Deadwood Waif: Ill-advised Frontier journalism?

By

Jerry L. Bryant

The fascinating history of the beautiful village of Deadwood and the surrounding Black Hills have generated a virtual multitude of legends, controversies, myths, outright lies, and documented histories. Perhaps one of the most perplexing controversies concerns gunfights and violent deaths in Deadwood. The myth is that someone met their doom everyday on the streets of Deadwood in a violent manner in the first year of the gold rush.

.That sure would add up to a lot of folks in very short time. Checking with other historians, the number falls short of that, Bob Lee gives an estimate of 77 violent deaths through out the entire Black Hills region during the first 2 years. Having said that, I would like to put emphasis on the word “estimate.”

Who knows how many men and women ran away from home in 1876-77 and never returned? Are some of their bones at the bottom of some abandoned mineshaft with a hundred tons of mill tailings on top of them? How many fell victim to foul play in the wilderness of some forgotten gulch only to have their bones scattered by coyotes and rodents?  Sometime the victim could even die in the center of town and pass un-noticed, never to be recorded, leaving a family to wonder; “why don’t he write?”

Such is the case of “The Waif of Deadwood.”  This article was published in the Black Hills Champion, on August 27, 1877. Was it a true story, or an ill-advised spot of frontier journalism designed to entertain the mining masses? 

Click here to read: THE WAIF OF DEADWOOD 

A fiery past in Deadwood!

According to a "Today in History" piece published by the online Northern Hills Journal, it was 118 years ago this week that a big fire destroyed much of downtown Deadwood.  The blaze wreaked havoc along the west side of Main Street from Wall to Lee streets.

Jerry Bryant, past-president of LCHS recently shared information about another more recent fire in Deadwood.  Learn a bit about the 1959 fire!

Spearfish unveils new signs for historic buildings

Spearfish Historic Preservation Commission
member Lennis Larson shows the sign for Lown
Mercantile, now the Bum Steer at 5th & Illinois. 

The Spearfish Historic Preservation Commission last week showed off some of the new historical markers that will be erected this spring and summer in the downtown business area.

Members of the commission, chaired by Greg Dias, displayed many of the new signs at the Spearfish City Council at their meeting on Tuesday (2/21/12).  Each of the 10 signs that were exhibited contains a narrative that talks about the building depicted on the sign.  The artwork was done by Spearfish native Kevin Miller.

"He's  wonderfully talented artist, and we really appreciate the great work that he's done for us," said Dias.   "We still have another six markers that need to be completed."

The markers that are done will be erected adjacent to the structures they tell about.  Included are:

• Lown Mercantile (now the Bum Steer)
• Mail Building (now Versatile Carpet)
• Odd Fellows Hall (now NAPA Auto Parts)
• American National Bank (now the Back Porch)
• Old Spearfish City Hill (now an office building)
• Spearfish Filling Station (still in operation as a service station)
• Queen City Hotel (Bay Leaf Cafe)
• Billiard Hall (Across the Pond Interiors)
• Seth Bullock Building (Bridal Boutique and Prom Too)
• Matthews Block (several businesses along Main Street)

For more information about the Spearfish Historic Preservation Commission, visit their website at: http://spearfishhpc.com/index.htm

Davis busy on speaking trail

LCHS life member Vernon Davis has been a busy man for the past few weeks, speaking before a couple of audiences in Lawrence and Butte counties.

On January 3rd, Davis spoke to about 75 members of the Spearfish Area Historical Society in Spearfish about his great uncle, "Buckskin" Johnny Spaulding, who was a key figure in the history surrounding the old Spearfish stockade.  It was just one of many chapters of history about Spaulding, who was among early pioneers in this region of South Dakota.

Then on January 7th, Davis was on the speaking circuit again -- albeit to a somewhat smaller group -- regarding cemetery preservation.

You can read more about his cemetery presentation in Belle Fourche by simply clicking on this link to the online Butte County Post.

Case Library at Black Hills State University

A few weeks ago, the Friends of Case Library at Black Hills State University distributed the fall edition of "The Black Hills Historian."  It contains several interesting pieces, including an abbreviated version of the Johnson Siding story that we posted here last week.  The newsletter also offers a variety of helpful tips, including a "Highlighted Resource," which this time focuses upon Lawrence County tax records.  Well worth a visit.  There's also a feature called "Highlighted Collection," which for this issue is described in the article below by Dr. David Wolff and Roberta Sago.  Our thanks to both of them for allowing us to re-print their article here.

 Highlighted Collection:  

Wharf/Bald Mountain Mining Records

The records donated by the Wharf Mining Company deal primarily with the Bald Mountain Mining Company (BMMC), which was organized in 1928 and operated intermittently in the Bald Mountain/Terry Peak areas until 1959. While the company was a late arrival in terms of Black Hills mining history, the ground it worked had been prospected and developed since 1877. In that year, A.J. Smith located the claims that eventually became part of the Bald Mountain Mining Company.

