
Thanks! Glad that you enjoyed it. Got a few more from SD in the coming weeks.
Here in Australia it reminds me a bit of Coober Pedy in South Australia, where they mine opals and a lot of the population live under the ground due to the heat. Love your stuff 👍
Interesting! I’d actually like to see that.
Thanks for sharing! Great video and content!
Thanks for watching! Appreciate the kind words.
My husband and I visited the Badlands many years ago, it was like another planet! Thank you for the memories. ☺️
Cattle ranchers used to say about places like this "it's a heck of a place to loose a calf".
Ha! I believe it.
Awesome place, was there in 2004 with two teenage sons. Drove into Badlands from Wall,SD. First thing we encounter is a herd of buffalo coming down the road, we were the only car, I stopped and the herd walked right by us. Drove thru Badlands into Lakota Sioux reservation a place all should see. Was running out of gas in the Trailblazer had to drive 50 miles to a gas station then drive thru the Grasslands Park up into Custer and the Black Hills. Got to get back out there.
It really is an amazing place. I was actually going to do a few videos on the Pine Ridge Reservation but because of covid, the border was closed and I couldn't get in. Next time!
The History Underground
Too bad, very depressing to see how they are living, an eye opener for me. 😰
That is one hell of a camera you've got there! Love the details. I swear by watching a lot of these videos I feel like I'm right there! I love seeing and learning about historic places all over the country/world. If you think about it, people from history walked right where you were. Great video as always!
Glad you enjoy it! Yeah, thinking about the experiences of some of these people in the past really makes the history come alive. Thanks!
Simply stunning. Can’t wait to save me time at work and take a beautiful vacation across the U.S.
This would definitely be worth stopping to see. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The History Underground love American history, thank you!
Great vid as always JD..."theyve got the Plague..so come getcha some of that." 😂😂😂...love it. Keep it up brother- thank you!
Ha! Corona ain't got nothing.
We love the Badlands and that area....Thanks for the visit...Beautiful....
Glad that you enjoyed it 🙂
Aside from being a surprisingly interesting topic, your video production is awesome. Great shots. Great views. Great job!
Much appreciated! Thanks for watching :)
Thanks for another great video. Love your enthusiasm and being a lover of history. Plz, keep it up.
Thank you! Will do! Thanks for watching and feel free to share out a video or two from time to time if one really catches your eye.
Very interesting.Loved seeing the dugout house. Laura Ingalls Wilder talks about living in one in her books. Thank you again.
I'm near Sioux Falls, we had to go to Rapid City last year to pick something up and I got to see the Badlands from the road. Even from there they were really impressive. We didn't have the time to explore there but we did go through the Black Hills, just as impressive.
I had forgotten this video! Wow! It really pays to go back and watch things again! (I may or may not be guilty of binge watching your channel) *intervention not needed* this is so good for me
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I'm glad you are traveling and showing our history of South Dakota. Keep it up!
Thanks! I love your state. Got some more videos forthcoming. Feel free to share them if you catch one or two that you like :)
I will and thank you!
That was awesome scenery. Looks a little like Bryce and Zion canyons. I know Teddy Roosevelt was in South Dakota so I may have just given a teaser for a future video. Laura Ingalls lived in a dugout in Minnesota. Happy Trails.
Really want to get up to ND and see Teddy Roosevelt National Park at some point. Just couldn't swing it on this trip.
@@TheHistoryUnderground Yes any of the National Parks are worth it. I thought TR was in the Badlands but I guess he was all over the Territory.
Fascinating and incredible adventure as you journey across America. I’m inspired by your travels. I wish you the best and safe travel with your family. 🚒🚒🚒🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Thank you so much! Glad that you're enjoying it. Thanks for watching!
Great video! I appreciate all the work you do for your videos! We have an area of CA that is as rugged but not as beautiful as the badlands. Seeing those Mountain Sheep is sure something! Thank you!
Thanks! Glad that you enjoyed it. I need to get out to California one of these days.
I appreciate this video. Some of my ancestors were among the first settlers in North Dakota. I’d never seen the inside of a sod house before.
Glad that it connected with you. Those sod houses were pretty cool structures.
Thankyou for Making this video I only went past the badlands we are crossing the United States at that time 1975 I am so glad I got to see that thank you for filming
Thank you History Underground. Those houses were tornado resistant too I believe. I have never seen one in details as you portrayed here, so excellent job and thank you! Great channel and my favorite for history...
