Black Hills

Epic landmarks in American history lie everywhere close to the interstate highway system. One of these is Custer Battlefield National Monument. Marking the site where Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and the 250 troopers of his 7th Cavalry were defeated by the Indians in the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Custer Battlefield is within sight of Interstate 90, a few miles from here in southeastern Montana. It was 110 years ago that Custer and his men made their legendary Last Stand.

In South Dakota, the battle of Wounded Knee rages. More than a century after a shootout between white soldiers and Sioux Indians gave the site a place in history, debate continues over whether it should remain in the hands of American Indians or be given to the National Park Service. Legislation in the Senate and House would pay tribute to Wounded Knee by designating it a national memorial and park. Action is expected in both houses this year. These days, Wounded Knee, in the heart of the extremely poor Pine Ridge reservation, is identified only by a tiny concrete marker put there by the family of one of the dead.

Now that Tom Harkin's home-state win in the Iowa caucuses is settled, the Democratic Party faces a potentially critical showdown in a sparsely populated, snow-belt state with no income tax. No, not New Hampshire. South Dakota. The nation's second presidential primary, scheduled in the land of the Black Hills on Feb. 25, is suddenly shaping up as a key contest, perhaps a do- or-die test for two Midwestern Democrats - Harkin and Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey. New Hampshire remains the campaign's first showcase event.

Charles W. Hargens Jr., 103, of Carversville, whose drawings of cowboys and Indians, horses and sagebrush appeared on the covers of novels and in the Saturday Evening Post and other national magazines, died Thursday in the health-care center at Pine Run Community near Doylestown. Mr. Hargens gained national recognition more than 60 years ago for illustrations of Western scenes that appeared in or on the covers of the Saturday Evening Post, Colliers, Liberty, McCall's, Boys' Life and other magazines, many of which were published in Philadelphia.

Joe Burke's wife was expecting a call from him Tuesday night, letting her know how his Skidmore College basketball team made out in an NCAA Division III game at Southern Vermont. "At 11:30, she hadn't heard from me," the Skidmore coach said Wednesday. "She's worried, wondering what happened. " Just the longest game in Division III history, equaling the longest game in NCAA history. In his third game as basketball coach for the small, liberal-arts college in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Burke saw his team prevail over Southern Vermont in seven overtimes.

It's been nearly 10 years since this place was officially the Custer Battlefield, but to the dismay of many, not much else has changed on this austerely beautiful hill in southeastern Montana. The heavily visited site, part of the National Park Service, is still virtually a shrine to Lt. Col. George A. Custer and 261 other members of the U.S. Seventh Cavalry who were wiped out on a hot summer Sunday in 1876. Plans to build a monument to honor the victors - Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and all Indians who fought to preserve their way of life against white intruders - have been stalled so long that frustration occasionally boils over.

Our family wants to visit Mount Rushmore this summer, but we've heard they're doing work on the monument, and we wonder if we should put off our trip until fall. F.W., Hammonton There's no need to worry about scaffolding or any other obstructions of the view this summer, said Jim Popovich, chief of visitors services at Mount Rushmore. There is a study of the monument's "structural stability" under way, but it consists of analyzing photographs and other data recorded late last year.

Gary Mule Deer is a busy guy these days. "Yeah, every seven years I get hot for about three months," he said. Mule Deer has a lot of lines like that. "Show business is my life but I can't prove it," for instance. And, "Bigger things than ever have been falling through for me lately. " Just kidding, of course. Mule Deer, who will be opening for Crystal Gayle at the TropWorld Casino and Entertainment Resort tomorrow through Monday, has carved out a comfortable career, even though he is not quite a household name.

If the stone-faced presidents carved on this mountain could hear people talk, they'd cry an avalanche. In the high plains and Black Hills of South Dakota, people regard Washington, D.C., with a deep rage, a sense that the government has broken trust with them as it broke treaties with the Sioux a century ago. People out here - ranchers, teachers, builders, clerks - are so angry about the state of the nation that many say they would vote for...

At 98, artist and illustrator Charles Hargens has lost interest in painting, but he still likes to draw in pen and ink. The Carversville resident maintains a studio and sketches the historic spots of the Pennsylvania countryside, especially houses and barns. Hargens first gained national recognition in the 1920s for his illustrations of western scenes for magazines such as the Saturday Evening Post, Colliers and McCall's His authentic scenes of romance and adventure were also used for the covers of some Zane Grey novels.