The gulches of South Dakota's Black Hills region were the sites of the American West's last great gold strikes--even though such mining was illegal, taking place on the Sioux tribe's sacred lands. The rush started with a trickle in 1875, after Lieutenant Colonel George Custer's men reported gold near the region's creeks.
The announcement coincided with the financial panic of 1873 back east, and by 1876 , the rush had exploded. That's when Deadwood sprang up--a community of 25,000 that formed virtually overnight--and was known as the toughest town in the Dakota Territory . This was the stuff of dime-store Western novels, the place where Calamity Jane out -spit, out-swore and out-drank all comers, and where Wild Bill Hickock was gunned down in a poker game.
Deadwood is an upstanding town these days, a National Historic Landmark designated in 1961. Mining is still an important economic factor here, and the Homestake Mining Company is still in operation as the world's largest producer of gold. Deadwood is home to the Adams Museum, too, built by pioneer businessman W.E. Adams in 1930, in honor of his family and others like them who settled the Black Hills. Its three floors include the first locomotive in Black Hills, Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane memorabilia, turn-of-the century artifacts from Deadwood's Chinese community, and rare fossils of a plesiosaur, an aquatic reptile that lived more than 95 million years ago. The Adams House, an elegant Victorian mansion built in 1892, will expand its exhibits when it becomes the Adams House Museum in July 2000.
Deadwood Main Street
In the Wild West days, Deadwood had lots of gambling. Today's legalized gambling has brought new revenue streams into the tiny town, and the gaming revenue is taxed , with a certain amount earmarked for historic preservation.
Biggs Home
Gary Biggs, who grew up in Deadwood, has spent much of his own money and some of the "gambling funds" to help restore five homes and a commercial building in downtown Deadwood. Biggs started with the home where he grew up, bought the home next store , and eventually, with the labor of contractor and childhood friend Larry Shama, managed to restore the whole group of buildings.
The homes required complete restoration since absentee landlords and neglect had taken their toll. Shama started with the sewer and water mains out in the street and finished with the homes' roofs, re-doing the foundations, sill plates, siding , insulation, electrical, plumbing, heat, floors, kitchens, and bathrooms in between . Today, Biggs rents the restored homes to families and has turned the downtown building into a family-style restaurant that, ironically, doesn't allow gambling.
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