When the sprocket was in the highest position, the racer would pull down on the handlebars and, bending the knees, bear down on the footboard to drive the bike forward. Years later, the bike disappeared when my mother sold our home. I didn't see the Ingo again until discovering one in the Pioneer Auto Museum located in, I believe, Murdo, South Dakota.
- Joan Magee, New Mexico

My girlfriend and I are going to visit you on the weekend of your auction and swap meet.  We are going to Aberdeen, SD, on that Friday to pick up a 1969 Plymouth Roadrunner that has just undergone a complete rotisserie restoration.  We have decided to come back to Billings, Montana via Murdo and Rapid City so I can take my girl through your facility.  We might even find some parts or cars we might not be able to live without.  More parts than cars as I said I am trying to thin my herd.

I especially like Mopar and Corvettes.  Some of the collection I have sold off included two Superbirds, 7 Chargers, 5 Challengers and lots more.  Still have some neat stuff for sale including a very rare Corvair Convertible.  It is the number 11 “pilot” car one of 13 that were never to be sold to the general public.  According to the Corvair Registry, the lowest known serial number for any Corvair was serial number 001943.  This is serial number 000006!!!!

Anyway, I have probably bored you to death already.  I’m sure you get lots of stories and mail from people everywhere, but I just had to tell you after I found your website that I really appreciate what you do.

Maybe hope to see you when we come through.  We will be easy to spot.  We have an 05 red Dodge 1-ton dually 4x4 with the license plate from the bugs bunny cartoons “GOSSAMR” and the plate on the trailer is “BUGGS” and its black.  We will be hauling the RR.

If you ever need to BS cars or whatever, I will give you contact info.  Thanks again for all you do and have a great rest of the week.  Good luck on the big weekend.
- William Hardy

The community of Murdo was a true gem on the FAM tour.  The travel agents were completely impressed with the warm welcome that they received in Murdo.  The Pioneer Auto Show was a wonderful attraction as many of the travel agents were reminiscing, finding the cars that they drove in high school and enjoying the energizing atmosphere that you provide.  Everything about the community of Murdo brought a smile to their faces and I sincerely thank you for your generous hospitality, despite being arrested!

Because of our collective efforts, the Western Hospitality Travel Agent Familiarization Tour was a success that we can all be proud of.  I look forward to working with you in the future on continued efforts to increase visitors to South Dakota.  Best wishes to you and I hope to see you January 17 & 18, 2007 in Pierre at the Governor’s Conference on Tourism.  Thank you for being a great friend to the tourism industry and best wishes this holiday season.
- Tyler J Sharp, Trade Sales Representative

Dave was teaching the class and during the discussion our plight was discussed and he told me to see him after class. He then drove us to his home and he told us to pick any one of several cars in his yard to use while our pickup was repaired. You have no idea how many times I have told this story and mentioned your big heart and the love you had/have for your Lord.

The article in the Laymen reaffirmed this both to me and my wife.

David Samuel

Thank you for some great memories,
Shelton Barfield

P.S. Both of my parents have passed away but they always talked about that August day that my dad stopped in the middle of no where and we got to step back in time.

We enjoyed your museum just as much as we did 29 years ago.

Again, a big Thank You,
Bonnie Sippl

P.S. The Schnauzer didn’t arrive with the camera!

Just wanted to let you know how enjoyable our visit was, how much we liked your place, and all the employees - also read your book.

I've already phoned some of my traveling friends and fellow “car guys” and mentioned yours as a must see. We’ll be by again next year and look forward to seeing you then.

Hope you have great weather for Murdo in May.

Best regards,
Pete and Jenny Ferrigan
Sarasota, FL

Jack and I appreciated the tour of the town and your commentary.

After our visit, we followed your directions, headed north across the river, then east to Pierre: beautiful country all the way and not another motor vehicle did we see for 60 miles (we clocked it).

You can be certain that the next time I pass Murdo, it will only be after I stop first to visit my “friend by the side of the road.”

Thanks again, and I hope you’ll call if you are ever in Cincinnati.

