Scenic Drives Near Deadwood South Dakota

The Black Hills of South Dakota and nearby Deadwood forever will a focal point of old west history. The Black Hills was disputed territory between the Sioux tribes and the U.S. Government which would in a large way lead to the last great Indian war on the northern plains.

Scenic Black Hills

Today, the Black Hills of South Dakota and the town of Deadwood are extremely popular tourist destinations. This is a prime area to visit if you're planning a South Dakota vacation. The town of Deadwood South Dakota is close to several National Historic Sites. Mount Rushmore, one of the country's most visited national monuments, is located only about 49 miles south of Deadwood. Gillette Wyoming, to the west of the Black Hills and to the east of the Bighorn Mountains and about 106 miles west of Deadwood, was one of the largest coal mining areas in the country and still offers coal mine tours . The town is also well known for it's rodeos. All of the drives from the Deadwood area are very scenic and make great day trips.

Black Hills Scenic Drives

Two scenic drives into the Black Hills and the one's closest to Deadwood are the Devils Tower and the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Drives.

Historic Gem Theater, 1878, Deadwood, SD

Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway

Visitors to Deadwood will find the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway being the closest of the two to Deadwood. The gorge you'll view along this drive is composed of limestone which dates back even further than the rock at the Grand Canyon. U.S. Hwy 14A passes through the Black Hills and around Spearfish Canyon for twenty miles. Viewing of the canyon is best either early in the morning or late in the day to see the many colors. Some people stop off at the old town of Savoy to begin trail hikes to old mines and logging camps and past waterfalls. You'll also see several original buildings still standing from Savoy's frontier days.

Your drive along this scenic byway can begin at Spearfish South Dakota which is just about a 15 mile drive northwest of Deadwood and just south of Interstate-90. Driving south on the byway from that point you can stay on U.S. Hwy 14A all the way until it meets U.S. Hwy 85 /14. This would be about twenty miles south of Deadwood making your day trip a circle drive. Along the drive you'll find plenty of places to turn off the highway to enjoy the scenery and take some good photos. One popular scenic stop along the scenic byway is Bridal Veil Falls and the falls can be seen from the highway. Bridal Veil Falls is on the northern section of the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway and about 7 miles south of the town of Spearfish.

The Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway through the Black Hills is a must thing to do if you're trip plans take you to Deadwood.

1900 photo of DevilsTower

Devils Tower

Devils Tower is a U.S. National Monument and has the distinction of being the nation's first National Monument designated by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906. Devils Tower is located in Wyoming about a 75 mile drive west of Deadwood with much of the way via Interstate-90. The National Monument covers 1,347 acres.

Historically, like much of the Black Hills, the Devils Tower was a spiritual site claimed by Native Americans. When pioneers headed west several treaties including those regarding the Black Hills were violated. The entire area was actually overrun when word of gold in the Black Hills spread east. Although the U.S. Army attempted to keep prospectors away their sheer numbers made it impossible. Attempts were made by the government to buy the Black Hills from the Sioux but were unsuccessful. The Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876 and the defeat of Colonel George Armstrong Custer had many of it's roots in the Black Hills controversy.

Devils Tower, an internationally popular tourist site, has a visitor center and a bookstore which is open year round. Ranger tours to the monument are led during the morning. Visitors can also opt for a self guided tour around the monument's base. Camping facilities are available at the park seasonally.The tower rises 1,267 feet from the landscape floor. The tower also draws climbers from the world around. The monument's acreage is covered by both pine forests and prairie grasslands including plenty of interesting wildlife such as pronghorn and black tailed prairie dogs.

You may also enjoy the Western Trips articles on the links below...

Drive the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway

Idaho's Sawtooth Scenic Byway

Views along the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway

  Geologists determined that the tower itself rose from beneath the ground after erosion took away the softer rock layers surrounding it. The tower is comprised of magma that solidified not far below the earth surface. The monument's visitors center exhibits a lot of detailed information about this geologic wonder.

To celebrate Devils Tower 100 year anniversary, a sculpture called Circle of Sacred Smoke was added bear the sites picnic area.

(Article copyright Western Trips. Photos and images in the public domain)


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History of South Dakota / Battle of Slim Buttes

There's a remote part of South Dakota away from major roadways, but about 150 years ago was alive with action during the Sioux War of 1876. The area is filled with South Dakota history and is definitely worth a visit. If your western road trip happens to take you near the northwest corner of South Dakota, there is a monument that serves as a memorial to a battle that has somewhat faded from our historical memory.

The monument which stands about one mile west of Reva South Dakota on Hwy 20 is all about the Battle at Slim Buttes. As to the number of troops and Native Americans involved in this particular battle, the numbers aren't overwhelming. Nevertheless, the repercussions of the Battle at Slim Buttes were widespread in regards to the Sioux War of 1876.

