Deadwood and Visiting with Friendly Burros

I’ve always been intrigued by the Old West (the saloons, the shootouts, the vigilantes, the gangs, the gamblers, the ladies of the brothels). Not that I would have, at all, wanted to live in an Old West town. From what I’ve read, they were pretty rough! But, I like learning about the people who traveled West in search of gold and a better life. Many of those little, shanty towns that came up due to the Gold Rush had fairly bad reputations. Deadwood, South Dakota, was one of the more notorious of those.

I like checking out ghost towns, places that were once bustling with life, but are now abandoned – left behind once people moved on for something better, determined to be no longer useful. I like to think about what life was lived there – good and bad. I like to see what remains. But, I also enjoy the old towns where the original buildings still stand – now more of a tourist attraction with dining, shopping, and entertainment – but where history comes alive. Deadwood is such a place.

It is now a little town of restaurants, bars, casinos, shopping, and history. You can catch a re-enactment of a shootout, tour the saloon where Wild Bill Hickok was killed, or catch a bus tour that will take you out to Wild Bill’s gravesite (and Calamity Jane’s)! But, in the mid-1870s, when gold was discovered in the area and the Black Hills Gold Rush began, an illegally settled Deadwood was a lawless place full of brothels and hardcore gamblers. There were opium dens, frequent murders, and the madams were making a nice profit.

Wild Bill Hickok, who was many things (gunfighter, gambler, lawman) and whose name is linked to many tales (some true and some his own made-up stories), was probably the most famous figure to be associated with the town of Deadwood. He was gunned down by Jack McCall, a gambler who felt insulted by Hickok.

Hickok is buried in nearby Mount Moriah Cemetery, which sits above the town. Also there, right next to Hickok, is Calamity Jane (another larger-than-life character, who fabricated some stories, but who was wild, kind, and daring). Really infatuated, or in love, with Hickok (who may or may not have returned her affections), Calamity Jane wished to be buried next to him. And she is.

There is much more to Deadwood, as it became more prosperous and less of a devil’s den in later years, and there are certainly books’ worth of stories on Wild Bill and Calamity Jane, but we were just there for a basic education and some fun memories.

We walked the Main Street, visited the graves, and had a lunch in the saloon where Wild Bill was killed. The girls filled little bags of candy at a candy shop, so that was their highlight. For me, I liked just walking around in a place so full of history, even if it’s all pretty full of debauchery.

On the way back from Deadwood, we drove through Sturgis, which holds the famous motorcycle rally every summer. We were about a week early for that (Thankfully! I’m guessing it’s no place for kids)… But, they were already setting up and getting ready. The bikers were already in town, too. We saw lots of motorcycles everywhere we went.

The last really fun thing we did in South Dakota was visit Custer State Park. We went on two separate days. This is a great place for wildlife spotting, and once again, we were on the search for bighorn sheep. None. We saw not one – either day! We did see lots of pronghorn, a couple of buffalo, and burros.

The burros were the best. These friendly donkeys are descendants of animals once used by people to get up to Harney Peak Summit. They were introduced to the state park by humans, and while they are wild, they are quite accustomed to people. In fact, they walk right up to vehicles to ask for food. People feed them carrots and other things (some probably not what a burro should be eating), and visitors can see them roaming the beautiful hills of the park.

Also part of Custer State Park are several lakes. We took a dip in Sylvan Lake, though it was ice water, and the girls enjoyed climbing the huge rocks surrounding it.