Regards,
Tim Riker
- - -   - - -
Thank you once again for your warm hospitality when Tim Riker and I visited Murdo. We appreciated the good conversation, the VIP tour of the city, and the auto show.

If I can ever return the favor, and host you in either Sioux Falls or in Vermillion, please do not hesitate to contact me.

I’m enclosing a photo from our visit.

Best wishes,
Jack Marsh

One of your first exhibits was the Isetta BM car. Enclosed is our Isetta from the early 1960’s when we were just kids. It’s been long gone, but seeing yours brought back many fond memories!

Thanks for being one of the main stops on our summer vacation!

Love from Port Washington, Wisconsin
Amy Paulin Boehm

We have enjoyed our visit, work & learning more of your State than we know some things of our own home state of Georgia.

This May, 2008 would have been our 6th season working and touring the State. We worked at Pioneer Auto & Hallmark in Murdo, SD. We answered an ad in Highways Magazine – really did not know what we would be getting into. Our minds were set to stay and then go different places each season to work & tour. But at the town of Murdo, SD there was a big heart of a big person & all the staff – town of Murdo – so we just came back each season. We had to leave early this season due to some health problems. May 1st we had to go to ER room in Regional Cancer Care Center in Rapid City. I had my records already sent to Rapid City, SD to be prepared. The Cander Dare Center took me in. They called to talk to my Georgia doctors and got me in shape enough to head back to Georgia. They did a really good job.

We learned so much & toured South Dakota. All the tourist businesses were good to us and showed us around and gave us many memories to share with all the tourists we met coming through Pioneer Auto & Hallmark. We have lots of friends there. Everyone was very nice to us.

People probably thought we were different as not knowing what we were up to next – where else can you drive a 4X4 downtown at a Capitol building. We did and saw just about everything in South Dakota. We like sharing it with people and we still pass the word on.

So Thank You State of SD. Be Proud Of Your State.

Thanks!
Debbie & Doug Snider
Pavo, GA

Everyone enjoyed our trip to the Pioneer Auto Museum. We want to thank Dave Geisler for hosting the club. For those of you that couldn’t make the trip, you missed seeing Dave’s newest addition to the Museum which was a car made of wood that took 15 years to build. We all agreed that it was a wonderful addition and was everyone’s favorite car there. It has two engines in the front and it so long that Ollie couldn’t get a complete picture of it. However, Dave was kind enough to give us a couple of pictures of it and Ollie is going to make some copies for everyone. Thanks Dave. We always enjoy our time in the Museum.

Janet Thompson,
Secretary for Life

Again thanks!

Sincerely,
Glow and Keith Bechard
Brainerd, MN

I don’t know if you receive these emails or not, but I just thought I’d take a chance and say hi. I think often of the great times I had working for you at the Big Auto Show. After all, that’s where I got my start and I have you to thank for it. I’m working in real estate and property management in Whittier, Ca now, not too far from where you were born! And now I’m nearly married to the most wonderful woman I’ve ever met.

I hope you’re doing well and though I’m stuck here in California once again, I still look fondly upon all my experiences back there in Murdo, and hope to visit there again some day very soon.

Truly yours,
Ehren Beckwith

Dear Dave Geisler,

Pioneer Auto Museum and Crazy Horse Monument were the two highlights of our trip through South Dakota. We were part of the Kincaid Tour of August 18 and wanted you to know that our experience was very positive. Your museum is unbelievable.

Thank you for coming onto the bus, a gesture that many of us appreciated.

If you come to the Kansas City area, I would like to invite you to visit the Strawberry Hill Ethnic and Cultural Museum
4th & Barnett
Kansas City, Kansas

Our museum is closed during October so that we can create a breathtakingly beautiful Christmas display in this old mansion. After the mansion was sold, the place became an orphanage caring for children during the flu epidemic. Later, we became Strawberry Hill Museum.

Our budget is very small but our board members and our volunteers work to create a memorable experience. It would be great to take you on a tour during November or December.

I have enclosed a postcard should you like to reply regarding a visit to the area.

