Southern Hills RV Park, Hermosa, South Dakota
Then (after Rebekah conspired with Jacob to send him away) Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.” ~ Genesis 27:46 Still the conspirator and manipulator, Rebekah now goes to Isaac. She uses their mutual distaste for Esau’s wives to manipulate Isaac into sending Jacob out of the Promised Land and off to Rebekah’s brother, Laban. The New Living Translation, records it this way, “I’m sick and tired of these local Hittite women! I would rather die than see Jacob marry one of them.” By using this excuse, she keeps herself in good standing with her husband, and manages to get Jacob to leave with Isaac’s blessing, and get him out of the path of destruction by his deceived and very angry brother, Esau. But what about God’s covenant promise? Did any of these people consider Him? Still, God’s plan will not be thwarted, and He’ll deal with Jacob and his lies in His own way. Just as He does today – with others, and with us.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
EDITOR’S NOTE: Today is July 31st, the day the Lord allowed my beautiful wife to enter the world! She has been such a blessing to me for over 45 years. Happy Birthday Sweetheart, I love you.
The day began as most every day has here – bright sunshine, hot, and smoke-hazed. And that’s about the only similarity.
Before we even got out of bed, there were phone calls and texts from family and friends wishing me well on my birthday. So sweet! Blaine made my favorite breakfast – German Fries – and added a side of bacon, toast/black raspberry jelly, and oj. Two cards managed to find me at the campground, so I opened those along with one from Blaine. It was a wonderful day!
It was also the day we were heading to Deadwood (an hour away) to see the infamous old west town, and watch a “real” rodeo – one of the top in the nation, and enjoy a steak dinner.
You know what they say about best laid plans. It wasn’t in the cards today (that’s a joke connected with the murder of Wild Bill Hickok, but more on that later).
After a wonderful scenic drive, we came to a stop just outside of Deadwood.
The line in front of us was just as long.
We assumed it was all the traffic pouring in for the rodeo, along with some Sturgis attenders who’d arrived a week early. Nope. There was a traffic cop at the intersection ahead of us, turning people around! We stopped and told him what we wanted, and he said, “I can’t let you do that. No one’s allowed into town until 12:30pm. But you can go up this road (he pointed to a road running uphill and parallel to where we were), and hang out at the Inn up there. There’s a casino and a restaurant where you can grab some lunch (it was 10:30 in the morning).”
Two hours?!?!? Really?!?!? We’re just supposed to hang out? And how are we supposed to get to the rodeo in time? It starts at 1:30! And yes, we had tickets, but they were just for entering. There was no assigned seating.
We drove to the top of a mountain and located the inn (you couldn’t miss it),
where I marched (with a smile on my face and a song in my heart, of course) up to the check-in and inquired about options. She also told us we could hang out in the casino and have lunch (does everyone around here have lunch at 10:30am??). And then she provided a viable option. Take a Jeep road out the back of the property and drive the back way into town. Yes!! No guarantees they didn’t have that road blocked off as well, but we could enjoy the drive at any rate. Yes, please! It was a great drive, and we got in!
Proving, once again, that it pays to talk to people. 😊
1890, and 2005
The dirt and gravel road was curvy as well as scenic. 
Oh. You’re probably wondering why the road was closed in the first place. Well, it seems there was a parade in town that morning. Why it had to be closed until 12:30, is anyone’s guess. The parade was over by the time we arrived a few minutes after 11:00.
and into town, right at the library.
The town was bustling with people. We walked around some, checking out the old buildings and thought about doing some shopping, but the stores were packed and the things on display, for the most part, were crude, rude and just plain disgusting. We don’t purchase things from stores that sell that stuff.
About 1 ½ hours before rodeo time, we started walking that direction. The arena was roughly a mile away and the further we went from downtown, the fewer pedestrians and traffic we encountered.
And now it’s time to tell you about Deadwood and one of the most famous characters to set foot upon it’s dusty roads, Wild Bill Hickock.
