Another Caching & Sightseeing Trip Into Rapid City 7/18/2010

Sunday morning and we headed into Rapid City again for some caching and sightseeing thinking that there wouldn't be much going on but were we wrong. There was a big free music festival at the civic center and a fireman's competition in the downtown area so it wasn't as easy getting around as we thought it would be. Anyway our first cache was a 8 part multi cache in the downtown area where we had to find 8 bronze statues of former presidents that were on the downtown street corners and identify them to claim this cache. It is amazing that these small cities in the western states are so art deco conscious. So many of these cities we have visited out here have art scattered all around the downtown areas. It took us about an hour in between walking to the different locations to find each statue and sightseeing in between.


One of the historic sites we saw was the Hotel Alex Johnson. Alex Johnson, Vice President of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad, was founder of this grand hotel that bears his name. An admirer of Native Americans, he spoke of a shrine and tribute to the Sioux Indian Nation. The structural design is a successful blend of two spirits: the heritage of the Plains Indians and the Germanic Tudor architecture representing German immigration to the Dakotas.
In 1927 construction began on the hotel the day before work began on Mount Rushmore. Less than a year later, on July 1, 1928, the first guest registered to begin a long successive line of Presidents, celebrities and happy visitors to The Hotel Alex Johnson. The walking tour will take you over the same paths that thousands have taken through the years. As you learn more about its rich past, you will begin to understand why The Hotel Alex Johnson is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Hotel Alex Johnson has been a member of NTA since 1981. Member of Association of Historic Hotels of the Rockies. Recipient of the First Governor's Great Service Award and Governor's Service Star.
Alex Carlton Johnson, Vice President of the Chicago-Northwestern Railroad set out to build a grand hotel, "The Showplace of the West", and a tribute to the Native Americans of the area in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
Alex Carlton Johnson's involvement with the railroad, his love of the Native American culture of the Lakota Sioux located here in the Black Hills and the western history involved in the South Dakota heritage all are reflected in the architecture and the memories surrounding this hotel.
As you walk into the Lobby, you'll notice the bricks you step on are all original and some have Native American symbols imbedded in them. One of those symbols looks suspiciously like a Swastika. (Now, do you really think we'd have Swastika's in our hotel? Of course not.) It's actually an ancient symbol that means the "four sacred corners of the earth" and was adopted by the Native Americans a couple hundred years ago. That same symbol is reflected in the one of a kind chandelier, made of war spears, that has hung from the decorative rafters for over 80 years.
From the Native American symbols and original art work on display in the lobby designs and the guest rooms and hallways, to the archiveal display of railroad artifacts and photographs of celebrities, movie casts, politicians and Presidents who made the Alex their "home away from home" just enhance the rich history of this grand hotel.
This hotel has also said to be haunted by many manifestations. As with many old hotels, entities who enjoyed the hotel while alive have decided to make this glorious hotel their after-life home. A heart-broken bride jumped out the window on her wedding night. A murder - Many years ago, a regular guest, who was described as a very friendly, stable woman met an unfortunate end. Her death was staged to make others believe that she committed suicide by jumping out of the window of room 812. However, the people who knew her well doubted this story, and strongly suspected that someone in her family had her pushed out the window to get her rather soon to be monetary inheritance. As with many old hotels, entities who enjoyed the hotel while alive have decided to make this glorious hotel their after-life home.
The suicidal bride: Crying from a heart-broken woman is heard coming from a room, where a bride did kill herself by jumping out the window.
The murder victim: Mainly the 8th Floor and Room 812 - A female entity, called "The Lady in White." Dressed in white, she floats around the halls on the 8th floor, looking for her killers. Sometimes the window in room 812 is mysteriously opened sometime during the night. The dresser drawers of the bureau found in Room 812 are turned upside down before being put back into the bureau. Weird and unexplainable sounds are heard in Room 812 and in the hallways.
The entity of Alex Johnson himself has been spotted walking around the hotel. Unknown Entities also inhabit the hotel. Two apparitions have been seen by the living; a little girl and a football player. A poltergeist has been known to throw chairs at the staff. Pianos throughout the hotels have been known to play all by themselves. Staff have reported unexplained mischief, caused by unseen presences.
Another of the stories of the "Lady in White" is said that a woman haunts the area of the 8th floor in the Alex Johnson Hotel. It seems that she focuses on room 812. The story of her death is very interesting. It is said that she often resided at the hotel and was a pleasant character. Unfortunately, at one point, it is believed that upon staying at the hotel, she jumped from a window on the 8th floor and fell to her death. Those that actually knew the lady personally did not feel as if the death was a suicide, but all the evidence pointed to this. It is believed among those that knew the lady personally that her death was a murder that was related to the fact it was believed that she had money.
Today, many individuals have experienced an eye witness account of what appears to be a female spirit in a gown that is white in color. It is believed that she is in search of answers surrounding her death and that she wants others to know that her death was not a suicide. In the early morning hours, many that reside in the room and even those that work at the Alex Johnson hotel state that the window is open – with no explanation as to “why”. In addition to this, the dresser located in the room often experiences some ironic changes. It is common to find that the drawers are placed upside down. Furthermore, unusual sounds that cannot be explained are often heard throughout the 8th floor of the hotel.