Sincerely,

Patricia Antonopoulos

Thanks for the tour of your museum and especially for taking me (in a wheel chair) and my husband to see the 1929 Roosevelt (my dad had one when I was young). We both enjoyed the tour and have told all of our friends about you.

The old couple from Kentucky.

Jim & Barb

I had this card all ready to send when I decided to call you this noon (Tuesday). It was good to visit about the sale & car show & parade. The pictures turned out perfect like I said, I’m grateful to you & Dave too for making it a fun weekend. Hope we can do it again sometime. Thanks again Janet & you too Dave my good friends at the Pioneer Auto Museum.

Sincerely,
Milt Oehlerking

Midwest-built cars help fill ‘Pioneer’ collection

Murdo, S.D., is as good a place as any to discuss cars built in the Midwest, outside of Michigan, and Dave Geisler, of the Pioneer Auto Show, may be better than most to be in that discussion.

“The Pioneer Auto Show was started in 1954 by my dad, A.J. ‘Dick’ Geisler and his family,” Geisler said. In 1945, the family moved to Murdo and opened a John Deere and Chevrolet dealership, followed later by a Phillips 66 gas station.

Eventually, when the car collection started building, A.J.’s sons, John and Dave, joined in finding some wonderful examples of America’s motoring past. Many cars came to the collection through tips and classified ads.

Read the full article here (.pdf)

Murdo Has A TRUCKLOAD of Trucks

If you think that old-truck collectors are going to run out of vehicles someday, one trip to the Pioneer Auto Show in Murdo, S.D., should clear up the misconception. It’s not fair to describe this attraction as a “museum” when it’s really a community built around collecting stuff. The complex consists of 38 buildings erected a few at a time around a motel, gas station and the GTO Diner. Many of those buildings are filled with vehicles, including more than 50 old trucks.

The beginning of Pioneer Auto Show dates to 1954, when Dick Geisler opened it under the name Pioneer Auto Museum. Today, it’s his son, Dave, who will most likely greet you at the door. If you buy a ticket — which Dave will tell you is cheaper than those for many other highway attractions — you’ll gain entrance to a treasure trove of trucking history (plus cars, tractors, motorcycles and all kinds of Americana).

Read the full article here (.pdf)

Classics Turn Up on Parts Safari

Americans still love old cars. That’s a fact that became clear to me when I traveled halfway across the country to pick up some vintage MG Magnette parts in Oregon. Old cars were everywhere — driving, riding on trailers, sitting in fi elds, for sale in dealerships, parked in storage yards, decorating antique shops, perched on poles and exhibited in museums.

Among the museum cars were several “big-C” Classic cars. When Classic Car Club of America (CCCA) members talk of a “Classic car,” they are using the term to identify specifi c vehicles which they define as “fi ne or unusual foreign or domestic motor cars built between the years 1925- 1948 and distinguished for their respective fine design, high engineering standard and superior workmanship.” Most of us would think of these vehicles as “big, fancy, luxury cars of (basically) the Great Depression era.”

Read the full article - and about the author's visit to Pioneer Auto - here (.pdf)

Pioneer Auto Show receives commendations for great service

The Tourism Education Council, the South Dakota Department of Tourism and Governor Mike Rounds have recognized Murdo’s Pioneer Auto Show and their employees for their outstanding service. South Dakota has a tradition of hospitality, and the Pioneer Auto Show employees have extended this tradition to visitors that have passed through their door, providing friendly service that has brought letters of praise from those receiving the service. “Many have found that extending a helping hand and giving a warm smile has its own rewards, but we want to recognize those individuals who are singled out by our visitors for going beyond what is expected,” wrote Governor Rounds.

How does an employee receive a great service commendation? The Department of Tourism has forms in the businesses, and if people have received good service at that business, they can fill the form out and send it into the SD Department of Tourism. When an employee receives their first commendation, they receive a letter from the governor and a Certificate of Recognition. Linda Thomas, Debbie Snider and Tennille Edwards have received this Certificate of Recognition.

