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History Below The Pines, Spearfish, SD (2025)

12/21/2025

A chair.

Stay with us. We promise to make it interesting!

This is one of the last remaining artifacts that sits inside of an old privately owned building that was once used by "seamstresses." Let's talk about it! Nope, we are not talking about that kind of seamstress either!

In the 1880s, it was a pretty common occurrence to have the known houses of ill repute. Now, these houses went by many names over the years. From Cathouses, to sporting houses, to fun houses, to bordellos, dens, and many more names. In places like Deadwood South Dakota, they were out in the open and very well knit into the community. However, in other places, they were a little more camouflaged and less known.

For example, Lead South Dakota. In Lead, the houses of ill repute were more under the radar than anything. Especially in the latter years. This was for many reasons. Lead was more business and was considered a classy established town by some. Others will tell you differently. As the mining became more successful and the town grew, it also brought the vices. Like we said before, just a little less known.

These "sporting houses" would be known as "seamstresses." The owner of the building made a note that calling it "going to the seamstress shop" isn't exactly a prominent euphemism for going to the brothel. Thus, it was a little more inconspicuous.

Interestingly enough, this same building was also a boarding house. It is a safe bet to say that Convenience ran the industry back then.

Today, this section of the privately owned building is actually renovated and new looking. We had a very small window of time to visit the location and document it before the historical changes were made. It is still historical. it just looks a bit different. The owner is doing great things, and we are very glad that the owner had invited us! We were lucky to get a rare glimpse at an early era of Black Hills history that is a little less talked about in this area of the hills.

-HBP

12/20/2025

We are super fortunate to do what we do but most of all we are fortunate to have some of the coolest followers like you guys! Big shout out to everyone who has sent us stuff both now and in the past! You guys are contributing to the preservation of Black Hills history! Thank you!

Recently, we had a super kind man named Dale who reached out to us. He asked if he could donate a Black Hills book to our collection! We replied almost immediately! Thank you so much Dale! This book will go into our research library collection for future projects!

If we do not post for a few days maybe check on us... we are probably in a corner reading 🤣.

-HBP

12/20/2025

We have a lot of historical pieces in our collection. However, some of them are older than most. This is one of those pieces, and it possibly is one of our most unique pieces in our collection!

This is a very rare postcard from the 500 foot level of the Homestake Gold Mine mine. Due to its age of 114 years, we keep it in a plastic sleeve to protect it.

The photographer who went by the name W. B. Perkins Jr. seems to have captured a very unique photograph of the miners pausing for lunch. The photographer must have caught one of the men off guard as he seems to have their lunch half in his mouth and half out! Another super neat detail in this photo is that if you look closely at the miners' hats, they have candles attached to their hats. This was their source of light back then. Could you imagine working 12 hours a day underground, and the only light you saw was the flickering of a small candle flame?! Ya, neither can we.

The candles posed an interesting theory. The back of the postcard was postmarked in 1912. However, candlelight in the mines was pre-1900s. Interestingly enough, around 1901 is when carbide lamps really became a thing. In fact, they pushed candles out around 1910, making them obsolete in the larger mining companies. Around 1915 is when the first electric cap lights became a thing in the mines. The electric headlights would eventually push carbide lamps out, but it would hang on well into the 1930s in some mines. So, this would mean that this photo is pre 1912.

Well, we had to do some investigative historical work and found some information when it came to the photographer. W.P. Perkins Jr. Was actually a super prominent postcard publisher and photographer based out of Lead, SD back in the day! We just happened to find proof of his catalog labeled "Underground Series." With the years 1900 - 1912. This photo was in that catalog/series. So, from there, we can narrow it down to 1900 - 1912.

Another feature we noticed was the miners holding "dinner buckets."" Now, those were very common in the mines back then, but looking at them closely, you will notice a few of them are larger in the middle with the skinny top. Those are noted to be circa 1905 - 1908.

It is difficult to really pick out the exact year of the photo, but based on our best historical educational guess, we would say to be safe 1900 - 1912.

As for the back of the postcard! It reads:

The card is addressed to:
Mr. Loyd Johnson
Balaton Minnesota

"Glad to hear from you.
Owe me a letter. Will
welcome back any
future news from
you.