Your editing is always spot on. Amazing production
Ive actually met him before
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My wife and I have visited the Badlands National Park three times since 2014. Every visit is a NEW adventure! Outstanding video!!!
Thanks! Glad that you enjoyed it. I hope to go back at some point and explore the parts that I didn't see.
I was waiting for R2 and C3pO to roll around a corner as you were walking around. Lol
😅
This was fascinating! The scenery from the hike was beautiful. I loved seeing the homestead with the furnishings especially the old wrought iron bed with the handmade quilt. They were very tough people!!
Excellent!!! THIS KIND OF STUFF EXCITES ME . I loved every minute of this video. I love to hike and love old homesteads. This homestead was top notch. The badlands are so lovely!! I want to jump in the car and head that direction. Thankyou so much History Underground 🤠🙋♀️
Glad you enjoyed it! It really is a unique place.
I just want to say that I really enjoy your videos. They are well produced, and very informative. Keep up the great work.
Thank you very much!
Wow. Just wow. What views!!! Amazing land. Your videos are always great to see. Fantastic job. Keep em coming.
Thank you very much! Appreciate that. It's definitely some scenic country.
I love your channel. Thank you so much for the education!
Great film again. I liked the sod house and prariedog neighbors. Would never do that hike.
Ha! Thanks. Glad that you enjoyed it and that I could do the hike for you :)
I've been lucky enough to travel across the badlands a few times on my motorcycle, really interesting place..good video
Glad you enjoyed it! It's quite the place. Thanks for watching.
Several years ago I did the same thing but in the Badlands around Abanilla, Spain. Amazing experience exploring the old cave houses and walking around such a beautiful place. Looks identical.
Great video it must be very gratifying to see all of these great places and the main temperature under the ground is 55° they have a abandoned mining town in the deserts of Australia a whole City Underground
Very interesting. Glad you made up that ladder one handed in one piece. Be safe, later...
Ha! Let me tell you, that thing was shaky as heck.
I love your stuff man! Super knowledgeable and tells a more human history lesson. I was wondering if you ever looked into some of the pirate history in America. I’ve always heard different stories but I was wondering if I could get your take on a lot of the interesting history of the pirate days!!! Keep it up man!
Thanks! Glad to hear that the videos are connecting. I'll have to do some digging on that pirate stuff. That's well outside of my wheelhouse.
Thanks to you I’m getting to see n learn about our country . This was fascinating. I read some of the comments n one said many would go a little Coo Coo living like that, I know I would. I’ve heard of the Bad Lands now I’ve seen it . Love every minute of this video. Thanks ♥️♥️♥️👍👍👍👍😊
With no trees around I wonder how they got wood for their house. I love your show.
They probably used Buffalo chips
Absolutely gorgeous! Thank-you!
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That was fascinating looked like an awesome adventure. Its hard to compare our lives now to how hard they must of had it 3 or 4 generations ago.
Exactly. Definitely gives you more respect for those people.
Looks like where one of those "I shouldn't be alive" episodes was filmed. It's amazing some of the places people set up a homestead.
Check out Key's Ranch in Joshua Tree National Park if you ever get out that way. Much the same vibe as the homestead you visited.
Thanks! I certainly check that out.
Stunning environment! Thank you very much for sharing this with us :)
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When me and my parents when we used to travel we got to see the badlands we saw mules no long horn sheep and there was something we learn while there those wagon trains went thru the badlands a few got pretty badly damaged and still there left to rot and many lost there lives due to the having to be rugged hard core but was a good experience for me personally.
I just stumbled upon your channel. How grateful am I !!!!! It is so well done. You are articulate and pleasant to listen to! My son is a history teacher for special ed kids and he thoroughly enjoys also. Thank you !!
Wow, thank you! That really does mean a lot. Tell you son thank you as well. History teachers and students are the exact reason why I started this channel in the first place.
That is an interesting area for a history traveler. Wounded Knee is on the back side of the Badlands National Park and the Minuteman Missle National Site is right in that little area.
Funny story. I was planning on going to both of those places. The missile site was closed down due the pandemic and I was turned away at the border of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation for the very same reason. So those will have to wait for a future trip.
