BenTha'er-Horizons

National Parks

Mt. St. Helens 2024

A week ago, we traveled up to southwest Washington State to go to the Mt. St. Helens Volcanic National Monument. We watched the eruption and subsequent ash clouds on May 18, 1980 and on from our home then in Vancouver, WA. We have pictures from that time.
The drive was beautiful and the information centers were informative. This all brought back memories. The Johnston Ridge Observatory and Spirit Lake were off limits due to a road landslide which will be another 2 years to repair. Harry Truman who lived at Spirit Lake and lost his life there that Sunday is buried under 150 feet of volcanic ash and mountain slide plus lake level.

Mt St Helens 2024
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What Is In A Name Again

We are back at "What Is In A Name" with Mt. Rushmore. It is such a cool place to visit and awe-inspiring. This information comes from an Interesting Facts email I get daily. Enjoy the information!

The iconic mountain that bears the giant stone faces of four U.S. Presidents is named after a lawyer from New York. In 1884, Charles E. Rushmore was sent to the Black Hills in South Dakota to secure land for tin mining (on lands considered sacred by the Lakota Sioux). He spent many weeks exploring the area with guides, and at one point, he inquired as to the name of an impressive peak nearby. Since the mountain had no name, a prospector with him replied, “We will name it now, and name it Rushmore Peak.” From then on, it was referred to as Rushmore Peak, Rushmore Mountain, or Rushmore Rock. When the national memorial was finished in 1927, it officially became known as Mount Rushmore.
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Presidents on Mt. Rushmore

The four Presidents depicted on Mount Rushmore were chosen for their key roles in American history. The carved face of George Washington, completed in 1930, is the most prominent figure on the memorial and represents the founding of the nation. Thomas Jefferson, dedicated in 1936, stands for the growth of the United States, thanks to his authorship of the Declaration of Independence and his roles in the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark expedition. Borglum chose the figure of Abraham Lincoln, dedicated in 1937, to represent American unity for his efforts to preserve the nation during the Civil War. Theodore Roosevelt, finished in 1939, symbolizes the development of the United States as a world power (he helped negotiate the construction of the Panama Canal, among other achievements) and champion of the worker as he fought to end corporate monopolies. (From Interesting Facts).
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Bison Rising

We are back in Lebanon, OR as of around noon yesterday. We got a good night's sleep and it is a sunny, beautiful, and hot Saturday in mid-May. It is so pleasant. We are getting the outdoor furniture out to sit and enjoy, at least until it rains heavy.
I want to include a photo I took in North Dakota near Medora at the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Driving through, it was a sunny, warm day with a bison grazing on new spring grass alongside the road. I was able to get some good photos with my new Zoom lens with the Nikon Z6. Let the spirit of the bison or American Buffalo rise in these United States.
Buffalo small size
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