When an employee receives a second commendation, they are awarded a Great Service Star sticker, which they can place on their Certificate of Recognition. Janet Kinsley, Darlene Wiedemer, and Doug Snider have been awarded this star. A third commendation brings a Great Service Star lapel pin, and Dave Geisler plus the whole Pioneer Auto staff have received this pin. “Great Faces” and “Great Places” is South Dakota’s slogan. There are a great bunch of people at the Pioneer Auto Museum who are helping put South Dakota on the map with their outstanding service making Murdo one of the great places to stop.

This Flying By on the Interstate Has Got to Stop

A.J. Geisler was selling gasoline at his Phillips 66 Station in Murdo, SD for 30 cents a gallon and vertical fender fins were still a year away from appearing on the 1957 Chevrolet Bel-Air when President Eisenhower signed into law the bill creating the nation’s Interstate Highway system.

At the same time, a group of scientists and engineers were putting into place the makings for a very different highway of their own, an electronic highway that would decades later bring another type of traveler to the Geisler’s business.

Today, thanks to the vision of President Eisenhower and those early day academicians, you can slice through South Dakota in a matter of hours on Interstate 90 or you can go around the world via the Internet in a matter of seconds. Either way, you can stop and visit the Geisler’s Phillips 66 station that has, like the two-lane highways, undergone a transformation of its own.

“The Big Variety Show,” as the Pioneer Auto Show is billed, began 52 years ago as a gimmick for stopping travelers on what would become Interstate 90, thanks to Eisenhower’s action. Businessman A.J. Geisler, known to all as Dick, came up with the idea to pull motorists to his Phillips 66 gas station by parking a few old cars in its parking lot, including a 1913 Ford peddler’s wagon that’s still on display today. Lured by the classic cars, visitors stopped to take a look. While they were there, they filled up their tanks as well.

Today the cars remain the stars, although they’re just part of a collection that spans 10 acres and 42 buildings, and that runs the gamut from apothecary items to typewriters. There are lunch pails, cameras, gas pumps, clocks and watches, rocks and gems—you name it there’s a good chance you’ll find it on display at Pioneer Auto Show. “There’s stuff you won’t see anywhere else,” says Dave Geisler, Dick’s son, who today runs the “big show” along with son David. “All of it’s truly worth more than the cars, but everyone forgets about the other stuff.”

While you’d definitely have to visit the Pioneer Auto Show in person to get the full “big show” experience, you can get a glimpse of what it’s all about on the Auto Show’s web site, too. It’s been up and running for about a year and a half, and Dave says, it’s and essential element to doing business today. “You got to do it, especially if you’re in rural South Dakota. We don’t have a lot of people here, right? So you have to be able to reach out.”

Visitors to the web site can follow links to information on every aspect of the Auto Show, including its collections and other attractions like the Prairie Town—complete with jail house, fire station, homesteader’s shack and the original Murdo Bank—and the Auto Show’s café and gift shop. Also available is information on the Auto Show’s annual auto auction, an extremely popular event held every May, and a list of cars for sale. A recent visit to the site revealed a super-sweet 1956 T-Bird and a 1935 Ford Roadster pickup ripe for restoring. Soon, visitors will be able to make online purchases from the Auto Show’s Hallmark Gift Shop. “An online shopping cart is definitely a goal,” Dave adds. “We’ve only begun to scratch the surface. We get quite a few hits every day; it opens up a whole world to you right here in South Dakota.”

Internet communications are increasingly playing a larger role in other parts of the business as well. “People contact us from all over,” Dave says. “We’re very well known after 52 years, and lots of them call us, but they contact us over the Internet too. A lot of older people who have older cars aren’t Internet savvy, but it’s getting close to 50/50, phone calls and emails. We spend about an hour a day answering emails from all over the world.

Internet connections are also giving the next generation of highway travelers another reason to stop by the Auto Show. “We fell it’s so important that we have a special road sign to bring people off the road to use our internet, it’s definitely a hook,” Dave says. “We have a big sign on the road that says “free internet,” and a little kiosk in our place, and there’s someone on it most of the time. Motels have it, lots of people use it, we think if we can get them here, they’ll stay and shop around.”

