July 12-13, 2017
We enjoyed exploring towns and sites that until now had just been names.
Lead, South Dakota
We started in Lead (pronounced “Leed”), home of the Homestake Mine. Gold was discovered there in 1876 as part of the Black Hills gold rush and the mine was the largest and deepest in North America when it closed in 2002 after producing almost 40 million troy ounces of gold.
This open cut was used for only a few years. Most of the Homestake Mine’s ore was brought from deep underground.
The mine is now the site of underground research in physics processes studying neutrinos and dark matter. The sculpture pictured below was created to honor Raymond Davis, Jr., the Nobel prize-winning physicist who conducted the first experiment to observe solar neutrinos. It is a ring segment of the 100,000 gallon tank used 4,000 feet below.
Deadwood, South Dakota
Deadwood was settled illegally–the Dakota Territory had been given by treaty to the Sioux–and was known for being lawless. It was populated by gamblers, gunslingers, prostitutes and drinkers. Many of its buildings have a Victorian flavor.
A number of Deadwood residents have become the stuff of legends. We visited the Mount Moriah Cemetery where the remains of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane are interred.
And we learned about Seth Bullock. Bullock was Deadwood’s first sheriff. [He also owned a ranch at the fork of the Red and Belle Fourche Rivers and was instrumental in the founding of the town of Belle Fourche.] Bullock and a partner built the hotel pictured below in Deadwood in 1894.
Bullock became friends with Theodore Roosevelt when the latter was a deputy sheriff from Medora, ND. Roosevelt and Bullock remained friends: Bullock hosted Roosevelt’s sons on his ranch and was appointed by Roosevelt as Forest Supervisor of the Black Hills Reserve. When Roosevelt died, Bullock and the Black Hills Pioneers built a monument to honor the former President. Bullock’s grave in Mount Moriah Cemetery faces the monument.
Sundance, Wyoming
This town of about 1,000 people was named for the Sun Dance ceremony practiced by the Lakota and other Indigenous people of the Plains. We were familiar with the name largely from the 1968 film “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”. Harry Longabaugh was a member of Butch Cassidy’s Wild Bunch and got his nickname of “The Sundance Kid” after being held in the town’s jail in 1888.
We’ve enjoyed geocaching and found an 8-cache challenge in Sundance. It was a great way to get to know a lovely town–and see a few pronghorn antelope who did not want to cooperate for photos, as usual.
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