Forest Moon Walks chalk up 17 years in Black Hills

Nippy temperatures dropped near freezing last night (10/6/12), putting a damper on the final Black Hills National Forest Moon Walk of the season.

But for the hardy group of about 40 souls who braved the frigid temperatures to ascend Mount Roosevelt, it was well worth the goose bumps.

Black Hills Professor David Wolff, the best-known and perhaps most knowledgeable historian to research the life and times of Seth Bullock, gave the gathered throng some keen insights into the man who befriended Theodore Roosevelt and years later launched the effort to build a memorial to Roosevelt when he died in 1919.

That memorial was a 31-foot tower with a 12-foot diameter built of native stone atop Sheep Mountain just north of Deadwood.  The site was later renamed Mount Roosevelt, and the medieval-style tower has become dubbed "Friendship Tower," acknowledging the friendship between Bullock and President Roosevelt.  The tower was constructed by the Society of Black Hills Pioneers at the behest of Bullock, who had earlier convinced the organization to accept Roosevelt as its first honorary member.

BHSU professor David Wolff shared some stories
about legendary Black Hills lawman Seth Bullock

The colorful life of Seth Bullock is recounted in Wolff's 2009 book, Seth Bullock - Black Hills Lawman.

This was the second presentation on Bullock in as many weeks for Wolff.  He gave a similar presentation on September 23 to members of the Lawrence County Historical Society during their Fall Tour.  You'll find a number of photographs and notes about that tour in the LCHS Gallery.  That daylight tour provided some stunning views of the changing colors in the Hills, as well as a close-up look at the many enhancements that have been made to the "Friendship Tower" in recent years.  You'll find those items well documented in a U.S. Forest Service video produced this summer.  A link to that video is at the right-hand top of this page.

Despite the darkness, we took a few photos during the final Moon Walk of the year.  You'll find them in our Moon Walk Gallery.

Kudos to Amy Ballard the staff of Black Hills National Forest for organizing and implementing these Moon Walks.  Ballard has literally watched young Moon Walkers -- including her own kids -- grow up over the past 17 seasons of these events.

We can think of few activities that provide the kinds of opportunities these walks provide:  a chance to bask in the beauty of the Black Hills; learn more about the history of our region; and get some good exercise in the great outdoors!

See you next season!

Crossing the plains with Custer

Veteran photographer and writer Paul Horsted never fails to entertain – and enlighten. Those traits keep him in demand on the speaking circuit.

His latest venue was today (5/23/10) at the Bay Leaf Café in Spearfish, where he led members of the Lawrence County Historical Society through the chronology and geography of General George Custer’s massive 1874 expedition to the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Horsted, who lives north of Custer, South Dakota, noted that the Custer trek was “better documented than any other military expedition of the Old West.” Much of that documentation was assembled and edited by Horsted and his co-author Ernest Grafe for their 2002 publication Exploring with Custer – The 1874 Black Hills Expedition.

Today, Horsted employed a lively multi-media presentation to tell “the rest of the story” about that 19^th century expedition. Exploring with Custer dealt with the Black Hills area. His latest endeavor – Crossing the Plains with Custer – is a companion book that traces the Custer expedition from Fort Lincoln in north Dakota Territory to the Black Hills, including their journey back to the fort.

In his books, Horsted also uses his “then and now” display of historic photographs juxtapositioned with his contemporary photography from the same vantage point. It’s a powerful technique that has served him well – especially his book The Black Hills: Yesterday & Today.

Following his presentation, Horsted took time to answer questions and visit with folks who attended the gathering. Here, he chats with historian David Wolff (center) and Lawrence County Historical Society president Jerry Bryant (right).

For folks in the Black Hills region who've not heard one of Paul's presentation, we'd encourage you to be in the audience when he's in your neck of the woods. On Monday, May 31st, he'll be giving a free program in Custer State Park at the Game Lodge Campground beginning at 9:00 p.m.

In mid-June, he'll be sharing his presentation with attendees at the state convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Custer.

You can also visit his web site at Paul Horsted - Dakota Photographic LLC

Bullock the businessman

Historian David Wolff says he originally wasn’t much interested in famed Dakota lawman Seth Bullock. But the more he learned about Bullock and his many political and business pursuits, the more enthusiastic he became about finding out more. At different stages of his life, Bullock was a sheriff, a banker, a rancher and a miner.

Wolff, an Associate Professor of History at Black Hills State University, has just completed Seth Bullock: Black Hills Lawman, a book that chronicles the life of the legendary Bullock It was published by the South Dakota State Historical Society Press and should soon be available at most bookstores across the region.

On Tuesday evening (4/7/09) at the Spearfish Area Historical Society meeting, Wolff focused on Bullock’s many business pursuits – almost all of them busts. This was something of an encore presentation for Wolff, since he had already spoken to the group about Seth Bullock in a 2008 program -- but that program concentrated on Bullock’s role as a lawman.

