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Johnny One Feather and the Prospector.

Prospector Statue Of Johnny One Feather

Field review by the editors.

Rapid City, South Dakota

On the drive between Rapid City and Mount Rushmore, one of the roadside distractions is a large fiberglass statue of a prospector, hawking a gold panning operation for tourists.

The man who posed for the statue is the man who ran the business behind it: Johnny One Feather. Johnny told us that he was a green beret who did three tours of duty in Vietnam, was shot three times, was imprisoned in the Hanoi Hilton (where he met John McCain), and went on to become a Hollywood stuntman.

Johnny said he posed for the statue in 1979. That claim may be accurate -- we've seen the same prospector statue at other locales, perhaps knockoffs from the original Johnny mold. Or Johnny just willed himself to eventually look like the existing old prospector mold.

The gold panning set-up is in front of a mural that depicts a mountain stream with a lone prospector working it -- Johnny One Feather.

"Johnny One Feather" Aanrud passed away on March 6, 2018. At that point the Gold Panning Black Hills Gold business appeared to be closed.

Prospector Statue Of Johnny One Feather

Address:
7275 Mt Rushmore Rd, Rapid City, SD
Directions:
On US 16 between three and five miles south of Rapid City. Outside of Indigo Iris Rocks and Stones. South of downtown around two miles on US 16, on the right, just south of the intersection of Catron Blvd.
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Nearby Offbeat Places

Reptile GardensReptile Gardens, Rapid City, SD - 2 mi.
Dinosaur ParkDinosaur Park, Rapid City, SD - 4 mi.
Storybook IslandStorybook Island, Rapid City, SD - 4 mi.
In the region:
Statue #42: Bill Clinton, Rapid City, SD - 5 mi.

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