With the signing of the Fort Laramie Treaty, the US Government gave ownership of the Black Hills in what is now South Dakota to the Lakota Sioux nation. However, when two prospectors who were part of Custer's expedition to the Black Hills discovered gold, one of North America's last major gold rushes began. In 1876, miners staked claims in the ravine called Deadwood gulch for the many dead trees found there. In April of that year, a group of miners officially platted the city of Deadwood and famed lawman Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, and Charlie Utter arrived. By August, Jack McCall had shot Hickok from behind while playing poker in one of the most infamous murders in American history.

Deadwood moved on, and in the next few years the town had a mayor, a sheriff, and many prominent business owners such as W.E. Adams, Al Swearingen, Fee Lee Wong, and George Hearst. In 1879, a devastating fire destroyed over 300 buildings. Yet the residents rebuilt the town in brick and stone only six months later.

During the early decades of the twentieth century, Deadwood continued to grow and expand, while attempting to keep its many drinking, prostitution, and gambling facilities in business even as each in turn became illegal.

In 1961, the National Park Service declared the entire town a National Historic Landmark. Thus, Deadwood became the first full community to receive the recognition. In 1988, in an effort to revive the historic town, the state of South Dakota voted to allow limited-stakes gambling in Deadwood. The mining town attracts visitors from across the country to relive the wild days of one of the last American frontiers.

Researched, written, and narrated by University of West Florida Public History Student Malina Suity.