Use this interactive list of optional South Dakota Topics to inspire your National History Day Research!
Each topic page includes helpful resources to help you get started on your historical research pursuits. Items marked with a * are resources located within South Dakota.
Calamity Jane was a frontierswoman, scout and all-around unique character in the Wild West, most notably in Deadwood.
Calamity Jane dressed in her regular attire and posing with a rifle.
Calamity Jane Information
Available Resource(s):
- Deadwood Archives* - Some of the archives are available online, but you can contact city archivist Michael Runge with the email or phone number found on this website to request further information.
- Calamity Jane's Autobiography
- Calamity Jane's Grave Site* - Information on how to visit the grave site of Wild Bill in Deadwood's Mount Moriah Cemetery.
Image Citation:
Harris, Colin. “James Butler 'Wild Bill' Hickok Meets 'Calamity Jane' Cannary.” World History Project.
Joseph Gladden Hutton was a soil scientist who advocated for improving soil practices and conservation prior to the 1930s Dust Bowl.
Portrait of Joseph Gladden Hutton, ca. 1930.
Joseph Gladden Hutton Information
Available Resource(s):
- South Dakota Agricultural Heritage Museum Collections *: - The South Dakota Agricultural Heritage Museum has many resources regarding Joseph Gladden Hutton. Contact their Collections Coordinator Rachel Clendenin to see how you can utilize these resources.
- South Dakota Agricultural Heritage Museum Exhibit*, Groundbreakers: Early Agricultural Scientists and Engineers of SDSU * - This exhibit has an entire section dedicated to Joseph Gladden Hutton. Visit the museum between Nov.16, 2017 and late 2019 to experience the exhibit.
- United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service
Image Citation:
J. G. Hutton Photo Collection, 2016:023:033. South Dakota Agricultural Heritage Museum, Brookings.
Korczak Ziolkowski was a Polish-American sculptor who was invited by Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear to create the Crazy Horse Memorial.
Ziolkowski with a model of the monument in front of the hill that would be used.
Korczak Ziolkowski Information
Available Resource(s):
- Crazy Horse Memorial* - This website gives a brief comprehensive history of Ziolkowski’s life. It is by no means a complete biography, but it is a good starting point.
- South Dakota Digital Archives* - The South Dakota State Historical Society's online archives contain resources pertaining to Ziolkowski and the Crazy Horse Monument.
Image Citation:
Sulzberger, A. G. “65-Year-Old Monument to Sioux Warrior Still a Work in Progress.” Nation and World, Seattle Times, 17 March 2012
Dora DuFran was a notable madam who ran a number of brothels throughout the Black Hills, starting in the early days of the gold rush.
Dora DuFran Information
Available Resources:
- Buffalo Girls (1995) - It’s important to look at all films made for purely entertainment purposes with a very critical eye. Be sure to thoroughly research each event before trusting its accuracy.
- Archives in Belle Fourche* - Once you click on the newspaper option, you will be given directions on how to access that source in the archives.
- Archives in Rapid City*
- Archives in Deadwood*
- Archives in Sturgis*
Additional archives can be accessed by contacting the city archivist at 605-578-2082.
Image Citation:
Weiser, Kathy. “The Painted Ladies of Deadwood Gulch.” The Painted Ladies of Deadwood Gulch, Legends of America, Apr. 2017
A flash flood in the summer of 1972 led to devastation throughout Rapid City causing the deaths of over 200 people and billions of dollars in damages.
Cars piled up at East Boulevard after the flood.
The Black Hills Flood of 1972 Information
Available Resource(s):
- The Rapid City Flood… June 9, 1972. A Unique Picture Magazine Providing a Graphic Account of Rapid City’s Most Unforgettable Moment:* - Contact Rachel Clendenin, the Collection Coordinator at the museum, in advance if you have a specific item that you wish to see. This way they will be able to have it prepared when you visit. Image Call #GB1225.S8 R36 1972
- Report from the National Weather Service
- Archives of Rapid City newspapers: Once you click on a newspaper option, you will be given directions on how to access that source in the archives.
