Deadwood and Spearfish--May 20, 2010

It did not take long to drive to Deadwood, South Dakota from Hill City. I could never pick a favorite area or drive. You make a curve or go up a hill and the view can be so different but just as stunning. Deadwood got it's name supposedly because some of the first people thru the area described it as coming upon an area with a lot of deadwood. We took a small bus tour and the guide was fantastic. It burned in 1879 because of a fire in a bakery which spread to a hardware store that had kegs of dynamite that exploded but there are still some old buildings left. The town is in a valley between mountains so it is not wide; therefore, things go up the mountain. The cemetery used to be on a lower level but the town felt they needed that area for houses so they went up to the high point of the town and moved everyone from down below to up there. It is the Mt. Moriah Cemetery and it is where Wild Bill Hickock, Calamity Jane and Potato Creek Johnny are buried as well as a whole lot more. Most of them only buried about 18 inches deep. The cemetery was in severe shape with bodies practiclly coming out of their graves until they allowed gambling in the town and now it is very nice and well kept and on the slopes down the hill is where the potters field is located all without markers. The cemetery is divided by denomination. Wild Bill and Calamity and Potato Creek are buried in the Methodist section. There is a Jewish section and even a section for the Chinese who were working there in the town, but there are only 2 left buried because the only way they would come there was if they were promised that 10 yrs. after their burial they would be dug up and sent back to their homes in China.