Well I've got some good news for you Black Hills history buffs in the areas of Ghost Towns, Ghost Mines and caves. A while back I checked out a book from the library, "Ghost Town Maps" (I mean, really a while back....like $5 bucks in late fees!). It's about ghost towns in the Black Hills. Most everyone has seen these type books before, but this didn't really talk about the towns, it just labeled the different towns on topo maps in "township and ranging" format. The book was first printed in 1990 and has one reprint since. I mainly checked out the book to find any caves or other interesting things that might be listed that I've never been to or heard of.
This past week, Mrs. LD really started bugging me to take the book back. So before taking it back, I did a google search on the book & author. I found that this book and another one by the same author could still be purchased on Amazon. The second book is Ghost Mine Maps. And, he also has an interactive software version that can be purchased. Then I found (I know, I'm internet stalking now) a RC Journal article from 2004 about the author and his books. http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/software-offers-new-views-of-hills/article_09ca1550-6e40-53b2-add7-deb4805e7ebf.html In the article it said the author had moved to RC and had listed a phone number. Hmm........Hmm?
Being a bashful sort of guy, I called the number. "Hello, Hi, is this Dale?" "Yes?" "Great, my name is Dave and this is going to be a strange phone call." "Oh yeah?" You get the idea. His name is Dale Baity. He's a very friendly guy and loves to talk about all this stuff and is willing to share his knowledge. I mean, it was like first meeting Bogus Jim. "Have you ever been here or there? It was always a yes." In fact, I asked him about Ice caves. Not the ones that most people know about, but a third one that I just found a month ago. He says, "oh sure, you mean the one by Englewood?" Yeah! By now I was really impressed. Although, I did stump him on one place: China walls, White walls, or Chinese Walls. He said oh sure, but he'd never be able to find them. He now has the cords and directions and has already updated his software. (PM me if you want the cords.)
So I met with him yesterday. I explained to Dale who we are, and what we like to do when we get together at our rallies. And, we're always interested in seeing and finding new places and maybe a little history along the way. I think both DDSR and I have found a new friend. (Great Buffalo, you're really going to like this guy!)
I spoke with a couple of our members about Dale and they too were interested in meeting and talking with him. So here's the plan; I or we are going to buy him breakfast at our next breakfast meeting on Dec 13th. So if you have any questions or want to know anything about the Black Hills as far as maps, caves, geology, ghost towns, or ghost mines, he's your guy.
I viewed his books and especially the software yesterday. It's great stuff. He will sell them directly to us at a discount if anyone is interested. I know I will be buying mine soon. LD
Good work Dave!! I look forward to talking with him.
Would be nice to know the history of the so-called miner's hotel, but nobody seems to know anything...
had an interesting conversation with a guy that owns a lot at the top of the hill when you go up butcher gulch to the top. He said the lady in the house with the garage right next to the road when you head up butcher gulch in Galena is the local historian. apparently she has a lot of knowledge of the area. he is going to introduce me to her next summer. Should be interesting.
Very cool. The history is a big part of the attraction to the hills as far as I am concerned.
I'm in!
Yes Yes I will be there.
Dave, di this guy work for South Dakota Public Broadcasting? White bushy bearded guy? If it is I met him some time ago. Anyway...
I think I've seen this book but not sure why I never bought it. I'll have to a bit of looking to see if i can get my hands on those books. I may have passed them by due to lack of info.
Would be good to meet him and chat it up with him. Can't make it on the 13th but will have to have you facilitate another meeting sometime.
Cool stuff. Thanks for taking the stalking duties.
I would be real interested in his books. Sounds like an interesting guy. Nice stalk, Dave!
Wish Dave wasn't so bashful........ :P
Quote from: greatbuffalo on December 01, 2014, 10:31:02 PM
Dave, di this guy work for South Dakota Public Broadcasting? White bushy bearded guy? If it is I met him some time ago.
Yes, that's him!
Quote from: Bogus Jim on December 01, 2014, 03:36:37 PM
Would be nice to know the history of the so-called miner's hotel, but nobody seems to know anything...
Funny you should say that..........