So remember the Pioneer Auto Show the next time you find yourself flying down the interstate at 75 miles and hour. Take your foot off the accelerator at mile marker 190 and spend a few hours traveling back in time because as Dave puts it, “this flying by on the interstate crap has got to stop”. Who knows, you may just drive home in a 1956 T-Bird and at the very least, you’ll be able to check your email.

Wild Bill’s Car Connection

By Billy B. Ruiz
Central Dakota Times
Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Make and Year of Vehicle: 1968 Shelby GT500 Two-Door Hatchback
Owner: Dave Geisler, Owner of Pioneer Auto Museum of Murdo
Stock or Modified: Stock
Transmission: C6 Automatic
Motor: 428
Rear-End Gear Ratio: Stock Posi-Trac Nine-Inch Ford
Interior Package: Black with Bucket Seats and Floor Shifter
Color: Red with White Stripes
Wheels and Tires: Cobra Mags and Radials- The original Bias Goodyears are shown in this article because this reporter thinks they are the reason for all the accidents.
Intake-Carburetion: Holley
Accessories: Shelby Dash Floor Console with Shifter-Shelby and Cobra badges and highway patrol car behind it.
Brakes: Disc Front, Drum Back
Special Memories: Last year, I witnessed local car guy, Boyd Thiel arriving in town with his new Ford pickup pulling a loaded car trailer. I immediately recognized the car on the trailer as a 1968 Shelby. I didn't’t have my Canon with me at the time but I watched them unload the car, thinking Boyd had found another play toy. The car looked so good; the thought never crossed my mind that this was to be a restoration. By the time I say the car again, it was in pieces on the shop floor. I don’t mind saying it looked awful sad. The scene from the “Wizard of Oz” where the flying monkeys grabbed the scarecrow, flew off with him and dropped him from the sky onto the ground with his leg off and arms all jumbled up, came to mind. I took pictures anyway and asked Boyd if I could come back from time to time to see the progress. After finding out Dave owned the car, I ran into him at a photo shoot I was doing at the induction to the South Dakota Hall of Fame. Dave and I go way back, so far that he forgot who I was until I mentioned a few cars we had been involved with together. Although we were in the powder room and boys usually don’t carry on conversations there, we spent a few minutes talking about his Shelby. It’s a car guy thing that overrides the macho thing. Boyd contributes the low mileage to being in the museum for 25 years.
Top Miles Per Hour: Believe me; you don’t want to go that fast.
Actual Mileage and Miles Per Gallon: 75,000 and Unknown
Two Door or Four Door: Two Door
Exhaust: Dual
Suspension: Stock
Reporters Notes: A feller by the name of Carroll Shelby, who was forced to retire from a successful racing career was about to wind up a successful building career. His idea was to build a car that would blow away every other car on the face of the earth and he succeeded. The idea was to marry the European chassis and suspension and the American V8. Ford was not his choice of a power plant. General Motors was given first choice but declined. The Corvette was the biggest seller Chevrolet had and they didn't’t want to jeopardize that. Big mistake. Lee Iacocca was laying the groundwork to produce a sports car to compete against Corvette and Shelby was his godsend. The Cobra made its debut in 1962 at Riverside. Billy Crause was ahead of the pack by a mile and a half when it broke a stub axle. This is no bar story—a mile and a half lead on the best in the world. The prototype was built in Shelby’s garage, a space he shared with Dean Moon. In 1965, Cobras brought Shelby Ford and United States the first ever World Manufacturer’s Championship. Shelby had a grudge with Ferrari and was out to blow them off the track. He accomplished just that when he won at Daytona, Sebring, Oulton Park, Nurburgring, Rossfeld, Rheims, and sweetest of all, Monza. They would have won the LeMans if Carroll had used the new seven liter motor but Shelby didn't’t want to offend Ford. Even with Ford’s smaller motor, they took second behind his arch rival, Ferrari. Perhaps the rarest Ford in history was the 1968 Shelby Convertible GT500KR (King of the Road) as only 313 were made. The Shelby made Ford no real profit so in ’67, ’68, and ’69, a much bigger car was built with luxury components like air, to keep the weight down. Fiberglass fenders were added. It was called the Gt. The cobra name was dropped but they kept the badges and the 428cu was born. The original version in ’67 was called the GT350 because it was 350 feet from his engine shop to the assembly line. The new GT500 was almost uninsurable because it had the highest rate of accidents in automotive history. The 428ci had 360 horsepower and could destroy a set of rear tires in one evening on Main Street USA. In 1969, a federal ban on horsepower was in the works so, Carroll Shelby asked Ford to release him from the Total Performance Program and the remaining 601 Shelby Mustangs were given airdams, black hood strips and 1970 serial numbers. They were the last of the 14,368 Mustangs Shelby built and the days of the Corvette killer were “gone for good, good and gone, gone with along before it, gone for the day, gone for the night and gone for the rest of our doggone life.” What a wonderful piece of history. Thank you, Dave for letting us do a car connection on your Super car. Thank you, Boyd for the high quality of workmanship you and the boys produce. The car is going through a final process of adjustments as we go to print this week but Mr.Thiel promises us Dave will have the car in time for his yearly car auction at his museum in Murdo on Armed Forces Day, the 17th of this month. I have four cars on the sale bill myself but you won’t need the $150,000 plus this car will bring to deal with me. It will be a great weekend. Come on down to Murdo and bring the little woman’s checkbook.