- Oral histories of individuals who were there:* If you know someone who lived in Rapid at the time, consider conducting an interview with them.
Image Citation:
Rapid City Journal. “The Black Hills Flood of 1972.” The Black Hills Flood of 1972, National Weather Service, 10 June 1972.
The Wounded Knee Occupation occurred in 1973 when the American Indian Movement seized Wounded Knee, South Dakota and occupied it for 71 days to protest the tribal council president, Richard Wilson.
Native American activists during the Wounded Knee Occupation. Sign above door reads, “Independent Oglala Nation Wounded Knee."
Wounded Knee Occupation Information
Available Resource(s):
- A news story about life on the Pine Ridge Reservation during the occupation of Wounded Knee, September 1973. - The audio from this news story includes first hand accounts of the Wounded Knee Occupation from residents of the Pine Ridge Reservation during the occupation.
- Occupation of Wounded Knee : hearings before the Subcommittee on Indian Affairs of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs - This collection of statements from the Oglala Sioux Tribal President, South Dakota senators, etc. explains the events leading up to and following the Occupation at Wounded Knee.
Image Citation:
“Siege at Wounded Knee, 1973.” Siege at Wounded Knee, 1973, Libcom.org, 19 Sept. 2006.
An extreme blizzard that led to 170 deaths in South Dakota alone. Many of those who passed away were school children trying to walk home, giving this blizzard its name. This blizzards is also sometimes referred to as the Schoolhouse Blizzard of 1888.
The Children’s Blizzard Information
Available Resource(s):
- The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin can be found at the South Dakota Agricultural Heritage Museum in Brookings * - This book can also be found online on Amazon, eBay, etc., or at libraries throughout the state.
- O’Gara, W. H. In All Its Fury, the Blizzard of Jan. 12, 1888. Lincoln, NE: Union College Press, 1947. - Contact Rachel Clendenin, the Collection Coordinator at the museum, in advance if you have a specific item that you wish to see. Acc#1991:186:001. Call # F666 I53 1947
- ”Scenes and Incidents of the Recent Terrible Blizzard in Dakota” from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, Jan. 28, 1888, page 401. - Acc #87:022:003
- The “Children’s Blizzard” in the Black Hills Country - Detailed description of the blizzard by the National Weather Service.
Image Citation:
Scenes and Incidents of the Recent Terrible Blizzard in Dakota, 1987:022:033. South Dakota Agricultural Heritage Museum, Brookings, SD.*
The Farmers’ Holiday Association was an organization consisting of mainly midwestern and Great Plains farmers who organized a farming protest, or "holiday." This group created controversy when it caused the Elk Point Tragedy, where a milk distributor was killed.
Union County Courthouse, Courthouse Square, Elk Point, Union County, SD
Elk Point Tragedy Information
Available Resource(s):
- Elk Point Tragedy Article in South Dakota Magazine - This article is a good place to start to get a general overview of the Elk Point Tragedy.
- Newspapers.com online article - This link takes you to newspapers.com, where many newspaper articles on the topic can be found. The site offers an option for a 7 day free trial, but subscriptions are also available for $7.95 a month.
- California Digital Newspaper Collection.
- The Library of Congress, Chronicling America.
Image Citation:
Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, Van Sickle and Bill Lackey, Boucher, Jack, photographer. Union County Courthouse, Courthouse Square, Elk Point, Union County, SD. Elk Point South Dakota Union County, 1933. Documentation Compiled After. Photograph.
The 1876 Deadwood Gold Rush led to an influx of mines and miners. Poor safety and health practices led to countless diseases, accidents and deaths. One of the most common ailments that plagued miners was known as Silicosis, a lung disease caused by the inhalation of dust contains small pieces of crystalline silica.
Postcard showing two men operating a pneumatic drill at the Homestake Mine in Lead, S.D., 1912.
