The Traveling Tinkers - Deadwood South Dakota

 Deadwood is a city in South Dakota known for its gold rush history.



 Mount Moriah Cemetery has the graves of Wild West figures like Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane.  We went to a re-enactment of the shooting of Wild Bill, we had a great trolley ride through the Moriah Cemetary. 












 

The cemetery, established in 1878,  has 3,600 individuals buried there.  Shortly after the discovery of gold in  Deadwood Gulch (a very narrow valley two streets wide), thousands of people from all walks of life flocked to the Black Hills.  By 1876 it was estimated 5,000 people lived in various mining camps in Deadwood Gulch.  

In addition to strolling around the town, we enjoyed a play where Wild Bill told his version of the story.  It was a nice skit that included audience participants.  Interesting to note, though it is a small town, every other building is a casino of some sort.  

Wild Bill was widely known as a famous lawman, scout, gunfighter, and actor, and of course card player. When he came to Deadwood in 1876, while pursuing his true passion of gambling, he was murdered at the Saloon 10, August 2, 1876 by Jack McCall.  When Wild Bill was shot, he was holding 2 pair Aces and 8's


Calamity Jane who is buried next to Wild Bill in the cemetery, was a rugged individual known for her boisterous lifestyle and varied occupations including cook, prostitute, laundress, bull waacker, and a story teller in Buffalo Bills wild west show.  


Calamity came to Deadwood in 1876 and acquired a reputation for being a notarious alcoholic. In 1903 she died in a mining camp of Terry and her dying wish which was granted was to be buried next to Wild Bill fueling legends of their presumed love for each other. While Calamity had some feelings for Wild Bill, the feelings were not reciprocal. 




































A fire on Sept. 26, 1879, destroyed the first shanty settlement of Deadwood, scorching 300-plus wooden structures. Residents at the time sat on the surrounding hillsides and watched the town burn, then rebuilt with brick-and-mortar. The 1959 Deadwood Fire was no different.  If you look closely at this picture, you will see that the town was rebuilt from the bottom up, look at the window tops at the sidewalk level.  



















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