The Weeks After the Little Bighorn Defeat

So much has been chronicled about the Battle of the Little Bighorn, including on this site, but the Battle of Slim Buttes was directly related to what happened to George Armstrong Custer and the Seventh Cavalry in June of 1876. The story of the army's response to Custer's defeat is often overshadowed by the debate over what exactly happened and who, if anyone, was to blame at the Little Bighorn including some of the investigations that ensued. The steps the army took immediately after Custer's defeat is an interesting story. The U.S. Army troops in the area of Slim Buttes in 1876 were there because of the shocking defeat of Custer's troops a few months earlier. They were there to end the Sioux War one way or the other.

Battle of the Rosebud

The three highest commanders responsible for the actions after the Little Bighorn were Generals Philip Sheridan, George Crook and Alfred Terry. While Sheridan was the head of the Department of the Missouri and headquartered in Chicago, Both Generals George Crook and Alfred Terry, under the command of Sheridan, were directly involved in the theater during the Little Bighorn Battle.

Crook was in command of a force moving up from the south as one of the three key columns trying to trap the hostiles along the Little Bighorn River.Without going into fine detail about the plan, which has been discussed in great length many times, Crook's troops were driven back south by the hostiles after the Battle of the Rosebud which took place on June 17th. As a result he never linked up with Terry's forces, which did include Custer. Crook's involvement in June 1876 was that he wasn't involved because he couldn't reach the rendezvous point. He finally camped his troops along the Goose Creek where his rear supply train would come to.

Chasing the Sioux

The Sioux bands started to move eastward as a large group during July and August of 1876. Crook's forces joined up with Terry's and started to move eastward as well. The goal of course was to catch up with the hostiles and either to defeat them and/or drive them back to the Indian agencies. There was also concern that more Sioux didn't leave the reservation and join their brothers. As a result, the army took over control of the reservations from the Indian Department. Any renegade Indians who did happen to show up at the agencies were immediately disarmed and had their ponied taken away.

Statue of George Crook at Fort Omaha

What took place prior to the Battle of Slim Buttes, and is a big part of South Dakota history, after Crook separated from Terry's troops could only be called the most rigorous and nearly impossible long march in U.S. Army history.

What was to ensue over the following few weeks would try the most skilled soldier to the limits of human endurance. Both General Terry and General Crook reported directly to General Philip Sheridan who's headquarters were in Chicago.

The Hardest of Marches

Instead of leading his troops toward a supply depot on either the Yellowstone River or further east at Fort Lincoln, Crook became concerned for the safety of Deadwood in the Black Hills. This was about 180 miles south of his current position. Crook's concern was that Deadwood and other small mining camps around it would be attacked by the Sioux. As a result, he decided on a march to Deadwood while rations were almost exhausted. Much of what took place during this arduous march would be chronicled by the journalists who were embedded in his command. The excellent book, Slim Buttes, 1876 by author Jerome A. Greene gives a detailed description of the long march, the slaughtering of cavalry horses necessary to feed the troops and the accidental Battle of Slim Buttes that took place during this journey toward Deadwood.

Statue of Gen. Philip Sheridan, Washington, DC

Some of the troops under Crook's command were decidedly against this change of plans. The troops were tired and had been marching through rain and hail storms and the thick mud they produced. They were well aware of the rations situation and were put on half rations due to this. Yet, some did want to engage the hostiles and the turn south to Deadwood seemed that they were giving up the chase.

 In other words, some felt that the entire march, as difficult as it was, was turning into a waste of time and energy. The supply situation went from bad to worse. More played out horses were slaughtered for food. Cavalry troops were forced to march with the infantry. Many questioned General Crook's decisions.

Captain Anson Mills

When the command was a few days ride out of Deadwood, Crook made the decision to send a detachment up ahead to Deadwood to both notify the town of their position and at the same time buy and bring supplies back to the camp where Crook decided to hold the troops for a while.The detachment sent to the Black Hills was commanded by Captain Anson Mills. Along with Mills was 150 select cavalrymen. Crook ordered that the detachment avoid conflict with the hostiles during their journey. The detachment was sent for supplies to aid the larger group and were not sent out as scouts. While Mill's detachment of 150 troops made their way toward the Black Hills one of their non soldier scouts spotted Indians with game piled on their horses. When Mills heard of this he surmised correctly that there was certain to be an Indian village somewhere in the vicinity.

Battle of Slim Buttes

At this point Captain Mills made the decision to locate the village. When they neared the area they dismounted. They wished to get closer and ascertain the size of the camp and didn't want noise from their mounts to give them away. When the village was located on the banks of the Moreau River which today is named Gap Creek, Mills and several others including their scouts approached on foot. They saw the village but could not figure out it's size. One thing the troops in Crook's command knew was that Custer's attack on the Little Bighorn without first knowing the size of the enemy camp was a contributing factor to his defeat. Everyone in Mill's detachment knew that this was a critical element and especially since their numbers were only 150. As for the Indians, they had no idea about Mills' detachment. They were well aware that Crook was in the general area but not that one of his detachments was anywhere nearby.