Silicosis Lung Disease in Black Hills Miners Information
Available Resource(s):
- Broken Boot Gold Mine * - The Broken Boot Gold Mine is located in Deadwood, South Dakota and offers a 30 minute guided tour and gold panning instruction. Tours are only offered in the summer (Memorial Day to Labor Day).
- Black Hills Mining Museum *
- Big Thunder Gold Mine *
- Information on Silicosis
Image Citation:
“Penny Postcards from South Dakota.” Penny Postcards from South Dakota, USGenWeb Archives.
Famous lawman, James “Wild Bill” Hickok, was shot while gambling at the Saloon #10 in Deadwood, South Dakota. His shooter, Jack McCall, who was able to get away with the shooting by claiming that Hickok had murdered his brother. Eventually, McCall was turned over to a U.S. Marshall in Dakota Territory where he would be re-tried for Hickok's murder.
The Murder of Wild Bill Hickok Information
Available Resource(s):
- Archives in Deadwood * - Additional archives can be accessed by contacting city archivist Michael Runge at City of Deadwood.
- Historical Marker of Jack McCall’s hanging * - Locate the historical markers for both the trial and hanging of the notorious Jack McCall for the murder of Wild Bill Hickok.
- Grave of Wild Bill * - Information on how to visit the Grave of Wild Bill in Deadwood's Mount Moriah Cemetery.
Image Citation:
“File: Wild Bill Hickok sepia.png” Wikimedia Commons. Accessed June 27, 2018.
The Homestake Opera House was built in 1914 by Phoebe Apperson Hearst and Thomas Grier. The theater portion was ruined, and the rest of the building nearly destroyed, when it was consumed by a fire in 1984. Restorations of the building were started in 1995 and continue to this day.
1984 Homestake Opera House Fire Information
Available Resource(s):
- Homestake Opera House Historical Timeline - Images from the fire can also be found on the Homestake Opera House's website.
- The Homestake Opera House tours - Dates, times and prices for tours and scheduling visits can be found on this page, along with contact information.
- Oral histories of individuals who were there - Information can be found on this site on how to conduct an oral history.
Image Citation:
"Tonight marks the anniversary of the 1984 Homestake Opera House fire." Homestake Opera House. Last modified April 2, 2018. Accessed on June 27, 2018.
The Wounded Knee Massacre took place Dec. 29, 1890, and was a conflict between the North American Lakota People and representatives of the U.S. government which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Lakota men, women and children.
Wounded Knee Massacre Information
Available Resource(s):
- The Wounded Knee Museum* - This website lists the operating hours of the museum and contact information, along with some information about the event itself.
- Wounded Knee Massacre Monument * - Visit the Wounded Knee Massacre Monument in Wounded Knee, SD located on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in southwestern South Dakota .
- Report by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs after Wounded Knee
- Surviving Wounded Knee by David W. Grua - A study conducted to preserve the memory of those who were at Wounded Knee in 1890.
Image Citation:
Remington, Frederic, Artist. The opening of the fight at Wounded Knee. South Dakota Wounded Knee, 1891. Photograph.
W.E. Adams and his brother moved to Deadwood and started a grocery store. When it was destroyed by a fire, the brothers rebuilt it and became one of the largest wholesalers in the region. He was also elected mayor of Deadwood six times!
W.E. Adams Information
Available Resource(s):
- Deadwood Archives* - Some of the archives are available online, but you can contact city archivist Michael Runge with the email or phone number found on this website to request further information.
- Historic Adams House
- Adams Museum
- South Dakota Public Broadcasting
Image Citation:
Michak, Jessica. "The Man behind the Museum: W.E. Adams." South Dakota Public Broadcasting.
The first woman to be elected to the senate without being previously appointed to the United States Congress. She was also the first woman to hold a congressional office in South Dakota. Her mother, Mary Isabella "Mamie" Shields Pyle, was very active in the national women’s suffrage movement.