That was an awesome video. I have been through there on a motorcycle when I was with a Christian Motorcyle Ministry Hellfighters when we would work the annual Sturgis Rally. Never had the time to get off the bike for a walk around so thanks for sharing your adventure.
Can you imagine the smell of burning Buffalo chips inside the dugout for cooking or for heat in the winter time....ewwww!
Definitely some hard living out there. I'd much rather enjoy it in 2020 than in 1890, that's for sure.
Your Presentation/Production is top notch. Enjoyed all your videos...
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I am soooo enjoying your channel!!! Hubby will even watch with me and he’s not a History nerd like I am...lol Your content is awesome! Please keep making these. This Grandma is History traveling through your eyes and loving every minute
Awesome! Thank you! Glad that you all are enjoying the content :)
Thanks Again Sir great video. I love History and what it teaches.
Tough doesn't begin to describe those people! Place looks like you said something from another planet. Speaking of, didn't NASA use some of the area for testing the Lunar and Mars rovers?
That hike was going to be hard but I knew well worth it and it was. Wow!!!!
As for the prairie dog, nah, it wasn't white, just bleached from the sun! (LOL just kidding)
Can't wait until the next video. Wow!
It really is an amazing place. I'm not sure about the NASA stuff. I thought that testing was done more in the southwest, but I could be wrong. Thanks for watching!
@@TheHistoryUnderground I recall something about Death Valley.
@@TheHistoryUnderground I could be wrong too but it looks like a different place for sure.
That was so interesting... thank-you for that great visit to the Badlands!
Another great video. We love the Badlands for hiking (recognized the trail) and wildlife and nature and also history, so this one appeals on multiple levels. Thanks for posting.
No wonder the French fur traders called it les mauvaises terres!
Badass country for sure...
Pretty crazy place for sure. I felt like I was on another planet.
I think they call them Badlands because they're hard to cross and impossible to farm.
That Brown
Homestead was very interesting thank you
Loved all of this video!! ❤️ Thanks, J.D.!!
Part of my homelands...thank you...
Haha I thought Star Wars aswell!
Ha! Glad that I wasn't the only one.
That was interesting. I've never seen the inside of a sod house. Pretty neat. Thanks.
Glad you enjoyed it. Kind of cool to see how they hacked it out in that part of the country.
Awesome video as always thanks for taking me along
Glad you enjoyed
Thanks for sharing really enjoyed the vlog as i have a disability and this adventure would be impossible for me so I get to go with you and get to see and learn things otherwise impossible safe travels
Beautiful country❤️🇺🇸. Looking forward to your next stop.
It really is! Thanks!
Enjoyed your video a lot. I lived in Rapid City in 1975 and always loved this part of the country. It has such raw beauty
Glad you enjoyed it. It really is like being in another world when you're walking among those formations.
If you were there in 1975 its possible some of the old people were kids out there in the early 1900s
My mother and father would be 100 yrs old. Both grand fathers were farmers they knew what hard work was. My mother's father was born in Nebraska in a dug out.
If I ever get back to South Dakota, my first stop will be The Badlands.
Unfortunately, I couldn't make the climb as I am terrified of heights but I must say that the scenery was awesome. I have only ever heard references to the badlands in movies or books, but now, even though I wasn't there physically, I can honestly say i have now seen it.
Awesome! So glad that I was able to share it. Thanks!
absolutely stunning scenery and a lot of history with that amazing home Thankyou
Glad you enjoyed it
The badlands up near Drumheller Alberta are similar. But they have more wind erosion and dinosaur bones
Are you going to the Black hills next? Would love to see Custer's Last Stand!
I do get into the Black Hills but Custer’s Last Stand was actually out in Montana (which many get confused by because so many things in western South Dakota are named for Custer). Hope to get out there someday.
Come up to western North Dakota to the badlands...Theodore Roosevelt National Park...and Fort Union at the confluence of Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers
I would love to get up to ND sometime. That’s one state that I’ve never been to.
One of the best libraries I had been in on Civil War diaries and historical hand records was in Sunnyvale Calif. Not of course to be compared w. Huntington Beach, which I would have loved
to have seen. I suppose that in the S. and E. there are many such libraries. Our fam. did histories...one included a woman's letters near or at end of Civil War.. Woman in the S. of course
married, was in a "pall of information", her husband being a timid man she saddled the horse (a decent one) and rode into town, to find out what was happening, had to jump a Yank barricade to
get there. I love to read the old historical letters anywhere available.
