Them thar hills

We decided a rainy day should not deter our exploration and enjoyed a stroll through Deadwood, the historic mining town that has become a gaming destination. Gambling began with the 1876 gold rush and was eliminated in 1947. In 1989 voters decided to open casinos in Deadwood and the proceeds helped benefit the restoration of the town. We arrived just in time for a shootout. Wild Bill Hickok was in town for only a month when he was shot during a poker game.




All buildings in the downtown area conform to authentic 1800s architecture and the entire area is a historic landmark resembling much of the way it looked in the 1880s. It is hard to know what is authentic or restored but if it saved the architecture and brought tourists then perhaps it is a good thing.



There is only one Main Street in what was once Deadwood Gulch, named for the dead trees lying on the hillsides. The homes cling to the sides of the canyon.




Mt. Moriah Cemetery is perhaps the best known cemetery around due to the graves of Calamity Jane, whose dying wish was to be buried next to Hickok, Wild Bill Hickok, Potato Creek Johnny, Preacher Smith , and others who were part of Deadwood's interesting past. Hickok's grave was actually moved from an older cemetery and in 2002 this bronze statue was dedicated as part of a 3 million dollar cemetery restoration. It is a beautiful cemetery high on a hill. I have never before paid $1 to visit a cemetery.





Pronounced Leed, Lead is a mile high town three miles from Deadwood, with a mining history, the town's chief industry. The tunnels and shafts of the Homestake Mining Company extend more than a mile under the town. Before 1945 48 million tons of ore and waste were removed from this open pit mine.


Central City lies between Lead and Deadwood and there appears to have been no restoration there. I soon was driving up the steep streets many of which ended with the word gulch. This looks like a fixer upper church.


The red building up this gulch is what caught my eye and led me up the hill and then I couldn't find it. No wonder! It was on Hidden Gulch.



Enough of this loop. It was time to go south towards Mt. Rushmore.