Gladys Pyle Information
Available Resource(s):
- Pyle House* - Huron
- “Incredible Gladys Pyle” Collection* - A collection of research done by Jeanette Kinyon and Jean Walz about Pyle’s career as a politician - available at Briggs Library at South Dakota State University; these are also available at University of South Dakota in Vermilion.
- Grave site Marker* - Beadle County
- Emmy E. Warner, "Women in Congress: 1917-1964," The Western Political Quarterly 19 no. 1 (March 1966): 16-30.
Image Citation:
Gladys Pyle (1890-1989) - Find a grave memorial. (1890, October 4).
Often forgotten because of General Custer, Crook spared the lives of many Native Americans as he marched his men out of Montana after the Battle of the Little Bighorn. He arrived in today's Harding County where there is a monument to those who lost their lives in the Battle of Slim Buttes.
The Forgotten General Information
Available Resource(s):
- 1881 Courthouse Museum* - Contact the director, Gary Enright, for more help
- Slim Buttes Monument*
- South Dakota Public Broadcasting Article
- Charles P. Elliott, "An Indian Reservation Under General George Crook," Military Affairs 12 no. 2 (Summer 1948): 91-102.
Image Citation:
Gevik, B. (2024, April 24). George Crook - the Forgotten General. SDPB.
This movement began in the 1960s and formed after the African-American Civil Rights Movement. Native Americans used the phrase, “Red Power.” In South Dakota, Native Americans occupied Wounded Knee and Mount Rushmore and even swarmed the Bureau of Indian Affairs office in Washington, D.C.
AIM Information
Available Resource(s):
- Lakota Woman - An autobiography by Mary Crow Dog, where she recalled her time at the Rosebud Reservation and with the American Indian Movement.
- Newell Museum* - Offers articles written at the time of this movement by an investigator and agent. Talk to Linda if you have any questions!
- The Impact of the American Indian Movement on the Pine Ridge Reservation
- Wounded Knee Occupation, 1973
Photo Credit:
Siege at Wounded Knee, 1973. (n.d.). libcom.org
The Homestead Act of 1862 opened South Dakota to Americans, explicitly allowing women to own their own land. This opportunity was hard to pass up for some women, they packed up everything they could and moved to the Great Plains to try to “prove up,” their land.
Women Homesteaders Information
Available Resource(s):
- Land of the Burnt Thigh - An autobiography by Edith Kohl, where she described her life on her homestead near the Lower Brule reservation.
- “Proving Up: The Memoir of “Girl Homesteader” Martha Stoeker Norby,” South Dakota History 16 no. 1* - Physical copy of this Journal available at the Agricultural Heritage Museum in Brookings
- SD Agricultural Heritage Museum Exhibit - FarmHer * - Exhibit is open until February 2020.
- "U.S. Prairie and Plains Women in the 1920s," Agriculture History 73 no. 2 - This article compared women's lives in the 1920s, one woman was from South Dakota while the other was from Iowa.
- Land in Her Own Name - This book, by H. Elaine Lindgren, gives a well-rounded view of life for women on the frontier
- South Dakota Art Museum Exhibit - Harvey Dunn* - Opening Fall 2019
Image Citation:
Migration and Post, S. T. D. (2007, April 5). Pioneer women. The Denver Post.
At the Homestake Mine in Lead, scientists experiment in areas like, biology, engineering and geology. They work in underground facilities that were once used to mine gold.
Homestake Mine Information
Resources:
- Sanford Lab at Homestake
- Research is conducted here year round, they offer tours and exhibits to the public.
- Black Hills Mining Museum
- Deadwood Archives*
- Talk to Michael Runge if you have any questions! His number and email are on the above site.
Image Citation:
Former South Dakota mining town revitalized by underground science lab. (2017, October 17). CBS News
Part of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal,” this granted electricity to nearly every farm in the United States. It provided federal funding at low interest rates to cooperatives, power districts, and other public programs. From this, new agricultural advances ensued.
REA Information
Available Resource(s):
- Power Relations: Western Rural Electric Cooperatives and the New Deal - This article by Brian Q. Cannon from the Western Historical Quarterly gives a brief history of rural electrification and how New Deal agencies empowered westerners.
