- Black Hills Gold Rush
The Black Hills Gold Rush took place in
Dakota Territory in theUnited States , and is general considered to have started1860 -70. It reached a peak in 1876.Rumors and poorly documented reports of gold in the Black Hills go back to the early 1800s. In the 1860s, Catholic missionary Father De Smet is reported to have seen
Sioux Indians carrying gold they told him came from theBlack Hills . [Watson Parker (1966) "Gold in the Black Hills", Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, p.12-13.]Prior to the
Gold Rush , theBlack Hills were used by Native Americans (primarily bands of Sioux but others also ranged through the area). The United States government recognized the Black Hills as belonging to the Sioux by the Treaty of Laramie in 1868. Despite being within Indian territory, and therefore off-limits, white Americans were increasingly interested in the gold-mining possibilities of the Black Hills.Prospectors found gold in 1874 near present-day
Custer, South Dakota , but the deposit turned out to be small. The largeplacer gold deposits of Deadwood Gulch were discovered in November 1875, and in 1876, thousands of gold-seekers flocked to the new town of Deadwood, although it was still within Indian land. [A.L. Slaughter (1968) "The Homestake mine", in Ore Deposits of the United States 1933-1967, New York: American Institute of Mining Engineers, p.1437.]The priority of first gold discovery in the Black Hills was thrown into question in 1887 by the discovery of what has become known as the
Thoen Stone [http://www.blackhillsvisitor.com/main.asp?id=14&cat_id=30299] . Discovered by Louis Thoen on the slopes ofLookout Mountain , the stone purports to be the last testament ofEzra Kind who, along with six others, entered the Black Hills in 1833 (at a time when whites were forbidden by law and treaty from entering the area), "got all the gold we could carry" in June 1834, and were subsequently "killed by Indians beyond the high hill." While it may seem unlikely that someone who has "lost my gun and nothing to eat and Indians hunting me" would take the time to carve his story in sandstone, there is corroborating historical evidence for the Ezra Kind party. This evidence is presented in the book "The Thoen Stone" by Frank Thomson, published in 1966.Many of the miners came up the
Missouri River fromKansas and eventually returned there.History
The Black Hills Gold Rush began in 1874. The first arrivals were a force of one thousand men led by
George Armstrong Custer to investigate reports that the area contained gold, [cite web
title = Black Hills Gold Rush
url = http://www.newberry.org/lewisandclark/newnation/miners/blackhills.asp ] even though the land was owned by theSioux . [cite book
last = Monaghan
first = Jay
title = Custer: The Life of General George Armstrong Custer
publisher = U of Nebraska Press
date = 1971
pages = p.357] They found small amounts of gold in present dayCuster, South Dakota , and looked for better paying locations. They moved north, establishing the towns of Hill City, Sheridan, and Pactola.cite web
last = Wolff
first = David
title = Gold Mining in the Black Hills
url = http://www.blackhillsvisitor.com/main.asp?id=14&cat_id=30156] At each spot they found flakes of gold, but not the bonanza they sought. Things changed when the miners stumbled across Deadwood and Whitewood Creeks in the northernBlack Hills . For the initial discoverors, each spade of earth revealed a veritable fortune in gold.cite web
last = Wolff
first = David
title = Gold Mining in the Black Hills
url = http://www.blackhillsvisitor.com/main.asp?id=14&cat_id=30156] By 1876, miners had claimed all the land around the creeks. Although all the land was claimed thousands more flocked in, hoping to find a missed spot. The gold the miners found was placer gold, loose gold pieces that were mixed in with the rocks and dirt around streams.Most good prospectors knew that this placer gold was eroded from hard rock deposits.cite web
last = Wolff
first = David
title = Gold Mining in the Black Hills
url = http://www.blackhillsvisitor.com/main.asp?id=14&cat_id=30156] So while many still flocked toDeadwood , others looked for the hard rocks deposits that were the source of the placer gold. On April 9, 1876 Fred and Moses Manuel, Hank Harney and Alex Engh discovered a gold outcropping nearLead, South Dakota ; they claimed their find and named it the Homestake. They had located the area from which the placer gold in Deadwood Creek had eroded. It was here that men would produce ten percent of the world’s gold supply over the next one hundred and twenty five years. Many more prospectors hoped to find another “Homestake” so they continued to look, but the Homestake mine was unique.cite web
last = Wolff
first = David
title = Gold Mining in the Black Hills
url = http://www.blackhillsvisitor.com/main.asp?id=14&cat_id=30156]The workers crushed the rock to release the gold, concentrated the gold by gravity methods, and then exposed the concentrate to mercury that would amalgamate with the gold. Miners call this kind of gold ore free milling.cite web
last = Wolff
first = David
title = Gold Mining in the Black Hills
url = http://www.blackhillsvisitor.com/main.asp?id=14&cat_id=30156] Gold existed elsewhere in the Black Hills, but it was not in the free milling state. In these conditions, gold was chemically bound to the rock, and very difficult to remove. It was called refractory gold ore. For many years, the Homestake operated as the only major gold mine in the Black Hills. Chlorization and smelting were seen as two methods that could remove gold from the refractory ore in the 1890’s. More rock mining regions opened up around Lead and Deadwood because of this discovery.The government fixed the price of gold at $20.67 per ounce in the 19th century. Many gold mines closed down in the early 20th century because the price of labor and supplies escalated, while the price of gold remained fixed. Only the Homestake could endure it. During the
great depression , PresidentFranklin Delano Roosevelt raised the price of gold to $35 per ounce to help the country’s finances.cite web
last = Wolff
first = David
title = Gold Mining in the Black Hills
url = http://www.blackhillsvisitor.com/main.asp?id=14&cat_id=30156] While the country remained in depression the gold industry boomed. At the start ofWorld War II , the government classified gold mining as a non-essential industry, and ordered all gold mines closed. Again only the Homestake could survive.After President
Richard Nixon freed gold from government control the price floated and topped $800 an ounce in the early 1980’s. A new gold rush swept the Black Hills area. Since then gold has come back down to lower levels. All but one gold mine has closed. They either closed down because they ran out of gold ore, or the lower price of gold prevented profits. Even the Homestake gave way to diminishing returns and stopped operations in 2001. Only the Wharf mine nearTerry Peak remains in business.cite web
last = Wolff
first = David
title = Gold Mining in the Black Hills
url = http://www.blackhillsvisitor.com/main.asp?id=14&cat_id=30156]Notes
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