Well, again last night I was playing around on the internet (big surprise). I found some information in a couple of different places about
the hiking trail below Deerfield, towards Slate Creek and eventually Miner's Hotel. http://www.gorp.com/parks-guide/travel-ta-black-hills-national-forest-hiking-rapid-city-sidwcmdev_066645.html , http://rosyinn.com/blog/?p=97 There's a section between Mystic and Slate Creek that both sources talk about; Black Tom Mine, Flannigan Cabin and Warren-Lamb flume. The rosyinn.com blog is a local guy, Dean Bottorff. His blog is interesting and he certainly knows the area and history. And, his comments about the Forest Service and their maps are funny. So tonight I called Dean. Once again, just like Dale in my earlier post, he was happy to talk about all of the Hills history. Actually, the main reason I called him, he has a photo of himself and his wife with "Miner's Hotel" in the background. http://rosyinn.com/blog/ I asked him about the photo and the name. He said he'd never heard that name before. However, he did know some of the history behind it.
First, the horizontal shaft was dug out so a logging flume could run through it. I don't know the exact date, but it should be 1890s or so. Flannigan Cabin is just downstream 1/4 mile from the tunnel and is next to the flume route. Dean said there was a dam a mile or two upstream in the area of the now Slate Creek dam. They would hold the water and release it when they had logs ready in the flume. Apparently the creek did not have enough flow to continuously float logs. Don't know exactly what Flannigan Cabin had to do with the flume, but assume it helped in some way. Dean said when he first went to the cabin years ago, it was still standing. Inside, there were books and newspapers on the walls for insulation. He said he took photos of the cabin back then, and thinks some of the newspapers were from around early 40s.
So some of you will remember the bed bunks inside the tunnel and you wondered why? Dean said, after he pointed out that he has no actual facts but has been told by others, that the bunks were built in the 1930s. And he believes the wood in the bunk's frame work supports that time frame. Anyway, people moved into the tunnel during the 30s depression period for a place to stay.
That's about it, but both Dean and I think some clever "local" named it "Miner's Hotel."
I didn't stop asking questions, so the next topic is the Chinese Walls, China Walls, White Walls near Galena. And......they are NOT the Chinese Walls after all......to be continued!
Well now we know more about Miner's Hotel. I always thought the beds must have been added later, and I agree the Miner's Hotel name sounds like it was made up by some creative modern day local.
If there was a flume along Slate Creek then there must've been a sawmill downstream... I found this photo of a Slate Creek sawmill but I don't have a date for the photo.
(http://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx177/photoquark/Miscellaneous/Miscellaneous%202/Sawmill__Slate_Creek_zps131f429e.jpg) (http://s753.photobucket.com/user/photoquark/media/Miscellaneous/Miscellaneous%202/Sawmill__Slate_Creek_zps131f429e.jpg.html)
Also on the topic of Black Hills history... a couple years ago, Dave, Robert, and I did a ride to the Carbonate ghost town. One of the more interesting rides I have done in the Hills I would say. I found this stock certificate for sale on a collector's web site. Lots of fortunes were won and lost during the gold rush but probably most lost. A particularly sad fact I thought is that the majority of people buried in the Carbonate cemetery are children.
(http://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx177/photoquark/Miscellaneous/Miscellaneous%202/shopcarbonateflumelarge_zps71d8c3c5.jpg) (http://s753.photobucket.com/user/photoquark/media/Miscellaneous/Miscellaneous%202/shopcarbonateflumelarge_zps71d8c3c5.jpg.html)
Quote from: Bogus Jim on December 03, 2014, 11:14:01 PM
Also on the topic of Black Hills history... a couple years ago, Dave, Robert, and I did a ride to the Carbonate ghost town. One of the more interesting rides I have done in the Hills I would say.
I agree, by far that was one of my favorite rides.
Quote from: Bogus Jim on December 03, 2014, 11:14:01 PM
A particularly sad fact I thought is that the majority of people buried in the Carbonate cemetery are children.
Elisa and I went though the Galena cemetery a short time ago. She believes children account for 50 to 60 percent of the burials. A hard life back then for sure.
I love this kinda stuff. Would love to see more, never been to the china walls or whatever its called. Maybe I'm not remembering it right, but that miners hotel seems pretty high above the creek bed for a flume???
So Jim, do you now own that stock certificate? Very cool.
We really need to get together and put together some "history tours". It seems like there is a lot of folks that like that sort of stuff. I have thought about it several times but haven't felt there would be much interest in history lesson on a DS ride. Maybe there is.
Quote from: greatbuffalo on December 08, 2014, 07:25:05 PM
So Jim, do you now own that stock certificate?
No I don't. It would be kind of cool to frame and hang it on the wall though.
This site has a few for sale.
http://www.oldwesthistorystore.com/southdakota_page.htm (http://www.oldwesthistorystore.com/southdakota_page.htm)
Quote from: Lonesome Dave on December 03, 2014, 10:13:13 PM
I didn't stop asking questions, so the next topic is the Chinese Walls, China Walls, White Walls near Galena. And......they are NOT the Chinese Walls after all......to be continued!