My grandfather spent many hours combing the badlands looking for Indian relics not to mention agates precious rocks he was a farmer not too far from the badlands he took my brother with him got it on film walking those hills nice memory ! Of course they never had a ladder to climb those rocks back in those days lol. Might add those formations have dulled a bit in time formations were a lot more sharper in contrast
Very well done J. D. Now we know why that area is called "The Badlands."
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I would love to see you do some videos in New Mexico! Lots of history here! Great video!
Definitely want to get to Nee Mexico. I had some plans but the ol’ Covid shut it down.
@@TheHistoryUnderground hopefully it will clear up soon and you can get here.
Great job, as usual- JD. Your pack looks a lot like a Direct Action pack. Nice med kit too, BTW. Safe travels.
Thanks! The pack is a 72 hour pack from 5.11. The med kit is one that I put together that has about everything that you'd need to patch up everything from a minor scratch to a gunshot wound :)
@@TheHistoryUnderground Well let's hope it doesn't come to that, shall we? lol
Bill D. in Iowa 😅
Great job bro. Enjoyed it.
Great video. we were there in 2006, didn't even know about it till someone in Wall, SD told us there were buffalo there. crazy cool place.
Very much so. Wall is an interesting place as well. Glad that you enjoyed it!
Wow. And some of us think we have it tough. Great video, really fascinating.
We don't have anything on the people who lived in that part of the country.
Did you have to go back down those wooden ladders? I love the archaeology of all those layers (stripes).
Yep, sure did. And yes, the layers in the Badlands are really amazing to see.
@Red pill Radio - Notch Trail
Red pill Radio - Yep!
Really enjoyed thanks
This was another amazing vid and I really enjoyed it so much and thank you for Sharing your amazing videos and keep up the great work and much love from England 🏴🏴
Thank you so much 😁
The History Underground your welcome and I love your videos
Thanks again for yet another great video..your go-pro work is spot on..I guess that is what you use..you teach us all more than we learned in school..and I am an old guy hehe...keep up the great work..watch out for snakes..eekk..Bob...
Ha! Thanks. Glad that you enjoyed it. It's quite the place.
Another wonderful video...
Rabbits and prairie dog die off was happening in the west due to infection. During covid it was mainly rabbits. They are coming back now, but were thinning.
Really cool video. Didn't see much water around. Looks very arid out there
Very much. And the water that I did see looked nasty as heck.
I am the Museum Program Coordinator for the Model T Museum in Richmond, IN! Right there at 15:26, you saw a 1920's Model T Roadster! Next time you come through Indiana, check us out and I'll give you the tour of the only Model T Ford Museum in the world!
Oh my gosh, I would love that! My knowledge base of cars is pretty minimal so I'd love to learn more. Can I drive one? lol
@@TheHistoryUnderground Thank you so much for responding! I've been watching your videos for a while and I'm in awe of the stuff you film! Ironically enough, I'm not very technically inclined but the history of the Model T is where I'm good at! Even though you can't drive one here, we can figure out a solution to get you in one of our cars to ride in! We would love to expand our outreach as not very many people know about us! If you'd like more information or set something up in the near future, please let me know and I'll more than happily give you my contact information! I'd love to show you around our wonderful museum! 40+ vehicles and displays between 2 buildings! We would love to host you!
@@Change-7815 - Wow! Maybe shoot me an email or a message on the Facebook page. I'd love to see the next time I'm in that part of the country.
@@TheHistoryUnderground I just sent an email over to you! Hope to hear and collab with you soon!
Wow!! Amazing 👍
I understand why early explorers described the Badlands as "it looks like hell with the fire out."
That is a very good way to describe it.
I love watching your videos and I would really like to see you do Arkansas soon . Thank you for you're videos.
Definitely plan on getting to Arkansas at some point. Let me know if you have any suggestions of places to see.
Just incredible. Thank you for doing this. What did the folks do for food who lived in the sod homes?
Thanks! Glad that you enjoyed it. Most had vegetable gardens that supplemented whatever they could acquire naturally in the area.
I have a love hate relationship with heights, so that ladder...😫 but the view would be worth it. I can’t imagine ever thinking “hey! This is where I want to live”! 😳
Pretty harsh environment. And that ladder was something else.