Eric_W

Greetings Fodor's travelers. I'm editing our new edition of Montana & Wyoming, and in it we have a South Dakota Black Hills chapter. I'd love to hear from anyone who's recently been to Deadwood. I'm particularly interested in any new or noteworthy restaurants. Thanks!

dwooddon

Doug - I can't answer your question right now but I'll be there for three nights in early Sept. If you can wait for a reply, I'll try to get you some info.

dwooddon

I just had a senior moment. I don't have the faintest idea why I called you Doug escept that I just talked to a friend on the phone whose name is Doug. Sorry.

Eric_W

Actually, it's quite a coincidence because the editor who I'm collaborating with (he's doing smaller guides on Grand Teton and Yellowstone) is named Doug. Anyway, your feedback in September would be helpful. Thanks!

dwooddon

Eric: Aside from the small bars and casinos that seem to come and go on the wind, I did not find much new in Deadwood nor could the local visitor's center persennel think of much.

The only new thing possibly worthy of comment in a travel guide might be the in-character guided tour of the Bullock Hotel that is conducted by the owner daily during the tourist season.

Seth Bullock was an early settler in Deadwood, relocating his hardware business to Deadwood in 1876. He arrived the day before Wild Bill Hickok was killed and that event triggered a demand for law and order. Bullock was appointed the first Sheriff of Deadwood and, by all accounts, was a good an honest law enforcement officer for many years.

He also has the distinction, at least by a family story, of having run Wyatt Earp out of town. Apparently Earp showed up in town after Hickok's killing to secure the job of sheriff for himself. Bullock told him the job was filled and his services were not required and that he should get out of Dodge (actually Deadwood). Earp complied.

Later, Bullock became a Deputy U.S. Marshal and in that capacity, stopped to question three men he thought suspicious. One of them was Theodore Roosevelt and he and Bullock became life-long friends and Roosevelt sent his sons to summer on Bullcok's ranch for several years. Bullock was a Captain in Troop A of the Rough Riders in the ride up San Juan Hill.

Bullock had many achievements over the years. Before coming to Deadwood, he was a successful business man in Helena and was elected to the Montana Territorial Legislature at a young age. He introuduced a resolution to preserve the land that became Yellowstone which resulted in the creation of the National park in 1872.

After his hardware business and law enforcement career were succesful, he diversified into hotel keeping and ranching and founded the town of Belle Fourche, South Dakota.

He is buried above Mt. Moriah cemetery, not far from Hickok's grave.

His hotel is still operating and each day, the current owner, dressed in period costume and assuming Bullock's personna, conducts one-hour tour of the hotel and description of Bullock's life.

Dyer

We have a cabin at Terry Peak ski area, just past Deadwood a couple miles is Lead, we are 3 miles from Lead. We tend to drive past Deadwood to Spearfish to Roma's Italian Restaraunt. BUT this past yr. the two yr. old Deadwood Thymes Restaraunt has seen us vistit once for lunch and once for dinner. It is supurb. Right across the street from the courthouse. While sitting in the small area outside and looking through the wrought iron fence, up at the copula of the courthouse, one feels they are in Italy or France! You have to try it to believe it. For more info, email me at [email protected]