Tour Spotlight
Pioneer Auto Show and Prairie Town -- Murdo, South Dakota

If you are traveling to or from Mt. Rushmore, the Black Hills or Yellowstone National Park, treat your group to a stop at the exciting Pioneer Auto Show and Prairie Town, in Murdo, South Dakota, located halfway between Sioux Falls and Rapid City. Classic car enthusiasts and nostalgia buffs will love The Big Variety Show, which is a fun-filled experience featuring more than 250 antique and classic cars, motorcycles and tractors, as well as collectible music boxes, toys and nostalgic items. In addition, the show features a dramatic collection of famous Zeitner rocks, gems and fossils.

Some of the highlights on display include a 1902 Curve Dash Olds, which was the world's first mass produced automobile, and antique J.I. Case Steam Engine tractor that is still in operating condition and Elvis Presley's personal Harley Davidson motorcycle. Guests take a trip back to a simpler time when they stroll through the Prairie Town.

This recreated main street includes Henry Ford's garage, a livery barn, a general store, a train depot, a fire station, the original Murdo Bank, a one-room school house, a fire station, WNAX gas station and much more. The Pioneer Auto Show and Prairie Town is conveniently located off of Interstate 90 and U.S. 83, Exit 192 and has easy on/easy off access. Groups can enjoy a meal at the site's full-service restaurant, which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and offers subs, daily specials, ice cream and a to-go menu.

The restaurant has plenty of room for groups with seating for 120 inside and seating for 40 on the patio. Your group will also enjoy the on-site gift store which features Beanie Babies, car collectibles, books, Black Hills gold jewelry, nostalgia items, antiques and more. A discount for groups is available at the gift shop. The group rate is $125 per bus with complimentary admission for the driver and escort. There is on-site parking and passengers can be picked up and dropped off in front of the museum.

The Pioneer Auto Show and Prairie Town is open seven days a week in the summer (until September 15) from 8am to 9pm winter hours are 9am to 6pm Monday through Saturday and 10am to 6pm on Sunday.

I'm not talking about the vintage car museum or rock and fossil collection, or the reconstructed pioneer village - all of which are grand in themselves. Honestly speaking, Murdo has warmth. Dave, with educational roots at Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska, emanates the love of God in Christ as he rolls out the welcome mat "beside the road." Many visitors stop for a meal, a tank of gasoline, and a respite from travel by viewing the museum displays.

They depart with much more, once they meet Dave, smiles abound. It's a place big on "good feelings." I don't think Dave could be so warm and welcoming, if it were not for the love he has for his Savior. Chris's compassion shines from each smile and wink Dave delivers, each joke and kind word, each honest expression of Christian compassion. It's great to see Christ beside life's road. He lightens our load of cares.