In the summer 1874, gold was discovered when General George Custer took an army into the Black Hills looking for a place to build a fort. By early 1875, word was out that “there’s gold in dem dar hills!” (that’s my rendition 😊) In the Fall of 1875, gold was discovered in the northern Black Hills, and the stampede began. Things moved very quickly after that. At the start of the new year, miners set up camp in a gulch full of dead trees and a creek full of gold. Thousands of miners infiltrated the area, despite the treaty the US government had with the Native Americans that this was their land.
1876 proved to be a very busy year for the “town”. (hence the annual ‘Days of ’76 celebration) In April, the town is officially laid out. As a result, dance halls, gambling establishments, saloons and brothels (which remained in ‘service’ until 1980!) were constructed along both sides of lower Main Street. By May of the same year, the area became known as the “Bad Lands” of Deadwood. In June, the Black Hills Pioneer published its first newspaper. On July 4th, the residents celebrated the United States’ centennial, despite the fact that the Dakota Territory wouldn’t become part of the US until 1889.
Meanwhile, Colorado Charlie Utter and his brother Steve organized a wagon train from George, Colorado, headed for the gold fields of Deadwood and the Black Hills. As they passed through Cheyenne, Wyoming they picked up over 100 passengers. Among them are Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, Madam Mustache, Dirty Em and a slew of “working girls”. The troupe arrived in Deadwood on July 12th.
By August 2nd, James Butler Hickok, better known as “Wild Bill” Hickok, a folk hero of the American Old West who was known for his life as a soldier, scout, lawman, gambler, showman, actor, and also for his involvement in many famous gunfights, was dead. He was 39 years old. Shot in the back by a man he didn’t consider a threat, Jack McCall. Hickok was playing poker at Nutall and Mann’s Saloon No. 10 and holding the two black Aces, and the two black eights, now forever known as the ‘Deadman’s Hand’. The next day, McCall was acquitted of the murder by a miner’s court with no jurisdiction. He wisely fled Deadwood, but was eventually captured, convicted and hanged by the legal authorities of the Dakota Territory.
Wild Bill Hickok was laid to rest in Mt Moriah Cemetery in a burial plot paid for by Colorado Charlie Utter. An epitaph carved into a wooden board read: Wild Bill, J. B. Hickok killed by the assassin Jack McCall in Deadwood, Black Hills, August 2, 1876. Pard, we will meet again in the happy hunting ground to part no more. Goodbye, Colorado Charlie, C. H. Utter.
And life went on in 1876 Deadwood. They built the first hardware store, murdered their first preacher (although local speculation was that the Indians did it), drew up their first city charter, elected their first mayor (for $100/year), connected their first telegraph lines, and boomed their population to as high as 10,000 (the count is unofficial).
In January, 1877, Lawrence County is organized and Territorial Governor, John L. Pennington appoints Seth Bullock as Deadwood’s first sheriff. By the way, Seth is also the hardware store owner.
If you want more history, you can finish reading where I got most of my information at https://www.deadwood.com/history/history-timeline/ it runs through 2017. But in 1961, the entire town of Deadwood was declared a National Historic Landmark. It’s the first time an entire community received this recognition. It was so designated because it was considered one of the most highly publicized mining towns of the trans-Mississippi West, with much of its fame resting on the famous or infamous characters that passed through town.
In 1980, Federal and State authorities shut down the last four remaining Deadwood brothels. The town threw a parade just like they did the day Charlie Utter’s Wagon Train brought working girls to Deadwood 104 year ago. They’ve turned one into a museum where for $15 you can have a guided tour of the place. You also have to be 16 years old. We didn’t visit.
Deadwood has survived three major fires and numerous economic hardships, pushing it to the verge of becoming another Old West ghost town. But in 1989 limited-wage gambling was legalized and Deadwood was reborn. They also nearly lost their National Historic Landmark status in the process. Today, the town is booming once again. You’ll find modern-day casinos, resort hotels, full-service spas, big name concerts, and some of the best parties in the entire United States. “Come walk in the footsteps of our legends and make history in Deadwood. We’ve been entertaining guests since 1876.” In an effort to retain their National Historic Landmark status, they not only are finally preserving buildings, but there’s a troupe who performs shoot-outs, etc. at certain times and places in the streets of town. Since we’d seen that at the rodeo, we didn’t stick around for showtimes.
