12 - Black Hills & Deadwood

We finally arrived in South Dakota on Sept. 5 and checked into the Three Flags RV Park in Black Hawk, a few miles west of Rapid City. The park was conveniently located on a grassy hillside at the end of a short gravel road. It had a nice view of the Black Hills and Interstate 90 and, for Ron’s entertainment, a railroad line was nearby. However, there were only a couple trains each day so we didn’t lose any sleep.

Cloud formation viewed from our campground.

Our list of places to see included the refurbished gold mining town of Deadwood. The town is wedged into a narrow valley and has a colorful history of fires, floods, gold rush, gambling and lots of stories about such residents as Wild Bill Kickok and Calamity Jane. Hickok was murdered in 1876 while playing poker in a Deadwood saloon. He was only 39. Jane died about 1903 of a variety of ailments. Both are buried in Mt. Moriah Cemetery high on a hill overlooking the town.

Touring Mt. Moriah Cemetery.

Wild Bill Kickok's grave.

We did a tour of the town and looked at all the old buildings before getting stranded by a cloudburst. We ducked into the Silverado where we had a great prime rib buffet dinner. When we emerged, the rain was gone and the sun was shining. Weather moves fast around here.