A bit of Mickelson Trail history

Greetings! Spring has sprung with green grass growing, needing mowing, robins, geese, turkeys and deer everywhere. One other sure sign, up where we live (about a mile high), is when the marmots come out of hibernation. Some people call them woodchucks or squealing pigs because they make this unique squealing sound.
With spring brings being outside and for a lot of us a renewed energy in exercise. This brings us to mountain bikes and the Mickelson Trail. For those not familiar with the trail, it is a graveled surface about half as wide as a gravel road over the top of an old railroad line. It starts in Edgemont and goes all the way to Deadwood, 109 miles give or take.
A bit of history: An Army Guard pilot named Dick Lee came up with the idea and sold certificates to generate money for the trail. He hit me up for $10 and then gave me my certificate to convert rail line to a hiking/biking trail. That was in the mid-1980s. So $10 seemed like a lot but he was so enthused. I gave him a $10 bill and he gave me a rails to trails certificate. Mine was No. 10 and I remember remarking, “Gee, Dick, you got nine other suckers before me?” So I feel a little better with a smile on my face.
Dick Lee kept pursuing this passion to the point the Army National Guard picked his project up as a training mission for its heavy equipment company. It became a summer camp project as well as a monthly weekend Guard drill project. Railroad planks and rails were removed and disposed of and a flat surface was graded. Bridges were built over a five-year period. The rails to trails system was completed.
Our governor at the time was the late George S. Mickelson. (Does anyone know his middle name and the significance of it?) Gov. Mickelson thought this was the coolest concept and supported the rails to trails project and construction wholeheartedly.
In the summer of 1992, I picked up Gov. Mickelson at Army Aviation next to our airport with my boss Maj. Gen. Harold Sykora. Key cabinet staff were also along. Off we went to tour portions of the trail.
When I opened the van door to put the governor in a bucket seat up front, he told me to head straight to Custer to that blankety-blank individual that was firing a rifle across the trail.
Turned out there was an older gentleman who had a mobile home parallel to the trail and he was placing paper targets on the other side of the trail and shooting at them with his living room door open.
Yeah, you get the picture. One rides his bike or walks or rides a horse and takes the risk of being shot by this character. I had heard about this going on and knew where the place was. Upon arrival in the driveway, Gov. Mickelson told the highway patrol commander Col. Jones to go knock on the door and arrest this gentleman (not quite that nicely). I got out too, thinking this could be a dangerous situation.
Oh! Out of space! I will conclude and discuss e-bikes in the next article.