Sinc. Seth"

Alright, this is another discovery we just made...

Before you point out the "Seth" we know, we just made that realization... Could this be signed by the legendary Seth Bullock?! Well, we can't say for sure...

What we found!

Mr. Johnson was from Balaton, and he was the head of Chicago and Northwestern Railroad in Minnesota. He was a big player in the railroad. It just so happens that Seth Bullock played a pivotal role with Chicago and Northwestern Railroad as well as he negotiated the rail's route through the Black Hills.

According to historical records in 1912, Seth Bullock would have been the first supervisor of the Black Hills National Forest. However, in 1890 is when he helped bring the Chicago and Northwestern Rail into the hills.

We did compare a few signatures of Seth's based on what we found in local archives. 90% of the time, he signed his letters "Seth Bullock" in cursive, of course. It was rare for him to sign just his first name, but being that they were possibly friends, maybe they were on a first name basis.

Another thing we can look at is the signature itself to see if it matches up. Seth crossed all of the Hs in his name, and this h is crossed. The S matches up exactly how he signed the S in his name with the large cursive s. So, based on these two interesting notes, it is a strong possibility we just took in a postcard that was signed by Seth Bullock! Our next stop will be to Deadwood to verify if this was actually signed by Deadwood's first sheriff! We will keep you guys updated!

Disclaimer: These are all historical questions and theories right now. We want to be very transparent and clear with you all. We are not saying this is Seth Bullock's signature, and we are not saying that Seth had any connections to our Mr. Loyd. We need to verify and ask our questions to the proper channels. However, it is a fun thought. For right now, that is all it is! As soon as we have an answer, we will post.

-HBP

12/18/2025

It is a windy night in the Black Hills, so for those who are still awake, we thought we would publish our post early!

We know that a lot of you like the bygone tourism era, so, over the cold winter months, we will focus on those areas more!

We are throwing it back to 1947! Not far from the beaches of Canyon Lake in Rapid City sat a beautiful Swiss Chalet themed motel and cabins. It was more or so a resort. It featured a large swimming pool, fishing, hiking, super comfortable beds, and was known as "all modern" having all the amenities of home while being in the beautiful Black Hills!

From what we were able to find... The owners built it in the post-war tourism growth era. When they were envisioning the motel, the owners were hoping to evoke some classic European style. This was a very similar style to that of the lodges in Yellowstone, the Tetons, and Glacier at the time. They were hoping to bring some of that rustic swiss charm to the Black Hills. The crowds did come. There are a lot of fun stories on the web of this bygone tourist stop and motel.

Unfortunately, in June of 1972, this thriving motel and resort was wiped off the map in the devastating Rapid City Flood. It was some of the most devastating damage. However, We are glad that we can continue to help share its history and its memories!

Do you remember the Swiss Chalets?!

-HBP

12/17/2025

It is another History Tidbit Tuesday!

Did you know there was a push to make the Black Hills a separate state/Seperate Territory at one point in time?! Let's talk about it!

During the Black Hills mining era circa 1870s miners actually pushed for the hills to become a separate territory! See, the miners were out here in the Black Hills and wanted nothing to do with the river town of Yankton. (sorry Yankton people) The miners called Yankton a "remote river city." They also believed it had no business being the Capitol of Dakota Territory!

The "alleged" story goes... One day a group of upset miners met together at a saloon in the gold camp of Deadwood. They were fed up. They wanted change. So, they said "what if" what if we change to a different territory?! "What would the name be asked one of the miners!?" The upset miner jumped up and said in a loud sturn voice "Territory of Eldorado." Well. Historians tell us that name didn't not stick! Instead they went with the name "Lincoln Territory." They went as so far to start transitioning from Dakota Territory to Lincoln Territory. They even sent a delegate to Washington. Long story short the proposal was good and did cause a few congressman's heads to turn however, it never made it to the floor!

According to some research we discovered that the reason for the territory failing most likely had to do with the Dakota Territory coming into the Union! This was not a good time and too much was going on. If it would have been 2 years before this most likely would have had a chance and we quite possibly could have been part of the Lincoln Territory! The reason being named Lincoln was simply because shortly before that time he was the president.

