Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1886-06-12

The leading theme Of thought upon
the part of a n editor of a weekly journal
published on Saturday, in the case of
the writer is, what in the deuce are we
going to do in the way of getting up
matter to interest, instruct, and amuse
u readers in our next issue. Always
., orr the the week previous, we have un-
Willingly touched the tender sensibili-
ties Of some faultless individual in or
out of the journalistic arena by our too
truthful structures upon places and
things, or have saddled upon ourself the
bitter enmity Of some leading light of
the locality by emitting the mention of
certain, to him, very vital matters,
which to the agrieved were, of course,
of paramount import, and wondrous
moment which Of course must absorb a
modicum of our deep and sombre
thoughts in the futile effort to evade
the repetition Of such a dialema in the
future. Aside from devotional thoughts,
which naturally arise while in attend
ance at "the little church around the
corner" which, by reason of a natural,
and uncomfortable inclination to tarry
in the soft embrace of natures sweet
restorer' beyond the appointed hour,
rarely occurs, our Sunday = ,ughts are
largely devoted to the themes above in
dicated. True it is, that our thoughts
on this day sometimes take wing, and
bring us In remorseful contact with lost
opportunities, where we could, by hav-
ing perused a different course, have at
tanned advantages which are now for
ever lost, but such thoughts, ~partaking
of the nature ofgloom and dependency,
are quickly banished, and followed by
others directed to the object of escaping
a repetition of like errors in the
future. To-day our mind holds In re-
view the past history of Custer. We
recall the hustle and business activity
which characterized its early settlement,
when six thousand ofthe advance guard
of western civilization had here congre-
gated, who had braved the dangers IN
cident to travel upon the western
frontier at that early day, to better their
condition, and eventually bring into
deserved prominence the most impor-
portant mining region yet discovered in
the worlds history. We see them enter
the confines of this, now rapidly adj
vancing country, at a time when the
rigors of winter precluded the possibili-
~ Of determining the value of the out
lying placers, which at that time was
the only class Of mines receiving atten-
tention. Ninety business houses, rep-
resenting the various lines oftraJe were
here established, and twenty-nine sa-
looms furnished fiuid-frenzy to add 20
the irrational excitement which ruled
the hour. Deadly encounters were of
daily occurrence, d~ebauchery was ramp
pant, lewd women in mems apparel,
mounted upon wild Indian horses, dash
ed through our principal t~horoughfares,
discbarging their revolvers, and yelling
like demons to attract the attention OF
the amused, and in some instances,
horror stricken spectators.
We recall the fact of the primary OBJ
ject of their visit here. being lost TO
view in the sole effort to acquire city
property. The question as to the
presence of gold in fabulous quantities,
seemed fairly conceded, and the acquisi-
ton of town lots engrossed the entire
attention of the people. VIZ call to
mind the beginning of the end of Gus
ter's activity, the discovery of rich gold
deposits in Deadwood gulch. We well
remember the highly colored reports
which first reached US from that famous
region, and which had the p~aralyzing
effect of decreasing our population fully
eleven hundr 1 in tw~enty-four hours,
and in the brief space Of ten days re-
ducing our number to fourteen souls.
An exodus o fsuch magnitude has rarely,
If ever occurred in this, or any other
country. We wildly recall our utter
lack of confidence in the reported value
of claims in the new Eldorado, and our
fixed and immovable conclusion to re-
main in the pioneer city, and risk the
ruthless raids of the red foe, and the
chances Of valuable mineral discoveries
in this immediate section. We recall
the days and months Of loneliness,
mingled with terror, that interviewed,
and with what Joy and exultation we
hailed the approach of the first train
that entered the place, nearly three
months after the unparalleled hegira.
1t was a train of ten wagons from Ere.
mont, Neb., accompanied with seventy
OF eighty persons all told, eight of whom
remained with us to assist in the solu-
ton of the yet unsolved problem of the
existence of gold in paying quantities
in this, then comparatively deserted
section.
Years Of comparative inactivity fol-
lowed, every disadvantage combined
against the proper development of this
region. Selfish and narrow contracted
views Of people interested in other more
favored localities tended to Danish the