He carries away our heavy sins. He fills our human tanks with love. He points us to the correct path down the road, ending with eternal life in heaven. Christ is grace personified. If you ever stop in Murdo, ask for Dave. See if I'm right. Even more important, catch his vision and be a light for Christ, or truest Friend Beside the Road.

International Lutheran Laymen's League

South Dakota Road Trip

Last summer I had occasion to go to Rapid City South Dakota on business traveling across the state on I-90 is somewhat boring and the only thing you see are billboards. A little more than halfway across the state is a little town called Murdo.

Murdo is home to a car museum belonging to a gentleman named Dave Geisler. The museum covers a lot of ground and consists of several large sheds full of old cars, trucks, tractors and equipment. It is worth much more than the admission price of $7.00. I spent a couple hours there and did not see it all. I did, however, spot a red 1955 Thunderbird that had license plates on it from 1972. It looked pretty good except for the convertible top. As I was leaving I talked to Dave about the T-Bird and he said it was for sale for $16,500. He also mentioned that "Murdo in May" was coming up soon.

This is a big celebration that includes a car auction, swap meet and car corral. He said there would be classic cars and old muscle cars for sale including some from his museum. It's a three-day event. Having never been to one of these I was curious to learn about it. It was just a month away. I called and made reservations for two nights at the Super 8 in Chamberlain, a small town right on the Missouri River, just off the interstate.

This motel is up on a hill and affords a very nice and scenic view of the river. It is also a short distance from a neat little cafe, restaurant and souvenir shop. The restaurant makes great buffalo burgers. I spent one day driving up, one day at the auction/swap meet and one-day driving back. There were quite a few collectible cars at the auction and I learned a great deal about how auctions work and how the cars are priced {reserves, etc.}.

For those who might like something like this, the "Murdo in May" collectible car auction, swap meet and car corral are coming up May 20 thru 23. It's about 300 miles up there from Omaha via interstates 29 and 90. Chamberlain is about sixty miles from Murdo. The car museum is well worth the trip. Nebraskalandtbirds.org

In Murdo, they don’t call it hospitality row for nothing

Murdo- Murdo folks know their future depends in part on tourism, so they like to see travelers roll off Interstate 90. But if a recent visitor from Iowa comes again, there’ll be no welcoming smiles.

The traveler apparently drove through Murdo one hot day this summer and went home to Doon Iowa, to publish his impressions in the Doon Press. The column criticized Jones County for poor sidewalks, gravel streets, dry lawns and “a variety of wood clapboard churches that show better times.” The town owes its life to its county seat, I-90 and the antique car museum, the writer said.

“Folks around town ere pretty upset,” said Jackie Nies, who graduated form Murdo High in 1962, several years before a state mandated reorganization of education made the town the hub of a consolidated Jones County High. “There wasn't’t much call to run us down. There are a lot of nice people here. They didn't’t like making it sound like we’re nothing.”

The Iowa writer’s impressions were far different from those of the Murdo Coyote in May 1906, when the town was formed. The paper wrote, “We have an ideal location for a town, good surrounding territory well-settled by progressive people. In fact, we have all the requirements for a flourishing city.”

Among those angered by the Doon Press Column was Carole Railsback, who wrote an answering letter saying the town’s five churches are brick, and there are trees, flowers and clean streets.

“You stated you were glad you didn't’t live here,” she said. “With your depressive attitude, I’m glad you don’t, either.”

If the Iowa visitor was wrong about churches and streets, he was right about the way Murdo depends on the interstate highway and the Pioneer Auto Museum. The town, named for Texas cattle baron Murdo MacKenzie, has a dozen eating places, tow I-90 exits of its own, and 10 motels including a Super 8 that opened last season and filled every evening just like the rest of the inns.

“We get a lot of business from the museum,” said Super 8 manager Keith Wesseling. “It doesn't’t hurt that we’re kind of halfway between a lot of places, either. Murdo’s been a traditional stop, long before the interstate.”

Indeed it has been. Generations of South Dakotans remember family trips to the Black Hills on old Highway 16. At Murdo-where your watches turned back an hour to Mountain Standard Time- motels, cafes and restaurants lined both sides of the highway.

