We left Rapid City early in the morning and drove about 30 minutes to Sturgis, SD. We planned to just make a quick stop to check out the town since we realized we were so close. Sturgis is famous for holding one of the largest motorcycle rallies in the world. This town has about 6,600 residents but, about 500,000 to 700,000 people show up each year for this event. It seemed as if everyone in town was getting ready for the 79th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally while we were driving through.
The Rally starts in about 2 weeks on August 2, 2019, and we have already seen so many motorcycles converging on this part of the country.
We realized the other day that the town of Deadwood, SD is only about 25 minutes away so we decided to stop in to see this old western town.
In 1876, Wild Bill Hickok was shot from behind and killed while playing poker in a saloon in Deadwood, Dakota Territory (present-day South Dakota) by Jack McCall, an unsuccessful gambler. The hand of cards which he supposedly held at the time of his death has become known as the dead man’s hand: two pairs, aces and eights.
Wild Bill Hickok was buried in Mount Moriah Cemetery. Calamity Jane was buried next to him.
The cemetery is up on a hill overlooking the town. We were told this spot is where the most photographs of the town are taken. At the lookout spot there is a flag with this sign. All very interesting.
The town was cute and the residents clearly work hard to preserve the historical facades. However, it was very much like other touristy towns – lots of t-shirts, trinkets and ice cream shops. ☹️
It turns out we were also really close to the geographic center of the US. So, of course, we decided to head on over there. It took us about 30 more minutes to drive to a little town called Belle Fourche (pronounced Bel-foosh).
As you can see, after Alaska and Hawaii became states the geographic center of the United States was moved from Kansas to South Dakota.
There was a small museum in the visitor center and a large marker behind the building.
How do you follow up going from the Wild West in Deadwood to the center of the US in Belle Fourche? Why, by having a Close Encounter of the Third Kind, of course! Devils Tower National Monument is about an hour west of Belle Fourche. It was quite impressive (and, unfortunately, very crowded).
Wow! The wild, Wild West …..history and more! Also, interesting places to see…..thank you again for the photos and the history that goes with everything.