Marron Bingle-Davis

Sunshine Valley Petroleum Corporation

Between the U.S. and the Oglala, Miniconjou, and Brule Lakota, Yanktonai Dakota, and Arapaho people

Signed at Fort Laramie April 29, 1868

Guaranteed Black Hills to the Lakota as well as hunting rights in the area – Powder River Country was off limits to whites

Ended Red Cloud’s War over Powder River Country and Bozeman Trail - ~300 dead

People were living in the Deadwood area by the early 1870s disputing the treaty

1874: George Armstrong Custer led an expedition out of Ft. Lincoln into the Black Hills

Custer reported gold at French Creek (near Custer, SD)

All small quantities until November, 1875 – found gravels with larger amounts in Whitewood and Deadwood Creeks

Deadwood turned from a few illegals to a camp of 5,000 people

By 1876, a wagon train was bringing people and supplies

1877 - the Black Hills were seized

French Creek

Several earlier reports of gold, but nothing official

Last Testament of Ezra Kind found in 1887 documented his trip in 1833 where they “got all of the gold we could carry” – he was killed by Indians shortly after

1860s, Father De Smet reported seeing Sioux carrying gold they said came from the Black Hills – he did not pursue further

More rumors of gold existed throughout the region from the early 1800s on

The discovery quickly turned into a full Gold Rush

Claims expanded from French Creek up into the rest of the Black Hills

Charlie and Steve Utter’s wagon train brought in miners, businessmen, gamblers, and prostitutes 30 wagons from Georgetown, CO to Deadwood, SD

They also created an express delivery to Cheyenne - 25¢ a letter

Deadwood 1876 - It was still a camp, rough and lawless

September 26, 1879 a fire broke out around Main St.

Destroyed more than 300 buildings including some people’s entire belongings

The fire combined with declining placer deposits led many to leave

Most businesses rebuilt better than before

Deadwood after rebuilding

Seth Bullock – Originally came to Deadwood to open a

hardware store, eventually became Sheriff and civilized the

camp

Sol Star – Opened a hardware store with Bullock in 1876, after it burned they built a

luxury hotel, Bullock Hotel, which still stands – served as

both postmaster and later mayor

Al Swearengen – Infamous and brutal

owner of the Gem Theater, he lured and

often beat women into prostitution

Poker Alice – Cigar smoker and prolific gambler, men came from all over just to

challenge her

Potato Creek Johnny – 4’ 3” prospector who

found the largest gold nugget ever in the Black

Hills

Wild Bill came to Deadwood via Utters’ wagon train in July, 1876

August 2, 1876 Hickok was playing poker at Nuttal & Mann’s Saloon

He normally sat with his back to the wall, but he joined to game late and despite his pleas with Charles Rich to change seats, he sat with his back to the door

Jack McCall, a former buffalo hunter, pointed a gun at Hickok’s head and yelled “Damn you, take that!”

The bullet hit Hickok in the back of the head killing him instantly

McCall was tried twice due to the legality of Deadwood and he was hanged March 1, 1877

Came to Deadwood in 1877 and opened a grocery with his brother Adams Brothers Banner Grocery

In the fire of 1879, it burned to the ground, but they rebuilt better than ever

They made a fortune and W.E. became one of the most prominent citizens of Deadwood

He bequeathed his very large house to Deadwood and now it is a museum

Women were at first in high demand

Sarah Campbell was one of the first non-native women in Deadwood Daughter of a slave On Custer’s 1874 expedition as a cook She stayed and prospected, and later co-

founded the Custer Park Mining Company

The wagon train brought in over 180 prostitutes, including Madam Mustache, Dirty Emma, and Dora DuFran who owned the most successful brothel in Deadwood

Madam Mustache Dora DuFran

Martha Bullock Wife of Seth Bullock Worked to educate and civilize

Deadwood Opened the Deadwood library in

1895

Calamity Jane Frontierswoman who wore men’s

clothes Worked as a scout for the Army Joined Utters’ wagon train and

befriended them and Wild Bill Hickok

During the gold rush, ~500 Chinese resided in Deadwood – mostly bachelor laborers

1883 flood destroyed much of Main St. and they rebuilt on the preexisting rock walls – created a series of underground tunnels

The Chinese liked the tunnels to move their goods due to an ordinance that the Chinese could not be out past dark

Tunnels also home to several opium dens

Two of Deadwood’s haunted buildings – The Bullock Hotel (1894)

and the Franklin Hotel (1903)

The Bullock is reportedly haunted by Seth Bullock himself as well as other various apparitions and

ghostly orbs

Black Hills mining began from purely placer deposits

1874 – Custer reported gold near French Creek

1875 – John B. Pearson found gold in Deadwood Gulch

By 1876, miners had claimed all land around creeks in the Black Hills 1,000s of people still flocked to the area

Over 7,000 miners came through and around $1.5 M of gold extracted during the rush

Treasure Wagons like this one would carry as much as $250,000-$350,000 worth of gold in one shipment to Cheyenne – Heavily armed, they were still a target for

bandits…heavy gold bricks were at least a deterrent - $350,000 = 1,000 lbs

1888 – J.K.P. Miller founded Deadwood Central Railroad

New railroad replaced previous methods of bringing supplies, people, and gold in and out of the Black Hills

While most were looking for the easy placer gold, some went looking for the source – the Mother Lode

By 1880, the rush had died down and mining turned almost entirely to hard rock

Once the transient placer miners left, Deadwood became a more respectable town

Discovered by Fred and Moses Manuel, Alex Engh, and Hank Harney in April 1876

George Hearst and other investors bought the mine for $70,000 in 1877

October, 1877 Hearst took over the property and began hauling in equipment

Moses Manuel

George Hearst

1878 – an 80-stamp mill was erected and began crushing ore

1879 – Homestake went public, one of longest lived stocks on the New York Stock Exchange

Hearst began buying up all claims around the mine - one of his employees supposedly killed a man not wanting to sell

Homestake Mine 1889

While most of the other mines closed in early 1900s, Homestake kept on going Due to size of deposit despite relatively low grade

During the Great Depression, Roosevelt raised the price of gold to $35/oz to help the economy – Homestake had a boom

During World War II, government classified gold mining as nonessential and Homestake closed

Homestake Mine- 1900

Typical Ore

After the war Homestake reopened but struggled due to the price of gold

Nixon removed government control from gold and the price skyrocketed – Homestake had another boom in the 1980s

Since then the price of gold fell and Homestake ceased operations in 2001

Black Hills were off limits, but we went in anyway

Custer found gold and set off a gold rush that led the government to seize the land Gold rush led to lawless atmosphere

Placer mining during the initial rush led to more sophisticated hard rock mining, which also led to the civilization of Deadwood

Homestake Mine, the largest of Black Hills mines, was also the largest and deepest gold mine in America when it closed

Almost 50 million ounces of gold extracted from the Black Hills with almost 40 million from Homestake alone

1876

1889

Today Any Questions?