Oh. And somehow, actor Kevin Costner is involved. There was a flier at the Visitor Center advertising a “Kevin Costner’s Original Deadwood Tour”. Apparently, it’s a bus trip around town that gives history and points out landmarks in a comedic fashion.
Continuing on with our day.
We made it to the rodeo where a woman checking tickets advised us which end of the arena to sit at. We decided on the middle so we could see everything equally, and also on a front row grand stand seat, rather than the back where we usually sit, because of the gigantic poles that would’ve been in our way. The arena was built in 1880 using Black Hills timber, and is the only one in the country that still has wooden chutes.
we were crowded and had to really fight to keep our chosen seats. : )
The rodeo was fun! They kept things moving along much faster than the one we visited at the campground at our last stop. On the schedule were a couple of other things – a short stagecoach parade to start things off, a re-enactment of the murder of Wild Bill Hickock, and a stagecoach robbery. Lots of fun! Of course, they also had a rodeo clown who interjected a few funny antics along the way.
There were about six of them.
The second picture is a different calf and roper.
One cowboy does the head, the other dismounts and wraps up the feet.
The clown came out on his own ‘horse’ and stopped in front of the pickup men
standing in the middle of the arena waiting for the bulls to be released.
The clown bantered with the announcer for a bit,
and when he turned his ‘horse’ around and bounced toward the pickup men,
the horses got a bit skittish and jumped back and to the side.
It was funnier than I make it sound. : )
We’ve yet to see anyone ride the full 8 seconds. . .
Since it was my birthday, we’d decided on a steak dinner to celebrate. The problem was, Deadwood was so busy, the restaurants already had a 2-hour wait at 4:30! And no one takes reservations. You have to literally wait. There. Where you can hear them announce your name, when and if a table becomes available.
As we were leaving town, we spotted a sign for the Mt Moriah Cemetery. It’s where Hickok and Jane, among other notables are buried. We made a quick turn and drove way up a hill, parked in the lot, and entered the Visitor Center, which wasn’t much, but there was some history adorning the walls. We learned later that it holds a total of more than 3,600 people – 350 of which are children who died of scarlet fever and other diseases. There were a bunch of Chinese buried there but they’ve all been returned to China. (don’t know how that transpired). We left, walked over to the entrance to the cemetery . . . . and discovered there was a fee to enter! It was only a $2 fee, but we were just too stubborn to pay for it. Or more likely, we were tired of being around crowds, and also on the way to hangry.
As we headed towards home, we decided to stop at a Nordic church. It was literally on the way, and there wasn’t much chance of us going back to see it on another day. It’s quite a piece of work, and I mean that in the best possible way! It’s patterned after one in Norway that was built in 1120AD – and is still standing! This one was built in 1969, named Chapel in the Hills and is Lutheran affiliated. They still hold services there.
These are the people who were inspired to build the church.
It was called “Goats on a Roof”. Do you remember that? : )
Our stomachs were growling when we left there, and we made a futile attempt to find a local steak house along the way home, but there really weren’t any choices because there’s nothing around. We (meaning I) settled on a Texas Roadhouse in Rapid City (where the bronze Presidential statues are), but there again, even the wait there was too long. We were hungry, disappointed and decidedly not happy campers. As we approached home, the restaurant next to the campground was also packed with cars, and then Blaine mentioned the pizza place just up the road we’ve been meaning to visit.
It wasn’t steak, but at this point, it was either that, or cereal at home.
I chose pizza.
Turns out, the Lintz Brothers make the best pizza we’ve ever had the pleasure of dining on! We ordered a personal pan Hawaiian for me, plus a medium supreme because Blaine doesn’t care for Hawaiian. Both were absolutely delicious! Can’t explain why, but they were. We were really sorry we waited an entire month to try it, because now that we leave in a few days, we won’t get the chance again. ☹
It was a marvelous day! Thank you everyone for your well wishes!
Tomorrow’s Sunday, and we’ll be heading back to church one last time.