Beautiful weather for a great Fall Tour!

Dr. David Wolff, a history professor at Black Hills State University, shares background information about the "Friendship Tower" atop Mount Roosevelt during the Lawrence County Historical Society Fall Tour on Sunday, September 23rd. We'll be sharing more photos and information in the next few days. 



President's Note: "...a snapshot of our culture"

by Norma Kraemer

The Lawrence County Historical Society has been preserving our local history since 1969 through the efforts of its members.  One of its most notable achievements was a history book compiled and printed in 1981 titled Some History of Lawrence County.  The book is out of print and can sometimes be found as a used book in local stores.  

However, thirty years have passed and much has happened in that intervening time.  Public history is thriving with the Adams Museum, High Plains Heritage Center, and the Days of 76 Museum to name a few of the local venues.  However, the members of the Lawrence County Historical Society need to realize that they all need to participate in some way to persevere our history before it is lost. While the activities of one of your family members might seem relevant to only your immediate family, they are all part of the larger history of our area and need to be saved.

Many years ago, my sister took me to visit the main cemetery in Atlanta, GA, when she was living there, for a Sunday afternoon.  While we knew no one there, it certainly gave me an education in the culture of the Civil War, the Victorian Era, and the way people saw death up through the 1960’s.  Locally, Mt. Moriah Cemetery gives a different snapshot of our culture.  The Atlanta cemetery’s overwhelming lesson for me was that women, while cherished by the number of stunning angels gracing their tombstones, were still without historic significance in the view of society.  Most Victorian tombstones with the angels were inscribed “Mother” but she had no name of her own.  Under the moniker of “Mother,” it might say that Susie and Johnnie were her children.

 

Lawrence County is dotted with small cemeteries, often in disrepair.  Past groups of members have cleaned up cemeteries and tried to keep them from becoming a victim of a mining project.  The future will be more of the same vigilance to keep this most basic of history preserved.  One cannot hope that surviving relatives of the departed can do this job because often, there is no one left in the family.  The larger community must assume that role.  Therefore, if you know of a cemetery that needs attention please let us know so efforts can be organized to preserve those memories. 

If cemeteries are not your priority, there are also other activities that will preserve our Lawrence County history.  Just bring your ideas forward to see if we can collectively keep our history from being lost.  

Aviation pioneer Vern Kraemer dies at 95

Vern Kraemer (1917-2012)

We are sorry to report the death of Luverne "Vern" Kraemer.  He died yesterday (6/20/12) at the age of 95 in Rapid City.   

The husband of LCHS vice-president Norma Kraemer, Vern Kraemer was a South Dakota aviation pioneer.  Born in Parker, South Dakota, Kraemer spent his early years in Wood -- and later Nemo.  And while he was first trained as a blacksmith, it was aviation that captured his imagination and attention -- a fascination that lasted more than eight decades.

Kramer earned his pilot's license in 1940 at the Spearfish airport, where he later worked as a mechanic for another aviation pioneer, Clyde Ice.  Your can read much more about this remarkable man in this Vern Kraemer online obituary.

During World War II, Kraemer was a mechanic and pilot with the Civil Air Patrol's Coastal Patrol.  Sixty years ago, after working as a mechanic for Boeing Aircraft and later as a commercial pilot, mechanic and flight instructor, he built the first licensed home-built aircraft in South Dakota.  That American Triwing aircraft is now  exhibited in the terminal building at Rapid City Regional Airport.  That aircraft -- and Vern Kraemer -- were recently the subjects of considerable media coverage, including this story and video carried by the Rapid City Fox News affiliate, KEVN. 

Our thoughts and prayers are with Norma Kraemer and all of the Kraemer family during this difficult time.

Nemo Road area in the flood of '72

by Norma Kraemer

Luverne "Vern" Kraemer and his first wife Bertha survived the Flood of ’72 at their home at the Box K Ranch three miles south of Nemo, SD. Luverne took the pictures in black and white the morning after the flood on June 10, 1972. The water was starting to recede, but the damage was obvious. He traveled as far north as Este Creek and as far south as the Pennington/Meade County line to take these pictures. Washed out bridges blocked travel beyond these locations. For a month after the flood, he had to travel to HWY 385 using Merritt-Estes Road and then to Johnson Siding to get to his job at the Rapid City airport because Nemo Road was impassable to Rapid City. 

Este Creek flooding at Nemo Road - 10 June 1972

He reports that at the height of the storm on June 9, the lightening was so continuous that it was almost like daylight outside. It rained for six hours for a total of 15”. Box Elder Creek came out of its banks and spread across the valley floor reaching within 75 yards of his home. The home is approximately 180 yards from the creek. Steamboat Rock, a prominent landmark bordering the east of his ranch, and all the surrounding hills were covered with waterfalls. Rocks the size of Volkswagen Beetles were floating down Box Elder Creek. One resident of the Ox Yoke Ranch died by being swept down Box Elder Creek, being found later near Black Hawk, SD.

 

It took the Lawrence County Road Department several days to remove the rocks covering Nemo Road that came out of the canyon north of the ranch home. Vern had to hire a front-end loader to remove the large rocks that extended into the field. Since he has an airport runway down the valley, for years he would give me a bucket when we walked down the runway to pick up rocks and remove them from the possible path of the aircraft to prevent propeller damage.  This was more than ten years after the flood.   

For more photographs and information about the impact of the 1972 flood in Lawrence County, visit our Historical Marker Gallery.

LCHS Spring meeting next Sunday, April 22nd

A double treat awaits attendees at the Spring Meeting of the Lawrence County Historical Society.  The gathering is slated for 12 Noon next Sunday, April 22nd, at the Homestake Adams Research and Cultural Center (HARCC) at 150 Sherman Street in Deadwood.  

Past president Jerry Bryant will give a short program on the Real "Deadwood Dick."

Then U.S. Forest Service representative Marissa Karchut will provide an update on Forest Service projects and individual graves in the Black Hills.

The proceedings begin at 12 Noon with a buffet lunch catered by the Bum Steer in Spearfish.  The cost is $15 per person.  Then, following a brief business meeting, Jerry Bryant and Marissa Karchut will make their presentations.

Please RSVP to (605) 578-9770 if you plan to attend.

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!)...