- P. Van Deraa, “REA Allotments and Loans,” The Journal of Land and Public Utility Economics 12 no. 4 (Nov., 1936), 427-429. - An article that explains how farmer’s got their electricity through extension services, as well as, the different improvements needed to get this up and running.
- Agricultural Heritage Museum – Power to the People - Opening Fall 2019
Image Citation:
The Populist Party, otherwise known as the People’s Party was a grass-roots political party that focused on the small farmer. This brought different ethnicities and religions together, but it was not a party of “have-nots.” Farmers who owned physical property were more likely to join the movement. It also coincides with the Farmers Alliance movement.
The Populist Party Information
Available Resource(s):
- John Dibbern, “Who were the Populists? A Study of Grass-Roots Alliancemen in South Dakota,” Agricultural History 56 no. 4 (Oct. 1982), 677-691 - This article gives a brief explanation of the Populist Party in South Dakota, mainly Marshall County.
- Daniel J. Elazar, “Political Culture on the Plains,” Western Historical Quarterly 11 no. 3 (July 1980), 261-283.
- Hallie Farmer, “The Economic Background of Frontier Populism,” The Mississippi Valley Historical Review 10 no. 4 (March 1924), 406-427.
Image Citation:
"Weaver-Field People's Party National Convention Ribbon," (1892)
Once the United States had secured the Louisiana Purchase, President Thomas Jefferson wanted to explore the new land. He chose Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to lead the expedition. They came right through South Dakota and had multiple meetings with the Sioux tribes.
Lewis and Clark Expedition Information
Available Resource(s):
- James P. Ronda, Lewis and Clark Among the Indians, (Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 2002). - This book recalls the Lewis and Clark expedition, and their many meetings with the Sioux tribes.
- Lydia Whirlwind Soldier, “Lewis and Clark Journey: The Renaming of a Nation,” Wicazo Sa Review 19 no. 1 (Spring 2004): 131-143. - This article is a great representation of the Native American’s side of the story.
- Norman K. Risjord, Dakota: The Story of the Northern Plains (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2012)
Image Citation:
"Meriwether Lewis and William Clark"
Harvey Dunn is the most well-known South Dakota painter. He was born near Manchester, South Dakota in a 9 by 7 foot shack. He went to South Dakota State University to study art. From there, we went to study under Howard Pyle in Delaware. He became a famous illustrator for magazines like, Harper’s Weekly, American Legion Monthly, and The Saturday Evening Post. Towards the end of this life, he taught art in New York.
Harvey Dunn Information
Available Resource(s):
- South Dakota Art Museum – Harvey Dunn: Imagining Others - Open now until Dec. 11, 2019
- Dunn, Harvey. An Evening in the Classroom: Notes Taken by Miss Taylor in One of the Classes of Painting (New York: Dover Publications, 2019). - This book reflects on Harvey Dunn, the teacher.
- Karolevitz, Robert F., The Prairie is My Garden: The Story of Harvey Dunn, artist (North Plains Press, 1969).
Image Citation:
Harvey Dunn: Imagining Others. (2019, August 13). South Dakota State University.
The second of the Fort Laramie treaties, this treaty was supposed to bring peace to the neighboring Sioux tribes, as well as, with the settling Americans. With this treaty, the United States recognized the Black Hills as part of the Great Sioux Reservation. This allowed only authorized people to enter the Black Hills and any land within the reservation. To this day, the ownership of the Black Hills remains a legal dispute between the United States and the Sioux Nations.
Ft. Laramie Treaty (1868) Information
Available Resource(s):
- Jill St. Germain, Broken Treaties: United States and Canadian Relations with the Lakotas and the Plains Cree, 1868-1885 (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2009)
- Fort Laramie Treaty (1868) - This is the original document signed at Fort Laramie in 1868
- Peter Cozzens, The Army and the Indian (Eyewitnesses to the Indian Wars, 1865-1890) (Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books, 2005)
- The Black Hills Historical Society
Image Citation:
Fort Laramie Treaty Case Study | Teacher resource. (n.d.)
