I just returned from a reader/author
event in Deadwood, SD. If you’re an author, this is the event for you. If you’re
a reader, this is definitely the event for you. If you want to visit the Black
Hills and wonder what else there is to do, check out Wild Deadwood Reads. I’m
really hoping that this event will be scheduled for next year.
As a history buff, Deadwood is a
dream. History oozes from the bricks, whispers through the pines, and stares
you in the face. Other than Bill Hickok meeting his untimely end in Deadwood
and a few tidbits about Calamity Jane, I really didn’t know a lot about
Deadwood’s history before I left for this event. So, being the curious type, I
started searching on the Internet. (All the subsequent information is gleaned
from the official site of the town of Deadwood.)
In 1875, a miner named John B.
Pearson found gold in a narrow canyon in the Northern Black Hills. This canyon
became known as "Deadwood Gulch," because of the many dead trees that
lined the canyon walls at the time. The name stuck and Deadwood was born…kinda.
It wasn’t until the gold rush into the Black Hills in 1876 that the town was
established.
Deadwood circa 1876 |
Deadwood’s early history matches
that of most frontier gold towns—wild, fairly lawless, and with a male
population that vastly outnumbered that of the “fairer sex.” Saloons, gambling
establishments, dance halls, and brothels were all considered legitimate
businesses and were well known throughout the area. However, by 1877, Deadwood
was evolving from a primitive mining camp to a community with a sense of order.
The community organized a government, hired a sheriff to keep law and order,
and began the transition from frontier to civilization. That transition almost
came to an abrupt end when a fire on September 26, 1879 burned most of the
business district. Rather than quit, the community set about to rebuild and
passed laws requiring only certain building materials to be used for all
construction. (Most of Deadwood’s historical district is constructed of brick
and mortar for this reason.)
In 1890, the Fremont, Elkhorn, and
Missouri Valley Railroad connected Deadwood to the outside world. Prior to
that, in March 1878, Paul Rewman established Western South Dakota's first
telephone exchange in Deadwood. Yes, you read that right—the telephone was in
Deadwood. A flood in 1883 almost destroyed the town and another fire in 1894
took out a lot of the older timber constructed buildings, yet Deadwood
continued on. Today, it is a tourist destination, a gambler’s paradise (perhaps
harkening back to its much earlier days), and a gem of a city set in the
stunning beauty of the Black Hills.
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