Crook's Headquarters, Whitewood, Dak Terr

After discussing the situation with his officers, Captain Anson Mills decided that a daybreak attack would take place the next morning. The army had embraced surprise dawn attacks as the preferred method. This went all the way back to the Civil War days. In this instance, Mills would attack with three columns. The right and left would be on foot. The center column would be mounted and would tear through the village, stampeding the Indian ponies and shooting at whatever they could. Mills had hoped that the attack would be over in one clean sweep. The Indians would be killed or captured and any provisions they could find would be sent to Crook's starved soldiers.

What transpired was a bit different. The problem was that many warriors were able to flee south and west of the village and fired at the troops from the rocks and buttes above their former camp. The swift victory that Captain Mills anticipated didn't materialize. What occurred was a standoff where Indians in the rocks took shots at troops rummaging through the lodges in the village below. There was also concern that some of the warriors who fled would bring in reinforcements from Indian camps that were nearby. If that occurred, Mills attack against an undetermined size Indian village could have the same end results as Custer's attack.

Crook to the Rescue

Captain Mills sent a courier back to General Crook's encampment further north. Fortunately Crook did not stay encamped as long as anticipated and was moving forward when the courier reached him announcing the Indian fight Mills' troops were involved in.

Crook and his troops set out in the direction of the village to reinforce Mills. Crook's command reached the Indian village, joined the fight and after a full day and the loss of several men took the village as well as some captives, mostly women and children who were hiding in the rocks above. The Battle of Slim Buttes took place on September 9 and 10, 1876, about 2 1/2 months after Custer's defeat.  Interestingly, while rummaging through and destroying the Indian lodges, Crook's troops discovered several items taken from Custer's command. Cavalry shirts, a Seventh Cavalry guidon and several other personal military effects were found.

The estimates of those killed in this battle were two cavalrymen and one civilian scout. After the battle ended and the dead were buried, Crook headed for Deadwood Dakota Territory where he would be welcomed along the way with supplies brought out by the citizenry. A courier had been sent to notify the town of Crook's nearby position. When the troops eventually made it to Deadwood they were greeted with a great ovation.

Significance of the Slim Buttes Battle

It's interesting to look back at the Battle of Slim Buttes. This was not a large scale decisive battle of the Sioux War but it was a significant battle and victory for several reasons. For one thing, it was the first military victory for the U.S. Army in the Sioux War. General Crook often thought of the Battle of the Rosebud as a victory but it was not. His advance was pushed back by the hostiles and if anything it was a draw of sorts. Custer's Little Bighorn defeat a week later was a disaster. It was important that the army have some type of victory and the Battle of Slim Buttes satisfied that. In fact, though the Battle of Slim Buttes came about by chance while Captain Mills was on another assignment, the results of the conflict did much to raise the army's morale.

Crazy Horse surrender, May 1877

There were battles after Slim Buttes in November and January of 1877. If anything, these battles and the fierce winter weather helped convince the renegades that continued fighting of the army was futile and the only realistic option for their survival was to return to the reservations. This of course would finally take place in 1877 with General Crook accepting a surrender of sorts from Crazy Horse and his followers. This surrender in May of 1877 was the end of the Sioux War that began in the summer of 1876.

You may be interested in the following related articles we've published. George Crook-Frontier Soldier,  the Death of Sitting Bull and the Ghost Dance Movement and a Steamboat and the Sioux War.

The Indian Wars in the west would however continue on and off for about another fourteen years. There were the Apache battles in the southwest and the Nez Perce War in the northwest. According to most historians, the Indian Wars ended in December 1890 with the death of Sitting Bull and the massacre at Wounded Knee. The year 1890 was also the official end of the American western frontier as stated by the Bureau of the Census.

Two additional books I would recommend are General George Crook: His Autobiography and A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn by author James Donovan.

(Article copyright Western Trips. Photos and images in the public domain)


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The Death of Sitting Bull and the Ghost Dance Movement / The Standing Rock Agency

There are many fascinating stories regarding the great Indian chiefs of the 1800's. On the macro level the stories are different. In some ways, however all of the stories are interconnected in as much as the Indian Wars, and the chiefs who participated in it, encompassed almost all of the western tribes. Some of the years were different... the lengths of the conflicts varied as did the location of the battles, but all in all the cultural clashes were a result of western expansion from the east and the ensuing battles over land. One story stands out as quite different from the others and that is the story of Sitting Bull.

The Great Lakota Sioux Chief

Sitting Bull, circa 1881

The Lakota Sioux chief, Sitting Bull, was one of the most influential leaders on the great plains. He was very instrumental in guiding what would be the Battle of  Little Bighorn but apparently wasn't directly involved in the actual fighting. The Sioux warrior who led much of that battle was thought to be Crazy Horse although the action was certainly inspired by Chief Sitting Bull.

Sitting Bull's Premonition


The story is that Sitting Bull had a premonition of the cavalry soldiers being defeated during this great 1876 battle which involved George Armstrong Custer and took his life. In that regard he rallied the warriors the battle which as it turned out proved his premonition to be correct.

