The document summarizes the history of gold mining in the Black Hills region and the town of Deadwood, South Dakota. It details how George Armstrong Custer's 1874 expedition discovered gold, launching the Black Hills Gold Rush despite the Fort Laramie Treaty guaranteeing the land to the Lakota people. The lawless mining camp of Deadwood boomed but also struggled with fires and declining resources until transitioning to hard rock mining. The Homestake Mine, founded in 1877, became the largest and deepest gold mine in America before closing in 2001, producing almost 40 million ounces of gold total from the Black Hills.

1. Marron Bingle-Davis
Sunshine Valley Petroleum Corporation

2.  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

4.  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

5.  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

6.  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

7.  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

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

9.  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

10. 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

11. 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

12.  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

13.  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

14.  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

15.  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

16.  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

17. 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

18.  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

19. 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

20.  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

21.  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

22.  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

23.  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

24. Homestake Mine 1889

25.  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

26.  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

27.  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

28. 1876
1889
Today
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