As I'm uploading our pictures from Deadwood, South Dakota I'm noticing that the more interesting the stop, the fewer pictures I take. Really, I'm okay with that, because I'd rather be there - in the moment, enjoying the experience - than be constantly worried about getting perfect pictures. With that in mind, you'll have to take my word for it when I tell you how much fun we had in Deadwood and how much Wild West history the kids learned.
We didn't originally plan on stopping in Deadwood, but sometime during our second day in Cody, Wyoming John and I both started to see G's increasing interest in the Wild West, so we picked up a few books and looked at the map to see where we could visit that might bring it to life.
After Devils Tower we made a very quick pit stop in Sundance, Wyoming, the town from which the Sundance Kid took his name.
It's a fairly small town and the Kid's time there wasn't too exciting. He spent a night in the Sundance jail for the attempted robbery of a bank in a nearby town. The local museum has this statue on the front lawn to commemorate that night...
After stopping for the photo op we crossed into South Dakota.
Deadwood is about an hours drive from where we crossed into SD, and we arrived late in the day, so we found a nearby campground (a Passport America campground, of course) and caught up on our laundry before heading into town the next morning.
On the surface Deadwood looks more like a gambling town than a historical one. This is because in the mid-1980's a fire destroy a significant portion of it's business district. Deadwood's economy struggled, so they decided to go the casino route. Don't be fooled, though, the entire town is on the National Historic Registry and there is plenty to see and do.
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| The Deadwood Trolley |
The Deadwood Trolley is a means of transportation, not a tour, but it's super cheap ($1 a rider, free if you are doing the Deadwood Passport) and fun, so we rode it in a full loop to get a feel for the town and decide how we wanted to tackle the day.
After the mandatory stop at Harley Davidson of Deadwood we opted for an early lunch at Mustang Sally's, and was I ever glad, because this is where we found out about Deadwood Alive.
Deadwood Alive is the group that re-enacts events from Deadwood's Wild West history, but they do far more than entertain -- they really make Deadwood an experience, for all ages.
Because Mustang Sally's (like most restaurants in town) has a small casino inside we decide to eat on the patio. Toward the end of our lunch a small group of western looking people sat down near us and started playing stringed instruments and singing some old western favorites. It made for a really fun atmosphere.
Soon after they started playing the two young men you see in the photo below came and set up the card table. They sat down innocently enough, but then the younger of the two made eye contact with Patton and motioned for her to come sit with them. She got wide eyed and shook her head wildly, which I told her later was the absolute right response, since she had no idea what was going on! We discovered that they had set up the table for a game of Deadwood Go Fish, so this put her mind at ease and she and G ended up playing cards with these two for about an hour, while the older of the two told a few stories about historic Deadwood.
I have to say this about that lunch -- as I was sitting on that patio watching John twirl the little girls to a comparatively western version of "Wagon Wheel" and the big kids play cards with these "outlaws" while discussing the exploits of the Sundance Kid and Wild Bill Hickock, my heart said "This. This is why it's worth it to live in 29 feet of space, do laundry in laundromats, and eat off of paper plates everyday." It was a moment from this trip that I will never forget.
But anyway, because we are that family, John and G struck up a conversation with the band after their set and they got the schedule for the rest of the Deadwood Alive events that day. Between some window shopping and historical plaque reading, we caught a few gunfights (all based on fights recorded in the Deadwood newspaper, which can still be accessed on microfiche in their library), the kids became Deadwood Deputies, and we spent some time talking to the players from Deadwood Alive, who were happy to humor tourists with interesting stories about Wild Bill, Calamity Jane, and the development of Deadwood.
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| Even S became a Deadwood Deputy |
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| Alaska follows us everywhere! |
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| Deadwood Train Station |
My only regret about our visit to Deadwood is that we did not prioritize a visit to the Adams Museum. We arrived about a half hour before closing time and quickly realized that we did not have nearly enough time to take in all that the museum had to offer. There were displays on the outlaws of Deadwood, Wild Bill, Black Hills Gold, and so much more. On future trips, we will definitely spend a whole day in the museum. On the upside, I was able to pick up a few Little House books in their gift shop that kept G and P occupied in the car for the next few days.
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| Claims display in the Adams Museum |
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| The children's area in the museum has several children's games from the 1800's, so this is where we spent our half hour. |
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| Waiting for a gunfight |
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| With the most famous statue of Wild Bill Hickock. Interestingly, this statue was made by the daughter of the Crazy Horse sculptor and the son of the Mt. Rushmore sculptor. Also, at this point in the road trip, RS is done having her picture taken. |
We had planned on heading back to the camper before dinner, but we were so enamored by Deadwood Alive that we decided to stay for their portrayal of The Trial of Jack McCall. McCall killed Wild Bill Hickock, so the portrayal actually begins at the saloon where he was actually arrested, and they drag him down the streets of Deadwood to the building where they recreate (with historically accurate humor) the his trail. While all of the other performances by Deadwood Alive are free, the trial has a nominal fee, but it was well worth it. John and P both got to take part in the performance. Patton was a juror, so she was able to get an on stage seat to the entire play, and John read the part of one of the witnesses.
There were a few things that we missed. Deadwood is the home of the Homestake Mining Company, which was owned by the Hearst family, and was the longest operating mine in the Black Hills. We did not have time to see that, nor were we able to make it to Mount Moriah, the cemetery where Wild Bill and Calamity Jane are both buried. Even having missed those things, Deadwood certainly met our goal of bringing the Wild West to life!
