Monuments & Deadwood: Rushmore, Crazy Horse & Gold Rush History

Two days connecting the Black Hills' two most contested histories — the mountain monument corridor on day one, and the gold rush town of Deadwood on day two. Deadwood was established in 1876 in the Black Hills following the discovery of gold on land guaranteed to the Lakota by the Fort Laramie Treaty; the US government's failure to prevent the resulting gold rush settlement ultimately led to the most significant treaty violation in American history. The town itself became one of the most lawless in the West: Wild Bill Hickok was shot dead here on August 2, 1876, while holding a poker hand of black aces and eights (now called the 'Dead Man's Hand'), and Calamity Jane is buried here at her own request. The entire town is a National Historic Landmark; the restored 1880s main street, the saloons, and the Mount Moriah cemetery above the gulch preserve the physical fabric of the 1876 gold rush.