Your Travel Destination. Your Home. Your Home-To-Be. South Dakota’s Black Hills & Badlands Ghost towns and modern towns. Trendy eateries and rustic bars. Cowboys and artists. Rodeos, skiing, hiking, and biking. Breathtaking landscapes in a place of welcoming smiles. • A personal, practical perspective for travelers and residents alike • Comprehensive listings of attractions, restaurants, and accommodations • How to live & thrive in the area—from recreation to relocation • Countless details on shopping, arts & entertainment, and children’s activities

The discovery of gold in the southern Black Hills in 1874 set off one of the great gold rushes in America. In 1876, miners moved into the northern Black Hills. That’s where they came across a gulch full of dead trees and a creek full of gold and Deadwood was born. Practically overnight, the tiny gold camp boomed into a town that played by its own rules and attracted outlaws, gamblers, and gunslingers along with the gold seekers. Deadwood was comprised mostly of single men. In the beginning the ratio of men to women was as high as 8 to 1. The lack of affordable housing, the hostile environment, the high cost of travel, and the expense of living in Deadwood prevented many men from bringing their wives, girlfriends, and families to the growing town. Hordes of prostitutes and madams came to Deadwood to capitalize on the lack of women. By the mid-1880s, there were more than a hundred brothels in the mining community. One of the most notorious cat houses in Deadwood was owned and operated by Al Swearengen. Swearengen was an entertainment entrepreneur who opened a house of ill-repute shortly after he arrived in town in the spring of 1876. Initially known as The Gem, the brothel was host to several well-known soiled doves of the Old West from Eleanora Dumont to Kitty LeRoy. Among the many madams who ran other cat houses in and around Deadwood were Poker Alice Tubbs, Mert O’Hara, and Gertrude Bell. The names of some of the most popular brothels in Deadwood Gulch were the Shy-Ann Room, Fern’s Place, The Cozy Room, the Beige Door, and the Shasta Room. After more than a hundred years of continual operation, the brothels in Deadwood were forced to close in 1980. In the summer of 2020, the Beige Door reopened for business. This time as a museum. The Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission, the Main Street Initiative Committee, and Deadwood History, Inc. (DHI) developed the idea of opening the only brothel tour in the Black Hills. The Brothel Deadwood has had a steady flow of visitors since the tour opened The book An Open Secret: The Story of Deadwood’s Most Notorious Bordellos focuses on infamous cat houses like the Beige Door, those individuals who managed the businesses, their employees, their well-known clientele, the various crimes committed at the locations, and their ultimate demise.

As soon as postcards appeared for sale in the early 1900s, Black Hills residents and visitors began sending them to friends and family across the country. The images and messages on these cards now form a historical record of the towns, mines, ranches, and people that made up the Black Hills and Badlands region. The postcard images chosen for this book show the development of the Black Hills and Badlands from the gold rush to modern times. Long-time residents will enjoy seeing what familiar places looked like in bygone days, while newcomers can learn how today's tourist attractions developed over time, including the Hot Springs mineral baths, Wind Cave, Custer State Park, Badlands National Park, Mount Rushmore, and Crazy Horse Mountain Memorial.

A state-by-state review of the history of outlaws and outlaw activity in the Old West.

First impressions of the political landscape in South Dakota tend towards an assumption of hard-line conservatism, and yet such a conclusion barely scratches the surface of what constitutes political tradition in the Mount Rushmore state. Book jacket.

Travelers, newcomers, and even locals need the best, most comprehensive information on places to dine, to sleep, to play, and to enjoy in South Dakota. Get the lowdown on Deadwood gambling, Indian pow wows, Devil's Tower, Wounded Knee, and dozens of recreational opportunities, from rodeos to spelunking to hiking and more. Maps. Photos.

There's much more to South Dakota than Wall Drug and Mount Rushmore, as you will find in The Insiders' Guide to South Dakota's Black Hills and Badlands. The Black Hills and Badlands offer miles upon miles of scenic driving, hiking, biking, horseback riding and more. It's a region of contrasts. You'll find powerful natural beauty here: craggy mountains, mysterious geologic formations, sudden weather changes, towering evergreens, grassy prairie and vistas that will make your heart ache. Let Insiders show you how to make the most of a visit or relocation with the best complete guide to the region.

Chronicles Deadwood, South Dakota, a typical American frontier and gold rush town, especially the volatile years 1875-1925.

Unearth a gold mine of spooky history and meet the spirits that haunt this South Dakota landmark—photos included. The Wild West may be tamed, but Deadwood's notorious past has not relinquished its hold on its corner of the Badlands or its place in popular imagination. And no wonder. If Wild Bill Hickok found its streets a little too rough, it should come as no surprise that the gamblers, gunslingers, and general mischief-makers who put down roots at Deadwood's saloons and brothels did so in a ferocious and unforgettable manner. In this book, paranormal investigators Mark Shadley and Josh Wennes prospect for ghostly activity as industriously as the town’s former inhabitants dug for gold—and strike it just as rich. Greet Calamity Jane, Al Swearingen, and a host of other characters as ready-made for haunting as they ever were for television.