The first actual mining company to precede the BMMC was the Portland Mining Co., organized in 1880, but its production was limited because of difficulties in treating the area’s refractory gold ore. In 1911 the Portland Company purchased the American Eagle Mining Co., including its cyanide mill, and the property was reorganized as the Trojan Mining Co. From that time until 1923, the Trojan company produced about 300,000 ounces of gold. Rising costs caused this company to close, and the property underwent another reorganization, this time as the Bald Mountain Mining Co.  

The new entity did some exploration, but actual production did not begin until 1933 when the government raised the price of gold to $35 an ounce. The increase allowed the company to do well, but only for a time. With the price of gold fixed at $35 an ounce through the 1950s, profits disappeared and the operation closed. The Wharf took control of the property in the 1980s when the federal government stopped regulating the price of gold, and mining again became profitable.

The Wharf Records collection consists of 10.5 cubic feet or records and more than 1,000 mining maps and blueprints.  Materials are dated from 1893-1960 and include:  Balance Sheets1949-1954; Journal dated 1934-1958, recording ore mined, weight, dry, bullion, percent of water, percent of bullion; Invoices 1956-1958, detailing purchase Records, Stock Records of Equipment, List of and location of Equipment on property, Record  of Supplies Purchased from the Company by the miners; Information about other mining companies; BMMC Investigations into other types of ore; Mill performance data; Surveyor’s Log; General Assay Book; Test Notes; Oil Lands and Leases 1897-1920; Uranium, Uranium Mining 1953-1955, Uranium Legislation 1950-1955, Uranium Analysis 1953-1955; Advertising Pamphlets and catalogs; Information on and correspondence concerning new equipment 1934-1958; Personnel Records; Order book; Wage scale; Abstracts of Title; Shipment Statements; Purchase Orders; C.E. Dawson Correspondence, 1937-1948; Traverse Sheets; and Calculation Sheets.

Wharf Resources, Inc. donated these records in 1987.  You can search the inventory of the maps online at:

 http://iis.bhsu.edu/lis/specialcollections/search.cfm

In addition to the materials donated in 1987, The City of Deadwood Archives donated 28 boxes of materials and nine ledgers to enhance the Wharf / Bald Mountain Mining Records collection.  These documents cover the company history from the 1930s to the 1950s.

NOTE:  Case Library is located on the second floor of the E.Y. Berry Library-Learning Center on the campus of Black Hills State University.  More information about the library can be found at:  Case Library.

Johnson Siding...

A History of a Black Hills Sawmill

There are so many places across the region that have fascinating histories that it's hard to keep up with them.  And sometimes we drive right by familiar locations, not fully appreciating the history behind them.

Such is the case of Johnson Siding, nestled along South Dakota Highway 44 about 10 miles west of Rapid City.  Just over the county line in Pennington County, it's one of those places that we often hear about, perhaps frequently drive by, but without giving much thought to its history -- or how it got its name.

Fortunately, an Adjunct Instructor of History for Black Hills State University at the University Center in Rapid City has helped fill the void regarding Johnson Siding.

Erik Iverson researched and wrote the following article while enrolled in the Mountains of History (MOH) program supported by a grant from the U. S. Department of Education.  It was in collaboration with Black Hills State University, Mt. Rushmore National Memorial, the Chiesman Foundation, Crazy Horse Memorial, and Technology in Education (TIE) of Rapid City.  A resident of Rapid  City since 1984, Iverson graduated from Rapid City Central and earned a degree in Social Studies from Black Hills State University.  He has a Master's Degree in American History from Ashland University in Ohio and has taught in Rapid City Schools for 12 years.

Iverson's research into Johnson Siding is also a bit of family research.  His wife of nearly 20 years, Heidi, was a Johnson.  They have four children:  Emily, 14; Isaak, 11; Aaron, 9; and Aiden, 6. It was Heidi's great, great, grandfather Johnson whose name became indelibly linked to that special place called Johnson Siding.

Our thanks to Erik Johnson for allowing us to publish here his article entitled:

They Call It Johnson Siding:  a History of a Black Hills Sawmill

A peek at early education in Deadwood

Jerry Bryant

Jerry Bryant, immediate past president of the Lawrence County Historical is a dogged researcher and frequent contributor to our on-line newsletter.

Jerry's latest initiative has been an examination of education in early Deadwood, and -- as usual -- he's found a bevy of interesting information that old-timers and newcomers alike will enjoy.  After poring through 10 years of archived copies of the Black Hills Pioneer and the Black Hills Times, Jerry offers a glimpse of early Deadwood schools -- and teachers.

