The Pettigrew Home is certainly a fancy-dancy place. Its architecture is very beautiful and I really enjoyed looking around it; through our tour I was wishing I didn't have a guide or a conscience so I could just explore and sneak into all the less-traveled regions of the house.
Richard Fredrick Pettigrew came to Sioux Falls, Dakota in 1869 from Wisconsin. He was a surveyor and a world traveler who helped bring 5 railroads to Sioux Falls. His home is a landmark full of little doodads that show off wealth (like gold in windows, silver-plaited lamps, and maid living quarters, to name just a few).
In 1881 Pettigrew became a representative in Congress, and when South Dakota became a state in 1889 he was elected to be the first senator of the new state.
On our tour I learned that silk cannot hold its own weight; with time it sags :( The silk walls of the Pettigrew Home had to be replicated and replaced recently.
I also learned that during the famous long winter of 1880-1881 (termed by Laura Ingalls Wilder in her book The Long Winter), Sioux Falls was pretty much cut off from the rest of the world and could not receive any resources. When the city ran out of paper, it resorted to printing the daily newspaper on cloth! That's interesting! Mr. Pettigrew has a framed cloth newspaper in his study.
He was fascinated with petrified wood and has display cases full of petrified wood that he found on his travels. He also has a whole display case of Native American tools...very interesting to see them. For awhile he possessed petrified wood from the Petrified Forest in Arizona, however when it became illegal to remove findings from the Petrified Forest, the Smithsonian Museum traded Mr. Pettigrew some little sculptures for his Petrified Forest souvenirs. Imagine trading the Smithsonian for some stuff you found! Haha!
There were some neat hands-on activities, and one speaking exhibit told me that when a lady and her husband settled in Dakota they received word from the Indians through an interpreter that they had only 10 days to leave....yikes!
Our next mission for the day was helping with children's activities at the Salvation Army. Everyone was very respectful of each other there; it was really inspiring. The head honchos are referred to as "Major" and then either their first or last name. It was very refreshing to hear authoritative figures honored with a title.
After having supper with the kids, we had the super fun chance to roller skate with them. It was just endearing when the little tykes would tug on my sleeve and ask for help putting on their skates....Awwww...."Of course I can help you!"
As usually happens when working with kids, three or four kids instantly attached themselves to me (and Holly), and it was really cool how they admired us just for being older and paying them attention. I felt really honored to have the opportunity to help the kids.
We get to go back tomorrow :) Yay!
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Remember when you were little and high school kids were sooooo cool. You can imagine what Rock Stars you were to these kids who struggle to have positive adult role models outside of school. "College kids who want to just like us and skate?!" As your teacher, this post was so rewarding.
ReplyDeleteSo much of what you are writing about is stirring whiffs of nostalgia for me. Growing up, we were bused to the Pettigrew Museum every spring. I haven't been there in 35 years, and yet I now long to return. Thank you for making SD history new again.