 Although Custer was defeated in that June 1876 battle, the war wasn't. Due to Custer's defeat, which was the largest military defeat to that date, public pressure to defeat the Sioux and Cheyenne once and for all heated up. As a direct result, thousands of troops under the leadership of famous officers such as Nelson Miles and Ranald MacKenzie, and George Crook directed by General Philip Sheridan entered the fray and over the next year did defeat the Sioux and Northern Cheyennes.

As the Indians were eventually returned to the reservations, Sitting Bull and a group of warriors, women and children fled north into Canada. There the group stayed for several years. During this time there were offers of a pardon for the Sioux chief but they were refused.

Sitting Bull Returns


Eventually, due to the hardships of living in exile in Canada, Sitting Bull did make the decision to return with close to 200 others to the U.S. and did so on July 19, 1881. Sitting Bull explained that he wanted to return in peace and become friends with the white men. He was then sent to Fort Yates which was adjacent to the Standing Rock Indian Agency which was composed of many Sioux tribes. The military did keep Sitting Bull separated from the others at the agency for fear that he might somehow incite the Sioux and others to rebel once again.

Sitting Bull and Buffalo Bill Cody


During his stay at the Standing Rock Agency Sitting Bull was made an offer which a few years prior would have been unthinkable. The famous Buffalo Bill Cody offered Sitting Bull a job touring with his new and highly popular Wild West.

The show was immediately popular with the eastern public who had an insatiable appetite for anything western and in particular the story of settlers, Indians and the clashes that ensued. Sitting Bull was granted permission to leave the Standing Rock Agency to join Buffalo Bill.

Sitting Bull's participation in the Wild West Show was essentially to ride around the arena and for that he was paid a reported $50 per week. This was not bad money at all in the late 1800's. The Sitting Bull performance was quite popular.  In addition to that he was thought to have made a small fortune selling autographs. After only about four months Sitting Bull returned to the reservation where he reportedly worked to improve relations between the Indians and their white neighbors. He was known to have given many speeches in this effort.

Sitting Bull and the Ghost Dance Movement

Sitting Bull, Buffalo Bill, 1885

Chief Sitting Bull was living in peace for several years after he returned from his short engagement with Buffalo Bill's Wild West. What was building up among the western Native Americans and what would eventually engulf Sitting Bull was a movement among the Indians referred to as the "Ghost Dance". There are some conflicting accounts as to what exactly occurred during the Ghost Dance movement and in what the movement actually represented.


The Ghost Dance movement was something that was very popular and well accepted by people who felt oppressed. It began in 1889 and was a type of religion which was celebrated with what was described as the "Ghost Dance".

It included a ritual where the participants worked themselves up into a trance where they experienced the afterlife and communicated with deceased relatives. The part of the Ghost Dance movement which aroused concern among the neighboring whites was that it "envisioned" the disappearance of the white race from Native American lands. The movement envisioned the whites being swept away by a divine force. While the movement didn't specifically make a call to arms, it's philosophy alone was enough to create great concern among white settlers.

The Paiute Wavoka

The Lakota's learned of this "religion" from neighboring tribes to the west. The founder of the Ghost Dance movement was a man named Wovoka, also known to some as Jack Wilson. Wovoka was a highly respected Paiute Indian from Nevada whose father was also a spiritual leader.

The movement which was growing rapidly distressed the Indian Agents, the military and nearby white settlers. In 1889 just when it seemed that most Indians were on reservations and relatively peaceful, yet they were not really happy. The Ghost Dance movement threatened to renew hostilities. The movement itself was outlawed by the authorities but to little effect since several hard line Sioux leaders continued to practice it and incited others to join.


It was at this time, after the movement gained notoriety with the Indian Agents, that Sitting Bull was caught up in the, until now, bloodless conflict. What happened next, and to many historians who have explored the subject, was probably best described as an overreaction. The Indian Agents and some in the military thought that perhaps Sitting Bull would escape the reservation with Ghost Dance followers and form some type of armed resistance.

The End Occurs in December 1890


Sitting Bull met his death on December 15, 1890. The exact actions that led to his killing, like many other tales of the troubles of 1890, had a few differing versions.

There are native Americans and some historians who contend that Sitting Bull's death was a political assassination by the United States government. One reason cited would have been Sitting Bull's refusal to sign a treaty that gave away land from Native reservations. Law at the time was that  the signatures of 3/4 of the adult males of the Sioux Nation were mandated before land could be sold.

Sitting Bull was a big resister in the U.S. effort to acquire land. Sitting Bull had again formally rejected the selling of Indian land as late as 1888. Add to this the sensational newspaper stories portraying Sitting Bull as a participant in the Ghost Dance movement and therefore a potential threat to peace, and you can see some type of a climax was building.

When you look back however and research the events of 1890, it's plain that Sitting Bull was actually living among his white neighbors in peace while participating in the Ghost Dance movement. In other words, his only wrongdoing in the eyes of the authorities was his practicing of the Ghost Dance. I could not find any evidence that he called on his people to take up arms.

The Most Accepted Version of Events


The most accepted story of Sitting Bull's death in December of 1890 is that about 40 reservation policemen (mostly Indians) went to Sitting Bull's residence to arrest him. The arrest had to do with his Ghost Dance involvement and his refusal to disavow it.