Prominent among them was the lady Jerry identifies as the first public school teacher in Deadwood, Minnie Callison, whose early demise is described in Jerry Bryan's article. Click on the link below to read:

Deadwood Public Schools 1876-1886
Read more (click here and scroll down!)...

Cerney tells about Black Hills fire towers

It was 100 years ago that the first fire rustic lookout was built in the Black Hills atop Harney Peak, the highest point between the Rocky Mountains and the European Alps.  The structure was quite modest when compared to the stone lookouts later erected by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930’s.  By mid-Twentieth Century, steel towers had replaced many of the old wooden structures.

Author Jan Cerney (left) with
LCHS president Jeannine Guern

South Dakota author Jan Cerney shared a few photos and lots of facts about fire towers with members of the Lawrence County Historical Society on Sunday (11/13/11)  at the organization’s annual meeting in Deadwood.  The dinner session was held at the Homestake Adams Research and Cultural Center and was catered by the Stage Stop Café at Cheyenne Crossing.

Cerney’s presentation was largely based on a book about Harney Peak and the Historic Fire Lookout Towers of the Black Hills National Forest that she co-authored with Roberta Sago of Black Hills State University.   Cerney lives on a ranch with her husband, Bob, in the South Dakota Bad Lands.  Both Cerney and Sago have authored several books published by Arcadia, a leading publisher of local histories across the United States.

“Before they even began to construct towers, horses were used to patrol the area, and they’d have to ride a distance to report any fires,” said Cerney.

 Early lookout towers were quite humble, including those that were created simply by driving spikes into a tall tree, allowing a lookout to climb to a high vantage point to scan the region.  That was the simple strategy employed by the Homestake Mine lookout that was used near Moskee.  They later added a platform to the top.

This fire tower at Cement Ridge near the Wyoming-South Dakota border is one
of only a few such facilities that remain in operation across the Black Hills.

 “Most of the old towers that were built later have become hiking destinations – some are gone and totally destroyed – but a few are still used,” she noted.  They include structures at Mount Coolidge, Bear Mountain, Cement Ridge, Elk Mountain, and at Warren Peak in Wyoming.

“The Lakota called Harney Peak the center of the world,” Cerney told the group.  “Lakota leader Black Elk, his son Ben, poet John Neihardt and his daughters Enid and Hilda made a pilgrimage to Harney Peak back in 1931.”

Stage Coach Cafe at Cheyenne Crossing provided
a superb lunch for the annual meeting of the LCHS.

The next year, Neihardt and Black Elk collaborated on the book Black Elk Speaks, which told the story of Black Elk, a Lakota medicine man.

Cerney showed a few of the more than 200 photographs included in her book.   Today, perhaps the most recognizable remaining watch tower is the stone structure perched more than 7,200 feet above the Black Hills on Harney Peak.  It typifies the solid structures that were the handiwork of the CCC, which started building the tower in April of 1938.  By that November, they had used some 7,000 stones, 500 bricks, and 15,000 hollow tiles.  It was completed in 1939.

 The November 13th meeting served as the Annual Meeting for the Lawrence County Historical Society.  New officers were introduced, including Jeannine Guern of Deadwood, president; Norma Kraemer of Deadwood, vice-president; Jacke Mitchell of Spearfish, treasurer; and Donna Watson of Deadwood, secretary.  Members were delight to see Jerry Bryant and his wife, Linda, at this meeting.  Bryant had stepped down from the presidency earlier this year due to health reason.

You can review more photographs and additional information about the November meeting in our Historical Marker Gallery.

Weavers battle Preston Cemetery vegetation

Jim and Verla Weaver visited the Preston Cemetery on Sunday, October 2, welcomed by a rather overwhelming overgrowth of vegetation.  They cut down 40 or 50 finger sized saplings, a couple of two-inch pines, and many weeds.

"There were many thistles, some poison ivy, and many other weeds," Jim said.

"In general the site looks very good. It was a good time to visit as the fall colors were beautiful and the temp was good for working.

As we were approached the cemetery, perhaps as close as 100 yard from the cemetery, we surprised a mountain lion in the the road. He quickly turned about face and bounded into the woods."

Verla snapped this photo shortly after they arrived at the cemetery.

Black Hills Feature Film Company

More than a decade before the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences began staging Academy Award ceremonies in Hollywood, one of the earliest western films about Wild Bill Hickock was produced in…….Chadron, Nebraska?

Not that the movie would have won an Oscar. According to the Nebraska State Historical Society, it wasn’t even close to being an accurate depiction of Wild Bill, but it was an ambitious undertaking for a group of local folks in Chadron who produced the film.

