Back to Deadwood

Now that the rain took a break, we headed back up to Deadwood, with our goal to visit Mt. Moriah cemetery, and the Days of '76 Museum.

Days of '76 Museum (https://www.deadwoodhistory.com)  is a trip back in time, discovering how the Dakota Territory, and Deadwood were settled. 

The beginning point of the exhibits is a short tale of the "Days of '76 Parade". The parade and celebration help visitors visualize the making of Deadwood. The parade itself is organized in a timeline fashion, beginning with the American flag. The next segment usually consists of the color guard, rodeo committee, and bands. 

The starting point for the timeline begin with the Indians. At the peak of this parade there were as many as 150 Indians participating in the celebration, that number has dwindled since.

Following the Indians are the pioneers. In this group there are the trappers, explorers, scouts, settlers, and pioneers. Exploration companies include Ezra Kind party, the Gordon party, Frank Bryant party. Marching along with this segment is Custer and his troops. A white woman named Annie Tallent can be seen walking in this group. What is so important that Annie is mentioned? she is believed to have been the first white woman to enter the Black Hills.

Now we get to an era that some of us might just remember...whether lived it, or read about it. This group marching down the street represent the gold rush days. You can see people like Poker Alice, Deadwood Dick, Jack McCall, Calamity Jane, Wild Bill Hickok, Preacher Smith, and Yellow Doll. Because there was an active Chinese community, you will find representatives from Chinatown.

Behind this group you will see examples of growth and industry. This segment contains the vehicles of progress, from stagecoaches to working wagons (which you see later). There would also be representatives from some of the industries that made Deadwood.

The following segments have participants from cowboys to scouting organizations.

In we go to the workings of the museum.

A big part of the celebrations is the rodeo that occurs at the grounds next to the museum. There were many exhibits and artifacts that spoke of the bronc busters, bull riders, and barrel racers, but I gravitated to the section that best described what I would have like to do... a rodeo clown.

Bennie Bender was a local boy from South Dakota. He was a rodeo clown, bullfighter, and contestant, performing many times between 1940 and 1960. Rodeo clowns are a tough breed, like a bull rider with a painted face. Can you see yourself in a barrel with a bull running at full speed, hunting you down?

These barrels are not the luxury they look like from the outside, there is not padding inside. What about trying to outrun that mean bull riding your trusty stead.

All I would say... your stead better be faster than the bull.

I'm thinking some of you wouldn't do it, just because of the wardrobe.

Remember I mentioned that the museum was a timeline of events that occurred in the territory? One event that was partially documented was Wounded Knee. 

The first Wounded Knee incident happed back in 1890. The U.S. government was concerned with the Ghost Dance spiritual movement, which taught that they were being confined to reservations because they angered the gods. The Sioux believed that if they practiced the Ghost Dance, and rejected white-mans ways, the gods would bring about a new world, and destroy all non-believers. In December 15, 1890 the reservation police tried to arrest Sitting Bull, mistakenly believing he was a Ghost Dancer. In their attempt to arrest him things went awry, and they inadvertently killed him. This increased tensions at Pineridge. 

December 29th the 7th Calvary surrounded the Ghost Dancers, and demanded that all weapons be given over to the Army. A fight broke out between and American Indian and a soldier. A shot was fired, but it was unclear which side fired the shot... end result was 150 American Indians killed that day at Wounded Knee. Half of the Indians slaughtered were women and children; the Army only lost 25 men.

The massacre was avoidable, the Indians were surrounded by heavily armed soldiers, and most likely would not have attacked. It is believed that the 7th Calvary may have had revenge on their minds because of the massacre at Little Bighorn in 1876. This massacre at Wounded Knee ended the Ghost Dance spiritual movement.

Now we jump forward in history to the 1960s. A new Indian movement arose, American Indian Movement (A.I.M.), in protest to the harassment of Native American Indians in Minneapolis. A.I.M. gained notoriety with their protests, however, the mainstream Indian leaders did not approve of their methods.

During 1972, A.I.M. attempted to reduce the divide with traditional tribal elders on reservations. The greatest success was at Pineridge Reservation, in southwestern South Dakota, when a group of whites murdered a Sioux named Yellow Thunder. Even though the murderers only got 6-years, it was considered a victory for the movement, the movement gained respect on the reservations.

Now in 1973 the trouble begins. The prestige and influence the movement was receiving worried a conservative Sioux tribal chairman, Dick Wilson. This guy ran back to the reservation, and under protection of the federal marshals and Bureau of Indian Affairs police. A.I.M. was smart enough to not assault the reservation headquarters at Pineridge, so they chose the symbolic Wounded Knee. With backing of the federal government, Wilson attacked Wounded Knee. The siege lasted 71 days before the movement surrendered. Casualties were two died Indians, and a permanently paralyzed federal marshal.

This breastplate is an example of the violence that occurred. The breastplate is made from government 30-06, and .38 caliber shells from F.B.I. agents, and federal officers.

There is a little more information at:

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/aim-occupation-of-wounded-knee-begins.

After we finished the first floor we headed downstairs to the working world.

The starting point for the basement exhibits.

The lower floor is setup by timeline, starting at 1875. You need to remember that there was a agreement made between the Indians and the government, allowing the Indians to keep the Black Hills as their sacred hunting grounds. So when 1876 arrived, along with gold seekers, there were issues. The government had agreed to keep the miners out, but it wasn't so easy. 

The miners knew they weren't welcome, evidenced by the Army soldiers and Sioux warriors reeking havoc. It was difficult for freight trains (called "bull trains) to get into Deadwood, thanks to the above mentioned. Fred Evans' first attempt was an example of how tough it was. The Army stopped him, took his teams of critters, and burned his wagons. In 1880, with persistence, Fred got through, thanks to another agreement that took the land away from the Sioux.

