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Should you find yourself in the Black Hills vicinity, gallop into Deadwood for some great western-style fun. This town is famous for its Gold Rush days, circa 1875, and for where Wild Bill Hickok was killed. The HBO series, Deadwood, has rekindled interest in this lively little town.
Deadwood is a small but bustling town, boasting a full-time population only about 1300. It’s located in a gulch, with steep hills on every side. The climate is so arid that trees cut 100 years ago have not decayed. We marveled that you can still identify tree stumps on the hillside from photographs taken at the turn of the century.
Saloon No. 10 is a main attraction, and a reenactment of Wild Bill’s assassination plays several times a day. Wild Bill was seated at a table with his back to the door, a position he was always superstitious about, when the coward Jack McCall shot him from behind. Hickok was playing poker, holding aces and eights, which will forever be known as Dead Man’s Hand.
Most of Deadwood’s establishments offer gambling. You’ll find slot machines in restaurants, coffee shops, hotels and motels. The Silverado on the main drag is a dedicated casino, and adjacent Historic Franklin Hotel offers lodging and dining.
Deadwood has several fine museums where you can learn about the area’s history and view extensive collections of artifacts. Many of Deadwood’s former residents have found their way into the folklore of the Wild West, from Poker Alice and Deadwood Dick, to Calamity Jane. Way up on Boot Hill, in Moriah Cemetery, Wild Bill and Calamity Jane are buried next to each other.
We camped at nearby Whistler Gulch, the site of a former gold mine. The campground is situated on a hilly slope, but the sites are level and easy to access. At the top of the campground is an old mine entrance with slag heaps of ore tailings. We rummaged around in the piles for gold findings that may have been overlooked, but regrettably all we found were plain old rocks.
We didn’t find gold in Deadwood, but we sure found a gem of a tourist stop!
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June 29, 2023