The policemen took Sitting Bull into custody at first without incident and when leaving the home with the old chief were confronted by many of his followers bearing arms. This is the point where events happened quickly. The most publicized story is that Chief Sitting Bull called on his followers to rescue him. Two of his followers allegedly fired shots at the police and the police returned fire. The amount of people involved in this now violent encounter were a bit over forty Indian police and volunteers against over 100 of Sitting Bull's followers. This included women attacking the police with knives and clubs. During this 30 minute close encounter battle Sitting Bull was shot and killed. The shooting occurred during a large scuffle and, while a few names were mentioned, it's unclear exactly who fired the fatal shot.

The Aftermath of Sitting Bull's Death


In the aftermath of this, knowing of the possible repercussions to come, many of the Ghost Dance followers fled the area with their families. This is what eventually led to the Wounded Knee Massacre which took place on December 29, 1890.

his massacre occurred while troops were in the process of rounding up the fleeing Sioux and while trying to return them to their homes. The massacre at Wounded Knee the morning of December 29th was another seemingly nonviolent police action that simply got out of hand in a horrible way. Another interesting article on Western Trips is the story of Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce War of 1877.

Sitting Bull grave and monument

After the death of sitting Bull, his body was transported to Fort Yates and he was buried.

In the year 1953 several of his Lakota relatives had his body exhumed and moved to his birthplace of Mobridge South Dakota. It is today at Mobridge where Sitting Bull's grave and memorial can be visited. Mobridge South Dakota is in the north central part of the state on the east side of the Missouri River and about 30 miles south of the North Dakota border.

The grave and monument is on a bluff across the Missouri River from the town. From US 12 take the road just west of the river south about three miles to the grave.

(Article copyright Western Trips)



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Who Was Calamity Jane? / An Old West Legend With Many Identities

Most people familiar with the old west have heard of Calamity Jane. Pictured at left holding a rifle, Calamity Jane had many public faces. Who was she? What was she famous for? Who did she associate with? Why is her name still a household word among old west historians? The questions are many.

The Real Calamity Jane

Among other things, Calamity Jane was a frontiersman or frontier woman at a time in the latter 1800's when there were not any. She was also a scout which was at that time primarily a man's profession. Indians were scouts but usually not female. She was an Indian fighter when Indian fighters were considered to be the U.S. Cavalry.

Who history knows as Calamity Jane was born Martha Jane Canary in 1852 in Princeton, Missouri. In 1865 the family moved west to Virginia City, Montana, a growing gold mining town in the outer reaches of the frontier. Keep in mind that this was some eleven years prior to Custer's Battle of the Little Bighorn. To arrive in Montana one had to traverse usually hostile Sioux Indian territory.Not always easy. When you head out on a western road trip today you can take along a travel guide. During the mid 1800's your only trip adviser was your instincts.

Young Martha's Trip West

The overland trip took five months and during this time the young Martha Jane learned to hunt for food with the male members of the traveling party. Her mother unfortunately died shortly after their arrival in Montana. The family moved again, this time to Utah.

The story was that Martha's father died shortly after their arrival in Utah and she took her siblings back to Wyoming and settled at Fort Bridger. To support her siblings Martha took a variety of jobs, everything from dishwasher, ox team driver, dance hall girl, cook, nurse and waitress. Some stories claim she even became a prostitute. This accusation came from the later years she spent in Deadwood, SD. She gained a reputation as a tough frontier woman wearing men's clothing, chewing tobacco, drinking like a frontier man and also became an excellent shot with her guns. Her life travels took her from Montana to Arizona and back.

A Cavalry Scout

In 1870 Martha became a scout for George Armstrong Custer in Wyoming and wore a soldiers uniform. Her Arizona travels was with the army in their quest to put the Indians back on their reservations. During the 1870's Calamity Jane was very much involved with the U.S. Army in several Indian campaigns in the Wyoming and Montana areas. She worked with Generals Terry and Crook around the Powder River area which was the hotbed of Sioux Indian activity. It was believed that during this period Martha became acquainted with Wild Bill Hickok pictured below right.

A Move to Deadwood

After Martha's involvement with the army she moved to Deadwood Dakota Territory, at that time a large mining center in the Black Hills area. Her adventurous life their took another turn, this time as a pony express rider delivering mail between Deadwood and the town of Custer some fifty miles away. Deadwood was also a town that Hickok, Martha's friend, spent alot of time at. Below left is a picture of Deadwood, SD in 1876.

Becoming Calamity Jane

If you're reading about the exploits of Calamity Jane, at some point you will want to know how she was given that name. The story is that during the Indian Wars, Martha came to the rescue of a Captain Egan near Goose Creek, Wyoming (now Sheridan, WY) who was ambushed by Indians and himself shot while losing many of his troops.

Martha heard the gunfire, turned to see Captain Egan shot and reeling in his saddle. She galloped to his aid, took him on her horse before he fell, and rode away with him to the safety of the fort. At that point in the story, Captain Egan proclaimed her "Calamity Jane".