The fun does not stop there! So, now you know the miners failed on the territory change however, a individual would come up with an idea for separating the Black Hills and South Dakota as a separate state! It actually got a ton of traction and lots of chatter! Well, according to a Black Hills Historian and author John Hafnor, this discussion is what yielded the idea of separating North and South Dakota. So, instead of having the Black Hills as a separate state we now have North Dakota...

We are NOT saying it was a good thing or a bad thing... Don't come for us 🤣

If you enjoyed this story and the recent one about the "City of Gold" you can find similar stories and more indepth research in one of our favorite books called "Black Hills Believables."

What do you think?! Could you see the Black Hills being a seperate state?!

The more you know!

-HBP

12/16/2025

You guys have been asking for more posts on old tourist attractions so we thought we would share an old favorite!

Now quick disclaimer: We are aware there are many feelings towards this Black Hills fan favorite. We are here to share the history and some photos. We do not want to stir up any controversy or drama. This is a history page where we talk about these old places. With that being said we are glad you are here! On with the show as they say... we mean on with the post! See what we did there?! Ha!

Did you know that the Black Hills used to be home to two different ski resorts back in the day?! There was possibly talk of one becoming a reality in the Southern Black Hills but that never came to fruition and I think we all know why... lack of snow!

The two resorts were Terry Peak Ski Mountain and Mystic Miner(Deer Mountain.) Both were very popular for snow sport enthusiasts and were flooded with both tourists and locals alike in the winter monthes!

Many of you asked us to cover this one and the history of this resort is has a lot to it but we will summarize! The Ski Mountain that sat at 6,850 feet above sea level opened its doors in 1967 to the public. It was situated 4 miles from Lead, South Dakota and only 49 miles from Rapid City so, it was situated perfectly! According to what we were able to gather from a little bit of research the mountain boasted an impressive 200 acres of skiable terrain and had over 44 ski trails! Many of you locals probably recall the trail names such as:

- Music Fest (Green)
- Little Fawn (Green)
- The Tuck (Blue)
- Milkyway (Blue)
- Little Bowl (Blue)
- Sun Run (Fan Favorite) (Green)
- Two Point (Black)
- Lloyds Edge (Black)
- Chute (Black)
And so many more!

The mountain has some steepness to it. Of course this is not the rockies or anything... On the front side the mountain boasted an impressive 850 foot drop and on the backside of the mountain 650 foot drop. According to an old website we came across.

When it came to snow this was the place to be! Get this... Mystic Miner recieved on average 200 inches of fresh snow every season. That is quite a bit for the Black Hills!

The resort also had a decent size terrain park along with a large tubing hill, and many cross country ski trails associated with it! The tubing hill was referred to as "The Blizzard Tubing Hill." In the 2000s one could pay $18.00 and tube all day from around 9:30am to 4:30pm. We also learned recently that Blizzard Hill was noted as one of the longest snow tubing hills in the United States! Isn't that cool!?

Once you were done skiing, boarding, or tubing for the day you had a few options. You could purchase a sleigh ride, go shopping at their local store aka the village, or you could hit up the apre ski better known as "The Mine Shaft Tavern." The mountain had plenty to do and hosted tens of thousands of folks in its 50 years of operation.

So, what happened?! Well to quote a local news article "financial distress." We will spare you of the big words and legal jargon but foreclosure is really what did it. Of course there are many details there but it is not our place to share that or point fingers. Again we just wanted to share a fun old local ski hill.

Today, Gerard Keating and his son Alec are the new stewards of the land. They are planning a beautiful luxury ski community and have invested in many upgrades to the property including the lifts themselves! This past year we were invited out a few times to document the old resort and the new and improved Deer Mountain Village. While the snow was good we even suited up and made a few laps. Talk about documenting history and having fun at the same time!

While the weather was nice this past summer the owner Gerard was kind enough to take us on a hike around the property showing us some of the old lifts and even the tunnel through the mountain! It was quite the mountain and still is!

Change can be felt in many ways but we live in a time where we are ever evolving. The one thing that does not change is the history and that is why we are here! To make sure Black Hills and South Dakota history lives on for future generations through many multimedia resources.

We of course did not cover everything and that is where you guys come into play! Feel free to drop all the memories of this place! Tell all the stories and let's all do our part in keeping the history of this old ski mountain alive for years to come! If we get enough photos we will even drop a Google photo collection so that you guys can go through and relive the memories! Share away!