A considerable portion of Wolff’s talk this month further revealed Bullock’s close relationship with his partner Sol Star. They had befriended each other in 1871 while living in Virginia City, Montana, which was the territorial capital. Star was working for the Governor and Bullock served in the legislature.

“They bumped into each other while looking for a room – as were two other guys,” says Wolff, and they all ended up sharing an unfurnished room in Virginia City, where lodging was at a premium.

A few years later, Bullock married his childhood sweetheart from Michigan, Martha Eccles. In 1875, their daughter Madge was born.

“When Bullock decides it’s time to go to Deadwood in 1876, he doesn’t want to take his wife and new daughter…it was too rough of a place. So he sends them back to Michigan.” By 1878, his wife and second daughter, Flo, join him. Ten years later, they would add a son, Stanley, to the family.

In pursuing new opportunities in Deadwood, Bullock teamed up with his old friend Sol Star, who had also come to Dakota Territory. They would collaborate in a number of business ventures for the next couple of decades, despite the fact, says Wolff, that Bullock really didn’t want to be a businessman. He wanted to be in politics – to be a sheriff. Indeed, in 1877 with the creation of Lawrence County, Governor Pennington appointed Bullock sheriff. Most locals weren’t thrilled by the appointment of outsiders by a Governor who was far away in Yankton himself. Eventually, local citizens forced an election, which resulted in the ousting of Bullock and 10 others who were running the county. In a subsequent election, Bullock again ran for sheriff – and again he lost.

“He was aloof. He was an elitist. Even his 1919 obituary said he had no friends,” says Wolff. Out of office and with few resources, Bullock apparently decided to try earning some money.

“He tried everything.”

Among his many ventures: Star and Bullock Hardware on Main Street. Since Star had been appointed Postmaster, that was incorporated into the enterprise. After being implicated in postal corruption in 1881, Star lost his job as postmaster and focused on selling tin and metal “fireproof” materials at their hardware store.

During the 1880s, Bullock and Star expanded their hardware business to Billings, Miles City, Sundance, Sturgis, and Carbonate – as many as eight stores. But by 1890, Bullock was tiring of the business, and Star – who had money and was the majority partner – dissolved the partnership. Wolff speculated that it was probably because Bullock spend too much money without any significant returns.

Then Bullock turned to ranching and banking -- even mining. Read more about those endeavors and more from David Wolff’s presentation on Seth Bullock by visiting the History Photo Gallery section of Black Hills Journal.

The next meeting of the Spearfish Area Historical Society will be at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 5, 2009 at the Senior Citizen’s Center in Spearfish. Linfred Schuttler returns with a program entitled Prohibition in South Dakota.

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Once again, we express our appreciation to Ray and Darlene Telkamp of Spearfish for audio recording this program so that we might share highlights with you. Thanks, Ray and Darlene!

Seth Bullock - Myths Debunked

The late pioneer lawman Seth Bullock came alive for an hour or so the other night (3/4/08) – resuscitated in the graphic narratives of historian David Wolff. It was the latest in an outstanding series of speakers lined up by the Spearfish Area Historical Society.

Wolff, an Associate Professor of History at Black Hills State University, spoke to a full house of society members gathered at the Spearfish Senior Citizen’s Center.

Using a wide range of little-known facts about Bullock, Wolff focused on just the first year or two after Seth arrived in Deadwood from Montana in 1876. Bullock had a diversified and colorful career as a miner, politician, merchant, rancher, lawman, and forest supervisor. He was an interesting character, but his story has often been needlessly embellished and exaggerated over the years. Wolff debunked several myths, including Bullock’s role as a lawman (he never killed anyone) and his role in creating Belle Fourche (he never lived there). Read more about Seth Bullock as assembled by the Adams Museum and House in Deadwood, a marvelous resource for old west history.

Wolff was asked about the Seth Bullock ghost that supposedly haunts the Bullock Hotel in Deadwood.

“The real story of the hotel,” said Wolff, “is that Bullock had very little to do with it…he started building a hotel and got his name on the building, and he was done. So if there’s a ghost in there, he’s haunting from his hardware days or his sheriff days. Bullock never ran a hotel.”

Wolff is writing a book about Bullock, whom he described as “a man nobody really liked.” He pointed out that Bullock was appointed to his 9 ½ months as Sheriff and was never elected to anything. In fact, he was defeated twice in back-to-back elections for Sheriff of Deadwood.

After his talk, Wolff visited with many of the folks who had attended the meeting and discussed other aspects of Bullock’s life. We have a few photographs. He expressed a willingness to return next year to talk about other facets of the legendary lawman's life.

Next month, writer Paul Higbee will share some of his research into the creation of Black Hills State University and one of its early presidents, Lafayette Cook. That presentation will be in the Senior Citizen’s Center at 7:30 p.m., Monday, April 1st – no fooling!