As I said a few days ago, I asked Dean Bottorff about the Chinese Walls near Galena / Butcher Glutch. First, these are known to locals as "Chinese Walls, China Walls, White Walls, Hercules Walls (named for a mine nearby). Dean referred to the following information as "a small historical point"; "the walls north of Galena were actually built by German masons and they were to be part of the mill that was never built. The actual mine pit is across Butcher Gulch near the top of the hill. The plan was to have an aerial tram transport the ore over the gulch to the top of the mill where it would move through process via gravity. The walls are expertly done by highly skilled craftsmen who definitely were not slaves. The story is that the vein, which appeared to very rich, ran out before the mill was built. Just over the hill to the west is the Gilt Edge mine which was very rich and was in production until the 1970s."
Also, "If you want to see Chinese walls, go nouth along the old railroad right-of-way along Whitewood Creek toward the ghost town of Tunnel. The walls are about a mile north of US14 on the East side of Whitewood Creek -- you need waders to get to them. They were built by a group of Chinese miners who bought a claim that the seller thought was used up. In fact, the claim turned out to be productive and the Chinese miners did well, having made enough money to return to China where they lived very well and got to be
buried with their ancestors." He also said, (and favorite part) "The trail that goes by those walls is not on USFS land so those idiots have not been able to close it. Generally whenever a trail goes by a notable historic site, the forest service closes it to 'protect resources' ". Dean has many stories of why he feels so strongly about the FS.
Anyway, that's about it.......except if you start looking into the ghost town of Tunnel.
Tunnel was the site of the Loomis tunnel, nearly 1,000 feet long, which was dug in 1890 so the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Railroad could come from Whitewood southwest to Deadwood. The Whitewood end of the tunnel apparently debouched upon whatever town there was in the area; all that remains is an old log house, a siding, and some railroad equipment. At the Deadwood end of the tunnel, down in the valley where the limestone cliffs come down to the creek, is reputedly Barker's Cave, a place of refuge where an early prospector used to hole up, behind a rough-hewn log door, to defend himself against Indian attacks. Old-timers stoutly aver that spatters of lead from Indian bullets can still be seen on the rocks around the mouth of the cave entrance. (From Black Hills Ghost Towns, authors Watson Parker & Hugh Lambert)
Hmmmm....that's a place I'd like to see! LD
I have been to the South end of the tunnel, but didn't find a cave? I will have to look again...
This is all my stomping grounds. I stumbled across the walls just this summer when riding from two bit road over to the upper Camp 5 area. Really cool stuff!
And the tunnel we used to go mess around in in high school (I know I know..its was only five years ago). Now its gated off and the guy that lives on the whitewood end took a chain saw and destroyed some of the support beams inside. The cave is on the right about 100 or so yards before the tunnel and down the trail a little ways. Easily accessible.
Now. If you followed whitewood creek down about 2 miles or so there is a HUGE cave. Like you could drive into it if you could get there with wheels. It goes back about 100 yards or so and has a 50ft roof. Along the way to the cave you find SO MUCH COOL STUFF! There are super old sluths, machine buckets that are at least 1 inch thick and probably weigh as much a a small truck. Tons of cool stuff. There is an area where the river flows between house sized boulders that is my favorite spot. Its one hell of a hike though. Only thing that's sad is how much garbage is down in there now. Tons of it :(
Dale sent me a couple of photos of Barker tonight. Apparently the old hermit that lived in the cave.
(http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j420/rustytreasures/BarkerTheBlackHillsHermitAtHisCave1900WhitewoodCreekCHS-2145.jpg) (http://s1084.photobucket.com/user/rustytreasures/media/BarkerTheBlackHillsHermitAtHisCave1900WhitewoodCreekCHS-2145.jpg.html)
(http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j420/rustytreasures/BarkerTheBlackHillsHermitAtHisCave1900WhitewoodCreekCHS-2146.jpg) (http://s1084.photobucket.com/user/rustytreasures/media/BarkerTheBlackHillsHermitAtHisCave1900WhitewoodCreekCHS-2146.jpg.html)
I was actually in that tunnel and have a few pics somewhere to show for it. Last time I was there they had made it more difficult to get in.
I haven't really done alot of exploring in that area though so I have no idea where the cave is. Looks very interesting.
Here's something I just happen to think of. Up until I met up all of you yayhoo's I spent a week or so, twice a year out in the hills just exploring. Now I go out there twice a year to ride. Need to get back to exploring a little more. I guess I could just move out there.