-HBP

12/14/2025

Today, Sunday December 14, 2025 marks the 24th anniversary of the end of mining for what was once the deepest and most expansive gold mine in the western hemisphere! The Homestake Mine ceased mining on December 14, 2001. It was at this time that the company would merge into Barrick Gold and mark the end of an era!

Now, we want to be accurate because that is important in historical documentation! In 2000 workers got wind of the mine closing. In 2001 the mining at the Homestake Mine stopped. In 2002 final operations wrapped up. This included hosting talks with the National Science Foundation, finishing up business, and closing the business side of things.

On July 10, 2007 the mine was selected by the National Science Foundation to be the location for the Lab. At that time it was known as "The Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory. This was also known as (DUSEL).

In Homestake's 125 year old life time the mine produced more than forty million troy ounces of gold on top of that it also produced more than 9 million troy ounces of silver. The mine reached 8000 feet below the surface, employed thousands of people over the years, and built up the town of Lead to what it is today!

Of course there is much history to the Homestake and our post would be pages long if we tried to document all the history. Instead we decided to post some of our favorite photos from the good old days at the Homstake and supply you guys with a list of book titles that go over all the history of the mine.

- "The Price of Gold" by Erin Lorraine Woodward and Nick Hubbard

- "The Story of the Homestake" by Homestake Mining Company

- "Nuggets to Neutrinos: The Homestake Story" by Steven T. Mitchell

- "The Evolution of The Homestake Mining Company" by Duane A Smith

- The Homestake Centennial 1876-1976 by The Homestake Mining Co.

- "A Real GoldMine: The Homestake Story" By Gary Hoover

These are just a few reccomendations and can all be found either in your local book stores or online! We know the holidays are quickly approaching so who knows maybe these books would make for a good gift to your mining history buff family member or friend! Either way, these books are all worth a read! There is plenty of history in the 125 years at the Homestake that is for sure!

Have a great Sunday everyone!

-HBP

12/14/2025

We have talked about Big Rock Aerial Park before but we recently found another photo in our collection from it. So, we are reposting the history!

For today's history post, we take you back to the 1960s in the Black Hills.

Our story begins in the mountain town of Custer, SD. A tourist hotspot, an outdoor paradise, and the gateway to Custer State Park, among many other things.

In the 1950s, tourism boomed in the mountain towns across the US. Custer, being a mountain town, wanted to stand out in its own way. A few powerful minds got together and came up with an idea for tourists to be able to get a bird's eye view from a high vocal point in Custer without breaking a sweat.

The idea was born... an aerial tramway that would end up carrying tourists to 5,700 feet via a cable car that would comfortably fit 26 persons. The idea was so great that locals even helped fund the idea! The project funded the dream became reality when it opened in the early 1960s.

The cable car was self-propelled and the first of its kind in the world. It was powered by a Chevrolet Corvair engine. Now, if we have any mechanics following us, they are probably mentally asking "was that enough power to carry a heavy tram up to the top of the mountain?!" The answer is no. We actually found through research that the cable car often broke down and even was on record trapping tourists for hours on end.

So, remember that whole good idea thing?! Ya... not so much. The tramway would only be open for business for two years before fading away into history. Today, Big Rock, where the tram once carried hundreds of people to a day, is still there and is now a hiking trail system. Curious hikers can still make their way to the top and join the hundreds before them who summited Big Rock Peak.

Today, it's just another Black Hills Ghost.

12/13/2025

This is a smaller mine that we have never talked about on this page or even showed photos of before! We usually are fortunate and get to document larger ghost towns and larger mines. However, the smaller mines in the hills still matter and deserve to be talked about!

A few years back we were invited by the landowner to come document a small mining operation from the late 1890s early 1900s. This mining company had a small camp and a even smaller stamp mill operation at it. It was not much but it was another mining company chasing the dream of striking it rich in the Black Hills.

Recently we discovered a photo that Irma Klock had taken around the 1960s/70s of the camp. At that time the superintendent's house and a few miner's shacks were still standing. This was probably do to the fact that the mining company shut its doors around the 1920s. Along with the homes was the large timbered stamp mill that stood tall on the nearby hill.