Women in South Dakota earned the right to vote in 1918, a year before it became federal law. Settlers had tried to get women’s suffrage in the state constitution, but it did not get ratified in time. A specific example of this was Emma Smith DeVoe who was originally born in Illinois, where she was influenced by Susan B. Anthony at a young age. In South Dakota, she began as an assistant state organizer for the South Dakota Equal Suffrage Association (SDESA) in 1889. In South Dakota, DeVoe worked closely with Susan B. Anthony.
Women's Suffrage in South Dakota Information
Available Resource(s):
- (Book Chapter) 2. The South Dakota Women Suffrage Campaign, Winning the West for Women: The Life of Suffragist Emma Smith DeVoe
- Mamie Shields Pyle Gravesite*
- Patricia O’Keefe Easton, “Woman Suffrage in South Dakota: The Final Decade 1911-1920,” South Dakota History 13 no. 3 (1983): 206-226.*
- Physical copy located at the Agricultural Heritage Museum in Brookings.
- Mamie Shields Pyle archives – University of South Dakota*
- Election results from 1918
Image Citation:
American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA). (2017, July 19). The U.S. Women’s Suffrage Movement
Crazy Horse was born in the 1840's along Rapid Creek east of the Black Hills. He was a fearless Lakota leader who was committed to protecting his people and their land. He is best known for leading the Sioux in their fight against the U.S. government while trying to protect their land at the Battle of Little Bighorn against Lt. Colonel George Custer.
Crazy Horse Information
Available Resource(s):
- “About Crazy Horse the Man: Crazy Horse Memorial®”
- “Hilton M. Briggs Library” South Dakota State University,
- “Native History: Crazy Horse Killed by U.S. Soldier While in Custody” IndianCountryToday.com
Image Citation:
“Native History: Crazy Horse Killed by U.S. Soldier While in Custody” IndianCountryToday.com
Peter Norbeck was South Dakota’s first native-born governor. He was born in 1870 in Clay County, South Dakota in his parents’ dugout on their homestead. He entered politics in 1908 and promoted state-owned enterprises, state hail insurance, the women’s suffrage movement and the prohibition of alcohol. After two terms as governor, Norbeck was elected the United State Senate in 1920 where he advocated for the carving of Mount Rushmore.
Peter Norbeck Information
Available Resource(s):
- “Hilton M. Briggs Library.” South Dakota State University,
- “Senator Peter Norbeck.” Public Broadcasting Service (PBS),
- “Governor Peter Norbeck.” Trail of Governors Foundation,
- “Encyclopedia of the Great Plains.” Encyclopedia of the Great Plains | Norbeck, Peter (1870-1936)
Image Citation:
Gertrude Bonnin, born on the Yankton Sioux Reservation in 1876, was a Native American activist during the early 20th century. In 1926, Gertrude founded the National Council of American Indians which brought up issues regarding land and resource issues Indian people faced. She wrote stories that were critical of boarding schools that many of her people were forced to attend and the assimilation enacted upon them. Until her death in 1928, Gertrude worked for improvements in education, culture preservation, health care, and legal issues among Native Americans.
Zitkala-Ša, having grown her hair back out after her stay at the missionary school, and her violin.
Gertrude Simmons Bonnin Information
Available Resource(s):
- “Hilton M. Briggs Library.” South Dakota State University,
- Biographies of Plains Indians: Gertrude Simmons Bonnin - 1876-1938 - American Indian Relief Council Is Now Northern Plains Reservation Aid,
- “Zitkala-Ša (Red Bird / Gertrude Simmons Bonnin) (U.S. National Park Service).” National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior,
- “Bonnin, Gertrude Simmons (1876-1938), Author and Activist: American National Biography.” (1876-1938), Author and Activist | American National Biography, 16 June 2017,
Image Citation:
Kasebier, Gertrude. Zitkala-Ša" Zitkala-Ša (Red Bird / Gertrude Simmons Bonnin), National Park Service, 1898.
