Dave Dahl - Saddlemaker

While visiting Pierre, SD I stumbled upon the Diamond D Western Wear shop. This is a shop where time has stopped! The clothing shop had some shirts, jeans and hats stacked on shelves, that may have originally been stocked in the 70's or 80's. There were a few boxes of cowboy boots and racks of old (some faded) winter jackets. If "pickers" liked dated western clothing, this shop would be a gold mine!

There is an opening from this shop to the neighboring saddle shop, where I found Dave Dahl working on a bronc saddle. Dave is approaching 80 years old, but he says that doesn't stop him. He has been making saddles for 50 years. He creates 50-60 saddles a year, and said he plans to keep on going!

Dave was inducted into the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame in 2018. He began riding broncs in high school and continued in college, and on the pro circuit for a few years after graduating. He learned to make saddles from a rodeo buddy and can brag that many rodeo stars use his saddles. Of course, Dave wouldn't be so bold as to say anything about any of this. I had no idea that he had such an interesting background, or that his saddles were held in such high regard (although the saddle he was working on was destined for a bronc rider in Australia, so I had an inkling.) Dave was quite unassuming, and a pleasure to talk to.

Leather for saddles in his storage room.

A typical western saddle made by Dahl

Pictures of some bronc champions who were using his saddles.

A newspaper article from the Wrangler Rodeo Finals entitled, "Cowboys Make the Buzzer on Dahl Saddles"

There were many more accolades for Dave and his saddles throughout both shops, found on the walls and shelves, some sandwiched between cowboy attire for sale. Dave pointed out different saddles he had made that were also found throughout the shop. 

Dave posing with a friend of mine in front of one of his saddles.

Another sbot of that saddle showing his signature leather tooling, and his name stamp in the leather below the cantle (back) of the saddle. Notice that bronc saddles have no horn, they really don't have a skirt, the cantle is high and the seat has the rough side of the leather turned out to give a bit more grip. 

One thing I dearly love about our travels is running into folks like Dave.

It's Capitol

 The next step of our Journey:

Pierre, SD (pronounced "peer") was another stopping point for Lewis & Clark. They camped in the area, and held council with the Lakota Indians. A plaque in Fisher's Lilly Park along the Missouri explains that because of the lack of an interpreter the meeting with the Indians (the Teton Sioux) almost led to confrontation.

Lewis & Clark were not the first white men to travel through the area, however. The Louisiana territory had once been under French rule and in 1743 three French explorers buried a lead plaque very near the site where the Lewis & Clark party met with the Indians.

Pierre has a stunning tribute to the armed services with several monuments along the river.

Pierre, in a hotly contested "battle" with Yankton, was named as the capital of South Dakota when it became a state. (Yankton had previously been the capital of the Dakota territory.)

 Like several capitol buildings we have visited, much of the structure uses native materials in its construction. 

Notice that the third balustrade from the top is upside down. This was done purposely because the architect felt that only God can create something that is perfect,

The pillars in the building are not marble. Their marbled look comes from a process called scagliola.

Over the years the building has settled and cracks have appeared in the tiled terrazzo floor. A company that specializes in repairs comes to fix the cracks. In the process they place a heart-shaped tile so in the future they will know if that area was repaired by them previously. 

The artists who created the floor were given 1 blue tile they could place anywhere in the floor as their signature. There are 66 of them on two floors in the building.

Miniature replicas of gowns (and currently the tux) of the Governor's wives (husband) are displayed in the lower floor of the building. The replicas are made using fabric and embellishments from the original gowns. 

House Chamber

Senate Chamber