Having lived in South Dakota for over 40 years, I assumed everyone knew about the Pioneer Auto Show in Murdo.

I mean, everyone knows about Mt. Rushmore (it's getting harder and harder to convince people it was made by Mother Nature), Wall Drug (yes, that's an honest-to-goodness Jackalope), and the World's Only Corn Palace (I'm not kidding, the entire structure is made of nothin' but corn).

So I was kind of surprised when a friend said he and his wife saw one of the coolest things they'd ever seen on their vacation last summer, something they weren't aware of (I was waiting for him to say 'Geez, who knew they had gambling in Deadwood!'.)

As it turns out, they were motoring along I90 (that's that black-topped 4-lane that runs east-west), pulled into Murdo for some gas and thought 'What the heck, let's bop into that car museum for a few minutes then hit the road'.

About three hours later they got back into their car (not a museum piece, but a decent '08 Malibu) and he said all they talked about on the way back to Sioux Falls was what they'd seen at that tourist stop. I had to remind him that 'tourist stop' was properly called the Pioneer Auto Show. To which he said 'Well, it's a whole lot more than auto's'!

So I explained to him that I first met Dave (the owner) back in the 1980's when I lived in Rapid City, and have had him on my radio show over the years several times, and that it would be a little hard to put everything at the museum on a billboard. Can you imagine the size of that thing?

The Pioneer Auto, Lunch Pail, Guns, License Plates, Beer Signs, Telephones, Nickelodeons, Motorcycles, Tractors, Bicycles, Circus Games, Radios, Rocks & Gems and More Show

That, I told him, would be one huge billboard! Plus, that only tells people about a part of what the Pioneer Auto Show has.

You see, Dave's dad started the place back in 1954 and it's been growing and growing ever since. Heck, even Mike & Frank with 'American Picker's' had an episode where they stopped in.

So yes, if you're a car lover (like Jack is) or you're not a car lover (like Bonnie isn't), you'll have to make a stop at the Pioneer Auto Show in Murdo. Just take the Murdo exit off I90 and well, Murdo is small enough that it's truly a 'you can't miss it' place.

 

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