The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1901-12-20
BLACK HILLS MARVEL.
SCENIC TREASURES OPENED lip TO
TOURISTS.
Homes of Clif-Dwe llers as They Appear
Today-Scenes of Former Outlawry In
the wild West,-Reme mbrance OF
Frontier Life.

A quarter of a century ago the Black
Hills had an enviable reputation as
one of natures most prol11c treasure
houses and at the same time 1T a
an unenviable reputation as a region
of romance and adventure scarcely RI
| rivaled the west over. The foothills
were the battle-ground Of the Indians;
the gulches furnished ambuscades Tor
desperadoes, who were self-appolnted
custodians and confiscating agents OF
the strong box of the mail coach. The
mining camps were frontier towns OF
| the true dime novel pattern, and each
one had it's Boots Hill' (the name
given the cemetery whose every oc-
cupant was buried in his boots). In
these towns homicide, as n army
officer expressed it, was performed
daily in the most genial, whole-souled
way. the shooter and the shootee
smiling pleasantly in each others
faces. Now everything is changed,
and no one signs for "the good old
days" The bad Indians have departed
to the happy hunting grounds" and
their children are peaceful tillers Of
the soil and wards of the government.
Desperadoes no longer terrorize the
community. The old stage coaches,
grown decrepit in active service, have
been whisked off to some eastern city
to figure in some stirring tragedy OF
western life in the show arena, or still
wend their way W rough mountain
roads. Seth Bullock, ex-sheriff Of
Deadwood, and others relate to the
"tenderfoot" from the east stories of
frontier life that, like Hamlet's ghosts
story, can harrow up the soul and
freeze the young Blood. There is still
a Deadwood coach, which runs between
Deadwood and Spearfish, and it is a
battle-scarred veteran, indeed. The
original stage line from Deadwood to
Cheyenne is a memory of the past.
There still exist places with such
names as Lame Johnny creek, Raw
hide buttes, War Bonnet creek, Squaw
gap, ETC., made famous by such self
appointed undertakers as Peg-iegged
Bradley, Curley Grimes, who was shot
at Hogan's ranch; Bill Price, Dunk
Blackburn, etc. Ancient local history
rings with the exploit of Calamity
Jane, who, under the fire of an at
tack on the stages, seized the lines
whipped up the horses and brought
the stage safely through to it's destina-
ton. Today the Black Hills are still
a great treasure house, in fact, the
third greatest gold producing region
on this continent, yielding 500, GOO, 900
in gold alone in the past rs years
With the advent Of the railway, open
ing up the scenic treasures to tour
lists, and with the discovery Of natural
health resorts and hot springs, new
towns have sprung up and blossomed
into resorts. The eastern visitor to
whom the White mountains of New
Hampshire form a criterion is aston
ished to find that the greatest eleva-
ton of the White mountain range is
completely o~vershadowed by a hill, the
giant OF the Black Hills, rising to an
elevation of 7,400 feet, called Harney's
peak. These hills have their CANYONS
and gorges and remote hooks charm
ing beyond description. They occupy
an oblong stretch of country 12O mile.
long by 60 miles wide. and form prac-
tically n independent chain Of noun
tains. The Burlington road has in
recent years built a railroad to Dead
wood, with q branch through Spear
fish canyon, with Spearfsh as a ter
minal. The Spearfsh branch is 81
miles long, and partakes Of the nature
of an Alpine railway.