Our next cache was on the top floor of a downtown parking garage, then we drove over to the Civic Center for 2 caches one in the park and the other at the Berlin Wall Memorial. The memorial itself was dedicated in 1996 after 3 years of work to bring a couple of the remaining wall segments over to South Dakota. The exhibit consists of two wall segments and two tank traps in Memorial Park.
Purchased by an area resident and donated to the city in 1996, the Berlin Wall sections in Rapid City are part of one of the most unique displays of its kind. There are only about 40 locations in the U.S where original sections of the wall are displayed and the one in Rapid City is considered to be among the most comprehensive.
The two wall sections are each 12-feet tall and stand as a sobering reminder of the differences between freedom and control.
In front of the Berlin Wall sections are two iron “tank traps” – wicked looking iron X’s that stand about three-feet tall and used to serve as extra safeguards for the wall on the Communist controlled East Germany side.
This side of the wall is the simple drab gray of concrete, compared to the still visible graffiti paintings on the opposite side that used to face the more politically free West Germany.

Then it was on to our last 2 caches with the first being in the gardens at the Journey Museum a natural history museum in downtown Rapid City and the last cache was at a Welcome to Rapid City, SD garden on the outskirts of the city.

Some of the other interesting sites we saw in Rapid City were Elks Theater which was supposedly haunted also. The Elks Theatre has been a local landmark; it opened as an opera house on June 6, 1912. The theater soon became a movie house and has been completely remodeled in recent years. But one old tradition stayed with the place: Jimmy the ghost. Jimmy is reportedly a benevolent spirit and doesn't cause too many chills to run down the spines of employees or customers. The theater refers to him on its Web site and said he, along with the living staff, wishes patrons well. "There's a lot of people who believe in Jimmy," said theater general manager Curt Small, who doesn't, despite seeing a few odd things, such as seats flipping up on their own. It's an old building, and old buildings make noise, he said. Customers often report seeing a ghost, Small said, but they are usually smiling when they do so.


Hooky Jack's and Phatty McGee's Restaurant and Bar. Hooky Jack's and Phatty McGees Restaurant and Bar are located in the oldest building in Rapid City, built in the late 1800s. Employees and customers tell of pool balls that move by themselves, of people talking, footsteps, and chairs moving around. But when they check, no one - or at least no living person - is there. A surveillance camera captured some mysterious glowing lines and other weird happenings are reported. Many people attribute the spooky stuff to "Hooky," a miner whose hands were blown off in an explosion who became Rapid City's first policeman and a beloved local figure. Perhaps Hooky just doesn't want to leave Rapid City.
Another of the stories regarding the haunting of Hooky Jack's is as follows. The ghost of Hooky Jack, a Rapid City police officer who died in 1926, still haunts a building on Seventh Street. At least, 18-year-old Chance Lester believes that's true, and he intends to document it. "He haunts that place because he used to live on the third floor," said the Rapid City home-schooled student. Lester and a group of friends who call themselves the South Dakota Paranormal Investigators - they even have matching yellow SDPI sweatshirts - spent Saturday night holed up on the third floor of the restaurant with a video camera, asking the ghost to make noise and show itself. Lester thinks he felt the ghost tap on the floor, and the group plans to keep looking for ghosts there and in other haunted places around the Black Hills.
"I've never been afraid of ghosts," he said. "I'm a believer." Lester said Hooky Jack is a "benign" ghost, as they are called in the paranormal business. Hooky Jack, whose real name was John Leary, lost both arms in a mining explosion in the 1800s and had them replaced with hooks. He later became a Rapid City police officer. He was struck and killed by a car in downtown Rapid City Nov. 6, 1916. The building, formerly Hooky Jack's restaurant and Phatty McGee's nightclub, is now home to the Sports Rock restaurant. Lester, who has been interested in paranormal investigation since he was 10, said the Sports Rock managers allowed him to spend some time on the second and third floors of the building. He and his friend Luke Dunnihoo decided to give it a try. For their first investigation, they took a camera to the third floor on Friday, Feb. 15. Lester's procedure involves taking many random photographs of the area to see if a paranormal activity can be noticed in any of the photos. He ended up with one photo he believes shows the slight image of a man's face within a group of people and another where he sees a clearer image of a man's smiling face.
That image, Lester said, is Hooky Jack's ghost. While the Hooky Jack legend is the first he's investigated, there is a long list of paranormal reports at other Black Hills area places, Lester said. Other possible ghost-sighting locations on the list include the Hotel Alex Johnson in Rapid City; the Bullock Hotel, Mount Moriah Cemetery and Silverado, all in Deadwood; the Mountain View Cemetery in Keystone and the Gaslight Saloon in Rockerville. "That one (the Gaslight Saloon) is supposed to be haunted by the former owner of the Hotel Harney, Samuelson Harney," Lester said.
"The report is that if you walk to the door, you see a slim man in the window, waving to you." Allison Boddicker, a manager at Sports Rock, said she was more than willing to allow Lester to explore the building for Hooky Jack's ghost. "It's always been an interest of ours," she said. Boddicker has worked in the building for about four years and said she and other employees have experienced paranormal activity. "I have watched the security cameras and seen little orbs, or little flashes of light," she said. Boddickers said another manager once reported being the last person to leave at night and while locking the door, noticed the image of a face in the glass.
"We always hear noises on the second floor and water running," she said. Boddicker said the third-floor, where Hooky Jack lived, is the "creepiest" part of the building. "I won't even go up there in daylight," she said. Lester said he hopes to make South Dakota Paranormal Investigators into a profitable business, by selling images of the ghosts he catches on video. His next investment will be the purchase of a thermal camera. "It will show you areas of hot and cold and what passes by you," he said. Thermal cameras cost about $4,000, he said. So far, he hasn't made any money, and he isn't giving up his job bagging groceries at Safeway.

Well that was about all of the caching and sightseeing in Rapid City so we were off back to the coach. Well that's about all from here for today so until tomorrow we miss and love you all. Mom & Dad Dori & Dick