Timeline of Deadwood, South Dakota

April 9, 1868 – U.S. Government signs the Fort Laramie Treaty with the Sioux and Cheyenne tribes.  Under the treaty a large reservation is created for the tribes that includes the Black Hills.

July 2 to August 30, 1874 – U.S. 7th Cavalry Black Hills Expedition. Gold is  discovered in French Creek. This discovery begins the Black Hills Gold Rush.

Fall 1875 – Small party of prospectors discover gold in the “Deadwood Gulch”.

Spring 1876 – Seven mining camps (Montana City, Fountain City, Elizabethtown, Deadwood City, South Deadwood, Ingleside and Cleveland) formed in Deadwood Gulch.

June 1876 – James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok and Martha “Calamity Jane” Canary arrive in Deadwood Gulch.

June 8, 1876 - Black Hills Pioneer becomes the first newspaper printed in the Black Hills.

August 2, 1876 - Hickok  is murdered by Jack McCall in Nuttall & Mann’s No. 10 Saloon and is buried in Deadwood’s first cemetery in the Ingleside mining camp.

August 20, 1876 - Methodist minister Henry Weston Smith murdered on route to the mining camp of Crook City.  Smith’s body is buried in Deadwood’s first cemetery in the Ingleside mining camp.

December 1, 1876 - Telegraph line is established and connects Deadwood Gulch to Cheyenne.  Deadwood Mayor E.B. Farnam and Cheyenne Mayor C.R. Bresnahan exchange messages.

February 22, 1877 - Ft. Laramie Treaty ratified and the Black Hills is ceded to the United States finally allowing the formal organization of Lawrence County in April 1877.

Spring 1878 – Lawrence County purchases 4.6 acres for new cemetery – Mount Moriah Cemetery.

August 1879 – Charles “Colorado Charlie” Utter moves Hickok’s remains to Mount Moriah Cemetery.

September 1879 - Black Hills Water & Canal Company is granted a 20 year franchise to supply water to Deadwood Gulch.  As part of the agreement, underground water lines and fire hydrants are installed at corners of Williams and Deadwood Streets.  Water pipes were lined with coal tar and connected with white lead.

September 26, 1879 – Fire destroys Deadwood’s downtown core business district.

February 1881 - Seven mining camps consolidate and form the municipality of Deadwood.

December 15, 1882 - Convicted murderer James Leighton Gilmore is executed in Deadwood.  This is the first of three public hanging within the city limits.

May 18, 1883 - Spring snowstorms cause a flood that washes away most of Deadwood.

November 16, 1883 - The Electric Light Company received permission from the Deadwood Mayor to erect poles and string wire for installation of street lights and electricity.

December 22, 1883 - Deadwood is illuminated through electricity.

May 25, 1886 - Deadwood City Council accepts Thomas Jone's proposal to macadamize the streets in Deadwood Gulch.  He is also responsible to install sewer, manholes, and sandstone curb and gutter.  In September, the project is complete.

August 1888 - The Deadwood Street Railway, a horse drawn trolley system was incorporated.  Two months later work began on the 1.5 mile loop installed on Main, Lee and Sherman Streets.  Photographs show the rails embedded in the middle of the streets.  The railway was discontinued in 1893 due to lack of patronage.

November 2, 1889 - Dakota Territory becomes North and South Dakota.

December 28, 1890 – The Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Railroad connects Deadwood to the outside world.

August 26, 1892 – U.S. Civil Service Commissioner Theodore Roosevelt delivers an impromptu speech at the Deadwood City Hall (today’s Outlaw Square).  Roosevelt and Seth Bullock meet for the first time.

March 5, 1894 – Fire destroys the lower business district of Main Street, aka “The Badlands”.

May 1899 - Deadwood Mayor Sol Star petitions Bureau of Ordnance, Department of the Navy and receives a bronze cannon captured in Cavite, Philippine Islands from the Spanish-American War.  The cannon arrives in Deadwood on July 6, 1899.  

December 19, 1899 - The Gem Theater is destroyed by fire.

October 3, 1900 – U.S. Vice-Presidential Republican candidate Theodore Roosevelt arrives in Deadwood and delivers a speech.  Deadwood resident Seth Bullock helps arrange the stop.

September 24, 1901 - Deadwood resident Seth Bullock is appointed Forest Supervisor of the Black Hills Forest Reserve by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt.

Spring 1902 - Deadwood Gas Company builds a plant near Volin Street.  On September 14, 1902 the gas was turned on and ten days later, the local newspaper indicated there were 150 subscribers that had gas mains going to their properties.

June 4, 1903 – Newly constructed Franklin Hotel formally opens to the public.

September 1907 - Brick paving project begins on Sherman Street.  Work constitutes removing old macadam paving, laying a concrete base and installing Purington brick pavers.