Like many old west tales, there was a bit of controversy as to whether the story was true. Some claimed it was not. Some say she simply was given the name because of her rowdiness and that men had to beware of her so as to avoid a "calamity". Others of course disagree.



If the tales are true then Martha Jane Canary no doubt was a very talented frontier woman. If she was a scout for the army then she would have to have been an outstanding horseman and shot. She would have to have had tremendous survival instincts.

We do know that in 1893, Calamity Jane joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West as a horseback rider and trick shooter. In later years she settled at a ranch in Montana and tried her luck as an innkeeper. She was married along the way to a Texan and then moved to a ranch in Colorado. She had a daughter named Jane who ended up with foster parents. She was later reported depressed and had a drinking problem which most felt had it's origins in her earlier wild life on the frontier. Eventually she returned to Deadwood and took on cooking and housekeeping duties at the brothel she was earlier connected with.

Calamity Jane died in 1903 at the age of 51. She is buried next to her friend Wild Bill Hickok in Deadwood, SD. The image at right is the grave site of both Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok in Mount Moriah Cemetery.

The Making of Western Legends

Old west legends sometime take on a life of their own. You may also be interested in the story of Annie Oakley and Buffalo Bill's Wild West. Often legends grow as years pass and many historians believe this was the case with Calamity Jane.

Beyond a doubt she was acquainted with many of the colorful figures during the era. It seems that the issue to be debated is the extent of her exploits. Regardless, the fact remains that Martha Jane Canary was a woman much involved with the frontier life and we can assume she was quite talented with a horse and a gun. The wild west was considered a male dominated society and the fact that Calamity Jane put herself in the middle of a man's frontier world, even if some tales were embellished, is more than enough to justify her being a unique figure in western culture. You may also be interested in the story of the first female stagecoach robber in Arizona.


So if you find yourself on a western U.S. road trip and you want to learn a bit more about Calamity Jane
and her era, one excellent stop is at the Dakota Discovery Museum located in Mitchell, SD. Lots of interesting information about the frontier and about Calamity Jane. Their website is www.dakotadiscovery.com


Another good stop is at the Fort Bridger State Historic Site in western Wyoming. Their website is
www.wyomingtourism.org/overview/Fort-Bridger-State-Historic-Site/31823

Always a good stop on your western vacation is the town of Deadwood, SD. Their website is www.deadwood.org

(Article copyright Western Trips. Photos and images in the public domain)

The Black Hills / Gold Seekers Invade The Indian Spiritual Grounds

Its quite interesting how the events during America's westward march, formally referred to as Manifest Destiny, in many ways seem to connect to one another. There is probably no better example than the discovery of gold in the Black Hills and the ensuing Sioux Indian War.

The Sioux and the Black Hills

To the Sioux Indians, the Black Hills held a very special spiritual meaning. The Sioux were a very spiritual people who communicated with their spirits through dance and music. Their most important ritual was the Sun Dance. The Sun Dance ritual was a 12 day affair held during the summer. By nature the Sioux were warriors and the Sun dance was a way to build tribal unity and to assert one's individual courage. It was a self-sacrificing ceremony and included self-inflicted wounds. It helped establish it's participants as valiant warriors.

The Sioux claimed the Black Hills as their own during their westward move from the Minnesota region. The Sioux considered the Black Hills to be a place where communication existed between the earth realm and the spiritual realm. It was considered the center of their universe. It was something much more important to them than anything of material value. This was demonstrated during negotiations with the U.S. Government at Fort Laramie in 1868 when the treaty they signed gave the Sioux official ownership of the Black Hills. Much of this changed in 1874.

The Black Hills and Colonel Custer

Pictured at right is part of George Armstrong Custer's 1874 expedition into the Black Hills. The expedition was launched after several rumors surfaced attesting to the presence of valuable minerals there. Custers expedition entered the Black Hills from the north and split up into two groups. The exploring expedition also turned out to be a hunting trip where Custer reportedly shot a Grizzly Bear and called this feat the biggest hunting success of his life. The picture below left is of Custer with his prize.

The Custer expedition of 1874 determined that there were indeed valuable minerals in the Black Hills and dispatched a messenger back to Fort Abraham Lincoln with the news. The information was telegraphed back east and reached the newspapers. You can imagine what happened next. The country at that time was in a financial downturn and hoards of people made plans to head to the Black Hills and stake their claim.


From the perspective of the Sioux, the Black Hills were granted to them through the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty. Even with the treaty in force, prospectors were in the Black Hills prior to the 1874 expedition greatly upsetting the Indians. In fact, General Sherman, the head of the Army in Washington, ordered troops to discourage prospectors from entering the area. His troops would turn back adventurers and if necessary confiscate their equipment and livestock.

Reports however were that miners in many cases were still able to reach the Black Hills. Now with the surge of people coming with the Custer news, the situation became much worse and the army could not begin to stop the invasion. There were simply too many people trying to get there. Again, to the Sioux, this was not just land. The Black Hills were a sacred place to them and they were not about to sell the land.