This "Mountain Wagon", usually a sign of a family comfortably well off. This guy was loaded, brakes, heavy duty springs, back seat was removable for carrying cargo. This was the SUV of the day.

Recognize who manufactured this carriage? This carriage was not built for the Black Hills, it was a sign that Deadwood was growing into a civilized town. This carriage was the high end for this manufacturer... that's Studebaker by the way... the only wagon manufacturer to successfully migrate to automobiles.

Some other carriages of the time:

Carol has made her choice.

Milk or Beer? What's your choice?

This wagon has a 5th wheel that allowed it to make tight turns, or back into tight spaces.

How many of us have been behind those big trucks hauling dirt, gravel, or rock? they are are not new to to 20th century, their cousins were being used in the Black Hills back in the 1890s.

The bottom photo is looking through the bottom of the dump wagon. These wagons were used for building roads, and excavating, because they were able to haul heavy loads.

This is just another example of today's technology rooted in the yester years.

After the disastrous fire that destroyed a major portion of the commercial sector, Deadwood built a new firehouse/city hall brick building in 1889. With a new firehouse, came new fire equipment, in the form of a horse drawn hook and ladder truck.

It didn't take long for the "gold boom" to grow Deadwood from a mining camp to an industrial town. Within the first year of gold being discovered, stamping mills were established. For those that do not know about stamping mills... rocks containing gold ore were brought to a mill, dumped into a bin that fed a stamping mechanism that crushed the rocks to a product that could be further processed. As mining grew, mining operations grew as well, requiring larger equipment. 

Above is an example of equipment that needed to be brought in over the mountains. In the case of the above photo, we are talking a 13,000 lb. boiler. The Homestake Mine used similar wagons to haul equipment between Deadwood and Lead (pronounced Leed).

After all the hard work was over, for good, you might get to ride in your final wagon...

to Mt. Moriah Cemetery.

Speaking of Mt. Moriah Cemetery... our next stop. 

https://www.cityofdeadwood.com/community/page/mount-moriah-cemetery

The first Deadwood cemetery was begun in 1875, and wasn't originally called Mt. Moriah, in fact it really didn't have a name. Newspapers weren't established until mid-1876, occasionally reporting deaths, and when they did, it was evident that the cemetery was nameless. Up to 1878 the cemetery had been called "the Deadwood Cemetery", "cemetery on the hill", "City Cemetery", and "old graveyard in South Deadwood". After the creation of Mt. Moriah in 1878, the first cemetery was known as the "Old Deadwood Cemetery". Several buried residents were exhumed and moved from the first cemetery to Mt. Moriah, James Butler Hickok in 1879, and Henry Weston Smith in 1883.

Mt. Moriah Cemetery became home for more than 3,600 residents during it's active time, 1878 to 1949. In 1967 the city of Deadwood hired a landscape architect to develop a master plan for the cemetery... time was not good to the cemetery. The recommendations were for eliminating vehicular traffic, developing pedestrian transportation, suitable interpretation, and cemetery improvements.  Unfortunately lack of funding delayed any renovations for the next ten years. In the mid-1980s, the city of Deadwood began charging an entrance fee. 

Another decade would pass before the cemetery under went a $4.8 million dollar renovation funded by the Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission.

This is the original section of the cemetery, before they expanded uphill.

Mt. Moriah was created during the Victorian era, and there is a lot of symbology that can be seen on many grave markers. The cemetery is a multi-cultural resting place for Jews, Christians, Chinese, and the destitute.

Human body parts symbolized different things depending on how they were posed or positioned. Hands shaking usually meant a heavenly welcome, or an earthly farewell. If one of the hands was a feminine, and the other masculine, it usually indicated matrimony. A hand with a pointing finger had meaning as well. Two interpretations can be found. The first one is a hand with the finger pointing up, meaning the deceased had move on to heaven. The second option was a hand with the finger pointing down, generally referencing the hand of God emerging from the clouds.

There were symbols related to religion, fraternal organizations, fauna, and flora. Remember, this was a multi-cultural cemetery. There is the Star of David, gates of heaven, angels, and crosses. Fraternal organizations included the Freemasons, Elks, Modern Woodman of America, and the Independent Order of the Oddfellows. Fauna representation was usually either a lamb, or doves. A lamb would often be found on a child's gravesite. The lamb signified innocence. Gravestones with doves holding an olive branch represented purity and peace.

I never really thought about the importance of symbology in death.

With the first recorded Jewish community in South Dakota. The Hebrew Cemetery Association purchased a section of the cemetery for the Jewish community. Many of the influential Jewish pioneers are resting there. An example is Harris Franklin, whose Deadwood interests included banking, ranching, and mining. His son was a two time mayor of Deadwood. It was said that during his Eulogy "he was never known to foreclose a mortgage.

If you are following this blog you know some of the other famous people resting here at Mt. Moriah.

Walking the cemetery, there is a lot to see, because it looks over the town of Deadwood.

The Chinese community was a big part of Deadwood, and there are some of the community buried throughout the cemetery, although the biggest group were interned in section six. In 1908 the Deadwood Chinese community received permission to erect a burner and alter.

The Chinese community brought food offerings, and incinerated paper offerings. By 1920 there was a decline in the Chinese community, and the burner alter fell into disrepair. It wasn't until 2003 that the original site was mapped and tested.  A new burner alter was in the future, and the bricks would come from the demolition of the Chinese Wing Tsue building. Jumping forward to July 2013, the burner alter was officially dedicated, commemorating the 50 year history of the Chinese community in Deadwood. 

There are several sections dedicated to the mass deaths of children that died from smallpox, scarlet fever, and diphtheria outbreaks.

For the small entrance fee, it was worth the visit. Our day was coming to an end, so we headed home.