Born to a Sioux mother and a German American father, Benjamin Reifel was the first congressman from the Sioux nation. After graduating from South Dakota State, Reifel worked for the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs where he helped tribes set up their government. In 1960, Reifel was the first American Indian from South Dakota to serve in Congress. Throughout his career, Benjamin worked to better schools and hospitals on Indian reservations, also advocated for reservation and county schools be merged as one so that Native and non-Native children would be educated together.
Benjamin Reifel Information
Additional Resource(s):
- “Hilton M. Briggs Library.” South Dakota State University
- “Notable Native Americans: Ben Reifel - American Indian Education Foundation.” A Program of Partnership With Native Americans
- “The Life of Ben Reifel.” South Dakota State University
Image Citation
“The Life of Ben Reifel” South Dakota State University.
Many of the early arrivals in Deadwood, including Wild Bill Hickok, were Civil War veterans. Deadwood’s Mount Moriah Cemetery has a section devoted to them. The Civil War was instrumental in motivating people to move west in the years leading up to and following the Black Hills gold rush.
Civil War Veterans Information
Available Resource(s):
- Deadwood History, Inc.: Deadwood History, Inc. has photographs of Black Hills Civil War Veterans and soldier reunions, Diaries and Grand Army of the Republic Records and artifacts. For access to these and more archival materials, email archivist Tia Stenson or call 605-722-4800.
Image Citation:
The Grand Army of the Republic reunion in Lead on Mill Street, 1900. Adams Museum Collection.
The Deadwood, You Bet Committee was instrumental in bringing legalized gaming to Deadwood as a way to stimulate the economy and restore and preserve the historic city. You Bet committee members on the balcony of the Franklin Hotel.
Deadwood You Bet Committee Information
Available Resource(s):
Deadwood History, Inc.*: Deadwood History, Inc. has photographs of the committee and the Syndicate Building Fire, committee records and advertisements, as well as memorabilia related to the legalization of gambling. For access to these and more archival materials, email archivist Tia Stenson or call 605-722-4800. Image Courtesy of Deadwood History, Inc. Adams Museum Collection.
Image Citation:
Image Courtesy of Deadwood History, Inc. Adams Museum Collection.
Ray Davis, Jr. earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Yale in 1942. He conducted ground-breaking research on neutrinos, particles that are created in the sun’s and the earth’s interior and have no weight or charge. Davis performed experiments in the Homestake Gold Mine in the 1960s and in 2002 won a Nobel Prize in Physics for his work with neutrinos.
Ray Davis, 1968. Homestake Mining Company Collection
Ray Davis Information
Available Resource(s):
- Deadwood History, Inc.*: Deadwood History, Inc. has correspondence between James Dunn and Ray Davis, Homestake Mining Company historical photographs of the neutrino work, and Sharp Bits issues related to Ray Davis.
- Homestake Public Affairs and Publications Collection*
- Contact the Deadwood History, Inc.
For the Homestake Mining Company (HMC), timber production was a vital component of the success of the mine as well as the lasting endurance of the National Forest in the area. In 1897, a plan for timber harvest was created and presented to the HMC by Gifford Pinchot, an agent of the Department of the Interior. The plan was approved in 1899, creating Timber Case No. 1, which constituted the first regulated timber harvest and sale from Federal Forest Reserves.
The original building and site of the first sawmill of the Homestake Timber Division where logs were processed from the first harvest of U.S. Forest Service Case No. 1.
United States Forest Service Information
Available Resource(s):
- Nuggets to Neutrinos by Steven T. Mitchell.
- Deadwood History, Inc.*: Deadwood History, Inc. has publications and maps related to the U.S. Forest Service and photographs relating to the timber operations of the Homestake Mining Company.
- Homestake Timber Contracts Paperwork, 1899-1999*
- Camille Yuill and Jessie Sundstrom family papers*
- Past Perfect Online Materials*
- Contact Deadwood History, Inc. for access to these and more archival materials.