Sioux Anger Grows

Sitting Bull, pictured at left, was just one of the Sioux leaders who detested what was happening. The Sioux had been relegated to their reservation via the treaties but being hunters and warriors by nature, a good many ventured off the reservation particularly during the summer hunting season.

The invasion of the Black Hills by the whites made the Sioux even more hostile and restless. The Black Hills problem made militants out of many peaceful Indians.

In the beginning of westward migration, the Plains Indian for the most part traded with the settlers because at that point the emigrants were moving through the area. They were either heading to the California gold fields or to Oregon. The problems really began when the settlers stayed on and established camps and towns. Add to this the arrival of the professional buffalo hunter and his Sharps Rifle who essentially wiped out the seemingly endless herds and you have more Indian trouble.

The Black Hills invasion by the gold seekers was all it took to ignite a war. The irony is that George Armstrong Custer lost his life in an 1876 Sioux Indian War he actually had a  hand in starting by sending word out to the eastern press in 1874 that indeed the Black Hills were filled with valuable minerals.

Mining in the Black Hills

The picture at right is of the Homestake Mine in 1889, one of the Black Hill's largest. In fact, the dream of later prospectors was to find their own Homestake Mine.

During the height of the gold rush, wagons of gold were hauled to Cheyenne, Wyoming for transport east. Some of these wagons might carry up to $300,000 in gold. Some were robbed by highwaymen and in one case guards were killed. An outraged populace put up to a $2,500 reward for the capture of the robbers and there were several lynchings as a result. The Black Hill's gold proved to be a large deposit and produced about 10% of the worlds gold supply over a 125 year period.


Deadwood, SD was one of the largest settlements during the Black Hill's gold rush. The photo at right is Deadwood in 1876. The town had a reputation of being rough and violent. Whenever a town springs up with gold prospectors another element is not far behind. Gamblers, robbers, swindlers, murderers...all of these characters seemed to flow where the money was and Deadwood fit the bill.


Today there are several interesting stops to make in the Black Hill's vicinity and the most popular of those is Deadwood.

The town symbolizes the old west and in particular the gold rush days. Many interesting events take place every year in Deadwood. It's not only a fun trip for the family but you'll also learn a lot about the gold mining industry including the everyday hardships and challenges faced by the early prospectors. You will see what life there was like in 1876 and also get some great photos.

Another  related story you may find interesting is Sutter's Fort and the California Gold Rush.


The sites below give detailed information to help plan a visit.


www.deadwood.org

www.travalsd.com 


www.fs.usda.gov/blackhills


www.tripsintohistory.com

Get your South Dakota travel guide and South Dakota maps at  www.travelsd.com/About-SD/Request-Information

(Article copyright Western Trips. Photos and images in the public domain) 

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The Ghost Dance From The West And An 1890 Massacre

The Late 1880's

By the year 1889, Native Americans were largely living on reservations all over the American West. The Indian Wars were over and the military might of the U.S. prevailed. Regardless of the fact that the fighting was over there lingered a subtle and not so subtle discontent among the tribes, most evident among the Lakota Sioux. This would soon come to the surface with the Ghost Dance movement.

Much had happened during the 1880's. Several treaties were signed with the U.S. Government which allocated specific areas for reservations that included annuities for food and supplies. The  problem was that settlers were heading west in record numbers since the railroad appeared. The covered wagon was losing out to the speed and relative comfort of the railroad.


All About the Land and a Way of Life

Land is finite and the Indians, in this case, specifically the Lakota's were initially awarded a massive area which comprised present day South Dakota west of the Missouri River. Much of this was the Pine Ridge Reservation (it's flag pictured left).

Settlers coming into the area eventually looked upon the Lakota land with envy. Even with the land given to them many Lakota's were generally unhappy since this was a tribe of hunters, not agrarians which is what the government wanted them to become. To make a bad situation worse, Congress being pressured by farmers and merchants, passed a series of acts in the late 1880's which carved up the reservation acreage.

Unhonored Treaties

After allotting a predetermined amount of acreage to the Indians the U.S. Government went about selling the remaining reservation land to white farmers. In addition, promised supplies were arriving late and allotments were being reduced. Some Indians were living on half rations. There was speculation of theft by corrupt Indian agents. In other words, the provisions of the treaties were not being honored. While unhappy there was little the Lakota's could do about it other than complain. Decades of warfare against the whites proved futile. Enter the Sioux Ghost Dance movement.

What happened in 1889 is what oppressed people many times turn to when all else fails. In this case it was a new religion which was celebrated with the "Ghost Dance"(pictured below left). The participants in the Ghost Dance religion supposedly worked themselves up into a trance where they claimed to see the afterlife and communicate with deceased relatives. The Lakota's learned about this religion through neighboring tribes to the west. It's founder was a prophet named Wovoka and also known by the name Jack Wilson. Pictured to the right, Wovoka was a highly esteemed Paiute from Nevada whose father was also a spiritual leader. Wovoka was thought to have magical powers. Among other things, he was thought to be able to make water appear in an empty container during a drought.  His teachings spread rapidly among the western tribes. Many of the discontented felt that Wovoka was the answer to their troubles.