December 1907 – Newly constructed Lawrence County Courthouse opens to the public.

February 5, 1908 – U.S. Federal Building and Post Office opens to the public.

July 1908 - Consolidated Power & Light Company received permission to install strings of colored lights (crimson and gold) across Main Street in intervals of 50’.  Each string contains 25 lights and began from Hogarth’s shop (607 Main Street) to the Masonic Temple (715 Main Street).  Lights were installed for the upcoming Pa-Ha-Sa-Pa carnival in August 10-15, 1908.

Summer 1909 - Wyoming photographer J.H. Stimson under contract with the Deadwood Businessmen’s Club takes numerous photographs of Deadwood.  

October 21, 1911 – U.S. President William Howard Taft delivers a speech from a platform on Pine Street, and dines at the Franklin Hotel.

March 25, 1913 – Grand opening of the Deadwood Auditorium  (today’s Deadwood Recreational Center).

July 17, 1917 – Official opening of the Deadwood Amusement Park in First Ward (todays Days of 76 Complex).

January 1919 – U.S. Government passes the Prohibition Act, banning the sale and distribution of alcohol.  Reformers attack Deadwood's gambling and prostitution establishments.

November 11, 1919 – Dedication of the World War I memorial in front of the Lawrence County Courthouse.

1920s – Drinking, gambling and prostitution establishments operate behind closed doors.

October 19, 1922 – Baseball legends Babe Ruth and Bob Meusel play a baseball game at the Deadwood Amusement Park as part of their 1922 Midwest Barnstorming Tour.

August 15, 1924 – Opening of the first Days of 76 celebration.

Summer 1927 – U.S. President Calvin Coolidge vacations in the Black Hills.

August 4, 1927 - US President Calvin Coolidge participates in Deadwood’s Days of ’76 celebration.

October 3, 1930 - Adams Memorial Museum is dedicated and presented to the City of Deadwood by W.E. Adams.

December 5, 1935 – Federal Prohibition Act is repealed and gambling flourished once again in Deadwood.

Summer 1937 – Works Progress Administration (WPA) approves the construction of a new log grandstands by the Juso Brothers.  The grandstand is completed for annual Days of 76 celebration.

1947 – Gambling officially ends in Deadwood.

March 4, 1948 - Parking meters are installed in Deadwood's downtown core district.  Deadwood City Council approves the installation of 250 parking meters on Main, Lee, Deadwood, Sherman, Siever, and Pine Streets.

January 28, 1952 – Fire destroys the Deadwood City Hall and the Deadwood Theater (today’s Outlaw Square).

September 8, 1959 – Large wildland fire threatens the community of Deadwood. Over 4,000 acres were destroyed by the fire.

1950s – 1960s – Most prostitution establishments in Deadwood are closed by the state’s attorney.

July 3, 1961 - Deadwood is designated a National Historic Landmark by the US Department of the Interior.

July 3, 1963 - Deadwood receives a bronze plaque from the US Department of the Interior.  The plaque is mounted on the front of the Adams Museum.

1964 – 1967 – South Dakota Department of Transportation (SD-DOT) encloses a portion of Whitewood Creek as part of the box culvert project. 

May 21, 1980 – Final raid and permanent closure of prostitution establishments in Deadwood.

1987 - Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission is established.

December 15, 1987 – Syndicate Fire destroys three buildings along Main Street.  The Syndicate Block fire becomes the rallying cry for legalized gaming.

November 1, 1989 - Legalized, limited stakes gaming opens in Deadwood after statewide vote in 1988.

June 6, 1992 – Completion of Deadwood’s two year Main Street restoration.

May 27, 1994 - Dedication of the bronze statue of James Butler Hickok  created by South Dakota artists James Borglum and Monique Ziolkowski.

1998 – Beginning of the Mount Moriah Cemetery restoration.

January 1998 – Homestake Mine lays off a significant number of workers.

2000 – Homestake Mine announces that it will permanently close its operations at the end of 2001.

Summer 2001 – Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission begins four year archeological investigation of Deadwood’s Chinatown district.

June 29 – July 8, 2002 - Grizzly Gulch wildland fire threatens the community of Deadwood burning over 11,000 acres.

August 2, 2002 – Unveiling of James Butler Hickok’s bronze cemetery marker by Nebraska artist David Young.  This celebration marks the end of the $4.8 million Mount Moriah Cemetery restoration project.

December 24, 2005 - Historic Wing Tsue building along lower Main Street was demolished in violation of Historic Preservation ordinance.

September 2006 – Deadwood Historic Preservation purchases large collection of memorabilia from the Hickok family at public auction.

April 2, 2007 – Human remains from Deadwood’s first cemetery are discovered while replacing retaining wall in the Presidential Neighborhood.  A second set would be discovered six years later at same location.

May 23, 2013 – Grand opening of the Days of 76 Museum