Image Courtesy:
Image Courtesy of Deadwood History, Inc. Homestake Mining Company Collection.
Born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania in 1792, George Catlin was an accomplished American author and painter who is highly regarded for his renderings of Native Americans in the 19th-Century American West from North Dakota through Oklahoma. In 1841, Catlin published his paintings in a collection entitled "Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indian." With this collection, Catlin traveled Europe, Central America and South America to share his paintings and stories of Native Americans. George Catlin is remembered for his authenticity and transparency as an artist.
George Catlin Information
Available Resource(s):
- George Catlin Official: This site includes a biography and links to some of his works.
- Smithsonian American Art Museum Biography: This site includes information about Catlin's life, works, and video and photo footage of his paintings and art shows.
- National Park Service at Pipestone National Monument (MN)
- South Dakota State Archives*: The state archives offers information from his time in South Dakota.
Image Citation:
South Dakota’s first Poet Laureate, Charles Badger Clark, was born in Albia, Iowa in 1883. Traveling to South Dakota to attend Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, Clark quickly fell in love with moving westward. Throughout his travels, he worked as a cowboy on Arizona and South Dakota ranches, where he began to write poetry about his life and experiences as a working cowboy in the last days of the open range. While living near Custer, Gov. Leslie Jensen named Charles Badger Clark as South Dakota’s first Poet Laureate in 1937. He died at the age of 74 in 1957 and is remembered for such poems as, “A Cowboy’s Prayer,” “Spanish is the Loving Tongue” and “Ridin’.”
Charles Badger Clark Information
Available Resources:
- South Dakota Historical Society*: Biography and poem selections
- South Dakota Hall of Fame*
- "Sun and Saddle Leather"
Image Citation:
Born in Ft. Pierre in 1929, Casey Tibbs was a rodeo cowboy, businessman and actor. Starting his career at age 12, Tibbs would go on to win nine world championship titles across bareback riding, saddle bronc riding and all-around cowboy disciplines. While serving on the Professional Rodeo Cowboys’ Association (PRCA) board of directors, he advocated for a season-ending championship event, which would grow to become the National Finals Rodeo (NFR.) The PRCA hosted the first National Finals Rodeo in Dallas, Texas in 1959, where Tibbs competed for the final time. He died at the age of 60 in 1990. Today, the Casey Tibbs South Dakota Rodeo Center in Ft. Pierre, South Dakota carries on the legacy of Casey and other notable South Dakota cowboys.
Casey Tibbs Information
Available Resources:
- Casey Tibbs South Dakota Rodeo Center: Biography and foundation information.
- National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum Biography
- ProRodeo Hall of Fame Biography and Video Footage
- South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame
Image Citation:
James “Tama Jim” Wilson was a Scottish-American politician who served as United States Secretary of Agriculture for 16 years during three presidencies, from 1897 to 1913. Born in Ayrshire, Scotland, in 1835, “Tama Jim” grew up in a farming community near the birthplace of famous poet Robert Burns. Upon immigrating to the United States, Wilson served as a professor of agriculture at Iowa State University, was a member of the Iowa and United States House of Representatives and served as Secretary of Agriculture for William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt and William Taft. During this time, he worked closely with land grant universities (including SDSU) and professors, sending N.E. Hansen on multiple trips through the years. William McKinley once noted had it not been for Wilson’s birth in Scotland, he would have undoubtedly been elected president of the United States. James Wilson died at the age of 85 in 1920, and still holds the record as the longest-serving United States Cabinet member.
James "Tama Jim" Wilson Information
Contributors
This project was a collaboration between The South Dakota Agricultural Heritage Museum and National History Day in South Dakota. The museum would also like to add an additional thank you to South Dakota State University History majors Paige Barthel, Clara Burns, Austin Kuchel, Lauren Pierce and Megan Stiefvater. They served as National History Day in South Dakota student interns, researching and compiling resources for this project.