The Ghost Dance Movement

Wovoka's teachings were that the Great Spirit told him in dreams that if the Indians would refuse to accept the white man's material ways, the white men would eventually disappear from the land and the game animals would be in abundance as they were decades before. Wovoka stressed that all this should be carried out peacefully. While he wanted his brothers to go back to the old ways in all things Indian, he wanted them to do it without fighting and bloodshed and this was the theory behind the Ghost Dancers.

The Reaction from the Lakotas

The Lakota's had two factions. The progressives who accepted the white man's ways and took to farming. The others were the traditionalists who resented the fact that their lives were radically changed and yearned for it's return. The latter were the participants in Ghost Dances. There were leaders of both groups and among the traditionalists one of their more outspoken leaders was a chief named Kicking Bear (pictured left). Kicking Bear encouraged Ghost Dances to everyone among the tribe who would listen to him.

With what had happened to the Lakota's... first being put on a reservation and then having much of their treaty land sold to white settlers, you can understand how they were ready, willing and able to adopt this new religion from Wovoka even though this type of practice was strictly against military orders.

While Wovoka placed major emphasis on peace with the white men, there were traditionalists such as Kicking Bear who put more of a militant flavor to it. One example was the introduction of Ghost Shirts which would render the army's bullets useless. So many of the traditional Lakota's were involved in Ghost Dance worship that they left their small farms untended.

 It didn't take long for the white settlers to see what was happening on the reservations and you could say a panic ensued fed by local politicians and the newspapers. Papers were fanning the flames referring to the Ghost Dance as being a war dance. The politicians then pressured the army to do something before another Indian war broke out. The army's response was to flood the Pine Ridge Reservation with troops. The deployment was the largest since the Civil War being about one-half the total of all infantry and cavalry.

The Pot Was Boiling

You had the confluence of several forces during November and  December 1890. There were the discontented Lakota's practicing the "Ghost Dance" religion on the Pine Ridge Reservation and elsewhere which was technically against military orders. Then you had an excited local population and sensationalist press forecasting big trouble. Add to this a massive U.S. military presence. And if that wasn't enough, you had the killing of Sitting Bull (1877 image from Harper's Weekly at right) on December 15th at the Standing Rock Agency  while being arrested by Indian police and soldiers because of his alleged Ghost Dance involvement.


What happened next has been a subject of debate for over 100 years. The military was rounding up bands of armed Lakota's both on and off the reservation. After Sitting Bull's death and the massive army buildup, many of the traditional Lakota's armed themselves and encamped in the Badlands just to the north of Pine Ridge. One of the Lakota bands out in the Badlands led by Spotted Elk (pictured right) had the ill fortune of being captured by troops of the Seventh Cavalry (Custers old command) led by Major Samuel M. Whiteside, pictured bottom right. The Major would go on to become a Brigadier General.

The Massacre at Wounded Knee

There are a few versions of what happened next but the prevailing story is that the group of Lakota's were marched about five miles south where they camped for the night at Wounded Knee Creek.

The next morning, after Hotchkiss guns were put on nearby hillsides, army troops under the command of Major Whiteside entered the Lakota's camp and demanded that all firearms be turned over. The prevailing story in most historic accounts is that one deaf Lakota warrior refused to hand over his rifle because he had paid for it himself. There was a small scuffle and then a rifle shot was heard and the soldiers within the camp as well as the artillery placed on the hills opened fire.

After all these years nobody really knows who fired the first shot. The result however was a bloodbath with perhaps 200-300 Lakota's killed..men, women and children. The troops inside the camp had the Lakota's in a crossfire and no doubt some soldiers ended up shooting their own men.


This December 29th, 1890 encounter was to be known as the Wounded Knee Massacre. It was also a direct result of the Sioux practicing their Ghost Dancing in full view of Indian agents. Many historians consider this the final battle of the Indian Wars, although it doesn't seem quite accurate referring to it as a battle.

Photo of Whiteside in 1876

When the army reviewed the evidence it was apparent that a massacre occurred. It was a one sided fight. The U.S. Government conducted an investigation and eventually reparations were paid to the relatives of the victims. Some factions demanded that the officers present at Wounded Knee be punished but that never really occurred. There were a few small skirmishes during January and February 1891, mostly due to the Lakota reaction caused by the Wounded Knee Massacre and Sitting Bull's killing, but after that a genuine peace prevailed .

There are two excellent museums available for the traveler who would like to explore the Lakota culture in more detail. They are the Akta Lakota Museum and Cultural Center in Chamberlain, SD and the St. Francis Mission/Buechel Memorial Lakota Museum in St. Francis, SD. Directions are available on their web sites below.


www.aktalakota.org


www.sfmission.org/museum

Here are a few good sites for more information about the Wounded Knee Massacre.

www.lastoftheindependents.com/wounded.htm


www.dreamscape.com/morgana/wknee.htm

(Article copyright Western Trips. Photos and images from public domain)

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