Deadwood, SD

We arrived in Spearfish, SD today.  We're staying at Chris' Camp, a wonderful camp with large lots, shade trees and super friendly owners.  On the way to Spearfish we drove through Deadwood, SD, a cute town with rolling hills, a cute Main Street area and lots of things to do.  The Main Street area closes off once a day for the re-enactment of the capture of Jack McCall who killed Wild Bill Hickok. I was so intrigued with this town that I looked up the history and posted it below.  Very cool!

The discovery of gold in the Black Hills in 1874 set off one of the last great gold rushes in the country. In 1876, miners moved into the northern Black Hills. That’s where they came across a gulch full of dead trees and a creek full of gold…and Deadwood was born.

Practically overnight, the tiny gold camp boomed into a town that played by its own rules that attracted outlaws, gamblers and gunslingers along with the gold seekers. Wild Bill Hickok was one of those men who came looking for fortune. But just a few short weeks after arriving, he was gunned down while holding a poker hand of aces and eights – forever after known as the Dead Man’s Hand.

Calamity Jane also made a name for herself in these parts and is buried next to Hickok in Mount Moriah Cemetery. Other legends, like Potato Creek Johnny, Seth Bullock and Al Swearengen, created their legends and legacies in this tiny Black Hills town.

Deadwood has survived three major fires and numerous economic hardships, pushing it to the verge of becoming another Old West ghost town. But in 1989 limited-wage gambling was legalized and Deadwood was reborn.