Entitled Wild Bill and Calamity Jane in the Days of ’75 and ’76, the 1916 movie was said to have embraced several “state of the art” production techniques, including film masking and titles within the film. Most intriguing for us was the fact that local citizens created the Black Hills Feature Film Company and sold stock in an effort to bankroll the project. We don’t know how many shares they sold, but one “William Chalk” was the proud owner of Certificate No. 4, shown here.

Interestingly, the certificate is signed by Willis Schenck, Secretary, and A. L. Andrews, President, of the Black Hills Feature Film Company – and Schenck also performed in the film. According to the credits, he played the role of “Nettie’s father.”

But the real limelight of this film was focused on a young lady by the name of Freeda Hartzell Romine, who – according to the Centennial History of Chadron, Nebraska (1985) – was born in Nebraska but grew up in Deadwood, South Dakota. That’s where, so the story goes, she learned to become an expert rifle shot and honed her skills well enough to appear in the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis with Will Rogers. She would have been only about 12 or 13 years old. The photo here shows Freeda with fellow performers in Wild Bill and Calamity Jane in the Days of '75 and '76.

The young lass also toured with Buffalo Bill Cody’s Western Show for several years, according to an account in Dawes County - The First 100 Years, published in 1985. She and her railroader husband, Guy Romine, had a daughter, Catherine. Many years later, the Romine’s divorced. Freeda reportedly lived for several more years in Chadron, but also had a home in Indiana. We know nothing about her final days.

Other "locals" in the film included Freeda's mother, Mary Hartzell, who portrayed Calamity's mother, and A.L. Johnson, who was cast as Wild Bill. Barney Efting played the infamous Jack McCall, while Dick Iaeger was Calamity's brother. In researching this local drama troupe, we discovered that Iaeger was an uncle to Karen (Kindig) Schlais, who still lives in Chadron.

Alas, this film – and the film company – were also lost in obscurity. Fortunately, the movie was finally “re-discovered” some years ago and placed in the Nebraska archives in Lincoln. It was dusted off and featured a few years ago by Nebraska Educational Television in their Next Exit series.

Enjoy this glimpse of film magic that is nearly 100 years old.

~

Australian inquiry -- can anyone help?

We've received an inquiry from an Australian author named Anthony Hill.  It concerns an early-day Deadwood resident by the name of John G. Cowper.   You'll find the full text of Mr. Hill's communication in this LCHS Inquiry document.  Please contact him directly, if you're able to lend a hand to a friend from "Down Under."

Despite rain.....Historic Homes Tour a success!

More than 80 people joined the Lawrence County Historical Society for its first Historic Homes Tour yesterday (5/22/11) in historic Deadwood.

Despite relentless rains that had swollen creeks around the area, tour participants began aggregating at the Homestake Adams Archives and Cultural Center (HARCC) shortly after noon, eager to get started on the adventure.

“We were delighted with the turnout,” said event chairman Jeannine Guern. “It was a new experience for us, and we hope to build on this opportunity and create even better tours in the future.”

The Louie LeLonde home was one of five homes
included in the LCHS Historic Homes Tour.

Bad weather and reducing the number of homes on the tour from seven to five didn’t seem to dampen the spirits of participants.

“This was a wonderful experience – rich with history,” one young man told LCHS volunteers after the tour.

For the Lawrence County Historical Society (LCHS), the event netted more than $800.

The society is deeply grateful to the owners of the historic homes included in the tour. They not only allowed participants to come in to their homes – they enriched the experience by sharing information and stories about the historic structures.  You'll find additional photos and narrative information in our LCHS Gallery.

Our sincere thanks go to: Louie LaLonde, Raven Van Tassell, Lynn Namminga, Larry Kracht, and Dustin and Laura Floyd. Without their participation and support, the tour simply could not have succeeded.

The  Dustin & Laura Floyd home is in the midst
of significant restoration and improvement.

Bruce Oberlander of Dakota Graphics was great help with our posters and other print materials, while Mary Kopco and staff at the Homestake Adams Research and Cultural Center were unwavering in their support for this event.

Lots of LCHS volunteers worked long and hard to ensure the success of the tour. Among them: Donna Watson, Jeannine Guern, Lynn Namminga, Jacke Mitchell, Linda Bryant, Norma Kraemer, Judy Farris, Larry Miller, Marshall Raeburn, Mike Runge, as well as Sam and Linda Namminga.  Also, a tip of the hat to Deadwood Trolley driver Richard Marsolek, who did a superb job of shuttling people as needed between locations.  Of course, the assistance and support from the City of Deadwood, which provided the Trolley, was invaluable.

By the way, you'll find a nice set of interior photographs of the Lynn Namminga home in our Namminga Gallery. 

Many thanks to both First Gold and Four Aces casinos for donating free dinners to two lucky tour participants: Barbara Ayer of Nemo and Doug Kraft of Belle Fourche.  Congratulations Barbara and Doug!