Not Dead in Deadwood – Dakota Vacation blog post #16

 
During the summer of 1874, General George Armstrong Custer led an expedition to the Black Hills, planning to find a location to build a fort. Two prospectors joined the group, and on August 2, they discovered gold near what is now the city of Custer, South Dakota.

Soon, prospectors came in droves to the southern hills. Then, in the fall of 1875, a gold deposit was discovered in the northern Black Hills. Miners staked their claims and set up camp in a gulch full of dead trees, and the town of Deadwood was born. 

In April 1876, the city of Deadwood was officially laid out.

Dance halls, gambling establishments, saloons, and brothels were constructed on both sides of Main Street, causing this area to be known as the “Bad Lands” of Deadwood.

Over the following few years, Deadwood was hit with three major fires, a flood, and other hardships, pushing it to the verge of becoming another Old West ghost town.

Somehow, the town managed to survive. Today, Deadwood could be your tourist destination for all the Black Hills offers. Or, if you’re more like my husband and me, it’s an interesting town to drive through.