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July 21th- Route 2

Sturgis to Deadwood (13.6 miles, 30 mins give or take)

Significance of the place

It is named after the dead trees found in its gulch. The population was 1,270 according to the 2010 census. The entire city is a National Historic Landmark District, for its well-preserved Gold Rush-era architecture.

Brief History:

The settlement of Deadwood began illegally in the 1870s on land which had been granted to American Indians in the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie. The treaty had guaranteed ownership of the Black Hills to the Lakota people and land disputes were endemic, having reached the United States Supreme Court on several occasions. However, in 1874, Colonel George Armstrong Custer led an expedition into the Black Hills and announced the discovery of gold on French Creek near present-day Custer, South Dakota. This announcement triggered the Black Hills Gold Rush and gave rise to the new and lawless town of Deadwood, which quickly reached a population of around 5,000. Deadwood became known for its lawlessness, during which time murder was common and punishment for murders not always fair and impartial. The town attained further notoriety for the murder of gunman Wild Bill Hickok on August 2, 1876. Mount Moriah Cemetery is the final resting place of Hickok and Calamity Jane, as well as slightly less notable figures such as Seth Bullock. Hickok's murderer, Jack McCall, was prosecuted twice, despite the U.S. Constitution's prohibition against double jeopardy, because of a ruling that Deadwood was an illegal town in Indian Territory and thus lacked the jurisdiction to prosecute or acquit McCall. This decision moved McCall's trial to a Dakota Territory court ("Indian Court"), where he was found guilty of murder and hanged.

Drive there: 

Hilly Country. Deadwood is in a deep valley.

What we did:

Took a tour bus ride around the town, stopping off at the Mount Moriah Cemetery and saw Wild Bill Hickok’s grave.

Impressions: 

First time seeing a Gold Rush town but also a town one sees in Westerns. Shree did not get off the bus in the cemetery but the others paid their respects to Wild Bill Hickok.

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