As a small boy in the 1960s, I remember taking a trip up to Deadwood in the back of a pickup truck snuggled in a sleeping bag. It was in the late fall and early winter during deer season that my father decided to take his young boys deer hunting for the first time. My father packed his three little boys like sardines in the back of this pickup truck and from Rapid City we headed to Deadwood South Dakota.

In those days I was too young to know everything that was going on, I was six or seven. at the time, 1966 or 67. I can only remember a few vague memories, but I can remember. I remember a store that we walk through that was like an old Ace Hardware store yet it sold canvas backpacks and canteens, shovels, gold pans and picks, rusty stuff, new stuff and even food supplies and fishing poles. I don’t think the floor had been swept in years. The shelves were quite dusty and even some of the things on the shelves were sparse and a few things had never been touched in a while. I think I touched and held many of these boyish treasures. In 1966 the brothels where still open, however Deadwood was pretty much a dead town or dying town.

On May 21st, 1980 federal officials raided Deadwood’s infamous brothels, which led to their closure. The brothels had been open since the Gold Rush days when prostitutes first arrived in the mining town with Charlie Utter’s wagon train in 1876.

Exactly, a hundred years earlier in 1876, Deadwood, Dakota, was a bustling gold rush town that had rapidly grown into a lawless yet thriving settlement. Located in the Black Hills of South Dakota, Deadwood attracted thousands of miners, adventurers, and opportunists eager to strike it rich. The streets were filled with the sounds of busy prospectors, horse-drawn wagons, and the clatter of saloons, which were the heart of the town’s social life. The town’s makeshift wooden buildings and tents reflected the transient nature of its population, with many people hoping to cash in on the gold rush, but few finding lasting success.

Deadwood’s population was a diverse mix of miners, gamblers, entrepreneurs, and outlaws, each trying to survive in an environment marked by lawlessness and danger. The town had no formal law enforcement at the time, and as a result, it was notorious for its rowdy saloons, gambling halls, and frequent violent confrontations. Despite this, Deadwood was a symbol of the Wild West’s gritty spirit, attracting figures like Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane, who became legendary in American folklore.

Their presence added to the town’s mystique, turning it into a place of both opportunity and peril.By 1876, the gold rush in Deadwood was in full swing, though the town was soon to face increasing tensions over legal claims to the gold-rich land. The town’s future was uncertain, but it would continue to grow and develop, eventually becoming a significant historical site. Deadwood’s gold rush days left a lasting legacy, captured in both the stories of its colorful characters and the many tales of ambition, fortune, and tragedy that defined the American frontier during the late 19th century.

But what was happening just up the road a mile, changed the world and continues to change everything we understand about our planet and it’s vast resources.

I’m talking about Lead, SD. Now home to the Sanford Deep Underground Laboratory.