The interstate move the main flow of traffic a couple of blocks south, but the strip of motels and cafes, now called hospitality row, remains active.

At the top of hospitality row is what some locals call the WFPAM-the World Famous Pioneer Auto Museum. It includes more than 30 rooms of antique and classic cars and draws hundreds of visitors a day during the travel season.

One of the top attractions at the museum is a 1976 Harley Davidson Electra-Glide motorcycle once owned by Elvis Presley. It’s a black machine with highlights in robins egg blue. The gleaming chrome looks as if it could weigh almost half of the bike’s 800 pounds.

Although Presley died more than 10 years ago, rumors persist that he faked the death and is hiding out. He’s been sighted from one end of the country to the other.

No one in Murdo has claimed to have seen Elvis yet, but his Harley looks ready to ride and, as museum worker Doris Chambliss says, “An awful lot of people come through here every day.”

Murdo in May Auction

Pioneer Auto Museum presented its Murdo in May Collector Car Auction on May 20th in Murdo, SD of which 103 vehicles offered, 62 were declared sold. This represents a 60.2 percent selling rate.
While we have published details about the Pioneer Auto Museum in these pages in the past, this year we were able to attend its annual auction. What we found in central South Dakota was a casual sale with friendly staff, an Elvis impersonator as a ring-man, and an interesting collection of vehicles offered for sale.
Even though Murdo is out in the middle of the prairie, there were plenty of consignors and buyers from all over the country. Indeed, the tent was packed when the first car crossed the block, including several well-known dealers often seen on the auction circuit.
The auction started promptly at 10 a.m., and generally progressed smartly. Granted, “Elvis” twice sang while there were delays in getting cars into the auction tent. By 4 p.m., all was said and done, and for those never having toured the Pioneer Auto Museum, there was still time to view the collection.
The top sale was the only street rod offered, a 1937 Packard 115 coupe that is now powered by a Chevy 350 cid V-8 equipped with a B&M super charger. On the other end of the spectrum were several older pickups that appeared to have just been driven off the ranch, but were generally quite restorable due to minimal rust from spending time on the arid plains.

Enjoying a Tour of Western U.S.

The Mail Office acknowledges a most pleasant visit Tuesday morning, August 23rd with two visitors from Spain, who were stopping in Plankington on their way to and from a tour of the Western United States.

Nuria Barreda and Igor Cortazar, of Bilboa (a city of over 300,000) in the northern part of Spain, spent some time visiting with John and Susan Steele, as they made their way through four states, camping, mountain climbing, and seeing the sights of the “wild west”.

This is the second time Nuria has been to Plankington, having been a foreign exchange student, living with the Steeles for three months in 1996. For Igor this is his first time in the United States and, in fact, the first time he’s been out of his native country.

The couple flew into Minneapolis two weeks ago to begin their sojourn. They met up with the Steele’s daughter, Amanda Sieling, and drove to Sioux Falls where Igor and Nuria rented a car. They then trekked across South Dakota to Leadville, CO, where they climbed Mt. Elbert. Then on to Rocky Mountain National Park, where they saw elk, moose, and other wildlife. Nuria said they were not familiar with moose, and thinking they were some kind of horse, had to ask at the visitor’s center why everyone was so excited when it showed up.

From Colorado they drove through Wyoming seeing the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Park. Stops in Cody to attend a rodeo in the rain, Jackson Hole, and Devils Tower ushered them into South Dakota’s Black Hills. There they experienced another kind of “wildlife” in Deadwood. They met up again with Amanda and her family in Spearfish. Tours of Custer State Park, Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial, Sylvan Lake, and a drive through the Badlands rounded out the western swing of their “once-in-a-lifetime” trip.

Both Nuria and Igor noted that they enjoyed all facets of their experience, but were most intrigued with the Pioneer Auto Museum in Murdo, the likes of which they had never before seen.

We at the Mail Office with them well on their return to Spain, where they will resume their positions as a hardware salesman (Igor) and photo store employee (Nuria). We hope to be able to see them again visit in our fair city.