At the time of our visit in 2022 the houses were all on the ground and the mill that once was towering above the landscape was completely gone. All that remained was the foundations for it.

The photos of the wooden building remains were from the shack you see in Irma's photo. Unfortunately this mine sits in an area of the Black Hills where heavy snow hits every year and it has done its toll on the historical structures over the years.

As for the mine and its workings... Today, the mine is completely flooded. All that remains is a few large timbers that sit near the portal. Otherwise it looks very much like a farm pond with many beautiful wild flowers that surround it. Nature has quickly taken this Black Hills ghost mine back!

The mill foundations actually sit half on public land and half in private. So, the mill most likely was taken down for safety reasons in the 1980s. Like many other mining structures were. We are glad we were able to document what was left remaining though!

We apologize that we do not have much historical facts on the property. It was a smaller operation and not much remains for documentation. We know that they were hitting 10 dollars a ton in some places. So, it was not very successful...

Today, it is just another Black Hills ghost!

Special thank you to the landowner for having us out!

-HBP

12/12/2025

Now, you are probably asking yourself "why would History Below The Pines be posting about salt and where is their pepper?!" Well, do not worry where our pepper is haha but salt played a massive role in the Black Hills mining era! Let's talk about it!

Over the years many different methods were used to treat the gold. These methods ranged from cyanide to alkaline sodium treatment, to mercury, to chlorination methods and many more!

Today, we are talking about chlorination and before one of you asks no, we are not talking about your pool! Haha. In the Northern Black Hills chlorine was found to be successful to treat ore. The mixture of salt and sodium chloride was required for the process to work. Specifically they used this process in the silver mining town of Galena for the mines but where is the salt coming from asked one mining superintendent! This was a great question. Salt could have came on train from the east but that would have been too expensive! Remember, these mines were trying to work with what they had and did not want to do something unprofitable if possible. So, they had to rethink their options...

Well, one day a local prospector was working their claim when some wildlife caught their eye. Deer to be exact! The prospector is said to have sat and watched the deer for a few moments as the prospector had a deep love for wildlife. It donned upon them that deer like salt and if the prospector could some how track the deer to where the salt is they could find a deposit. So, they did just that!

The story goes that the prospector discovered the salt deposits near Salt Springs, Wyoming. This is when a businessman by the name of James LeGraves comes into the picture. Mr. LeGraves decided that this would be the perfect spot to set up camp and make it a big time salt producer. The road to and from would be named "Salt Road."

It was often noted and journaled by countless hungry miners that they would set up on "Salt Road" because it was often said that the wagons would overload with salt and hit bumps along the way spilling precious salt. Well, after some time deer would often huddle around these areas because they were attracted to salt. This made an easy dinner for hungry miners...

Dale Baity, a Black Hills Historian actually went into detail in his book "Keystone Gold Mining History" about the salt wagons and spoke of a wagon stop on "Salt Road." That wagon stop was on the map as "Mountain City." It is funny because, "Mountain City" was actually in a valley and on pretty flat ground. This is why the wagons would stop here for the night. The large wagon trains would often park up and camp in the town's large open nearby field. Now, after some time the townspeople came together and decided to change the name of the town...

Before you go guessing the new name let us finish explaining...These wagons again would often hit small boulders in the field where they would park at overnight spilling some leaky salt onto the ground of the field and again the deer would come from every direction. The new name... Deerfield!

For years the wagon train trail could be identified by salt that leaked out of the overfilled wagons and embedded into the ground. Unfortunately this ghost town and its remaining salt are now under the cold waters of Deerfield.

Does this make Deerfield Lake is a salt water lake?! Haha No, no it does not! But it is a fun story on how the lake got its name! Now, if you will excuse us we better go find our pepper... :)

We hope you enjoyed today's Black Hills history story! Check back soon for more history content!

-HBP

12/11/2025

We know... We know... This is not a history post! We will have one coming don't you worry! However, we are on the search for a website creator or someone who is good at creating them! History Below The Pines is growing and we are without a formal website and need one. So, if that is you or you know someone we would love to talk! Please either comment below, send a PM, or shoot us an email at [email protected]

Thanks all and we promise more history content is coming your way!

-HBP

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