South Dakota, Rapid City - Tuesday, July 3, 2018 - Sturgis and Deadwood

1938 was a banner year for the city of Sturgis, it was the year that Indian motorcycle dealer J.C. “Pappy” Hoel and the Jackpine Gypsies Motorcycle Club held the first races in August.  Those races were the beginning of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.  We never made it to Sturgis when we owned our Harley, it was easier to look around today than it would be during the rally I am sure.

Our first stop was the museum to get a map of the town and to look around.  Of course, they have merchandise ready for this year’s rally so Greg was able to buy a shirt.

The museum is the old post office.

A new Harley is on display as you come in the door.

This is the Harley made for the 50th anniversary of the rally in 1998.

The museum has a lot of motorcycles on display, this one in particular caught my eye.  It is a 1949 Indian Papoose developed for the British Army during WWII.  It was used by British paratroopers and could be folded down, packed in a steel canister and tossed out of an airplane.

1922 Ace motorcycle with two tourists who look familiar in the mirror.

These Indian motorcycle snow skies were purchased in 1949 from “Pappy” Hoel’s Indian Motorcycle Shop in Sturgis.  That winter was one of the worst on record for the Midwest.  I can’t imagine going out on a motorcycle when skies were needed.

I almost missed this one, Greg drew my attention to it.  This rare 1913 Indian single cylinder motorcycle was first given to the silent actor Charlie Chaplan as a gift from the Indian Hedstrom Corp. in 1914.  Charlie owned this motorcycle for quite a few years and it was his favorite motorcycle.  In the summer of 1926 while Charlie was on a summer tour of the Middle East & Europe, he had this motorcycle and other cargo accompany him.  While he was performing in Saudi Arabia, the king of Saudi Arabia supposedly gave Charlie an undisclosed amount of money, rumored to be at $500,000 for the Indian motorcycle.  From 1926 to 1990 this motorcycle had been a collectible of the Saudi kings.  In 1990 this Indian was gifted to the current owner as a token of appreciation from the current Saudi king, Abdullah, for the heroism that the current owner displayed in providing personal security for the king in an attempted assassination attempt from Islamic terrorists during the Gulf War.

Today Sturgis looks like any other small town.

This bronze of Joe Petrali, a championship hill climber and dirt bike racer, sits in the middle of town.

Lots of small shops like the Prairie Emporium line the main street.  I like the window above their door.

The Prairie Emporium evidently provided a great community service.  The sign on the side of this wastebasket says, “The only trash can on Sturgis main street provided by Prairie Emporium”.

The whole town is getting ready for the rally which is still over a month away.  Shops are stocked with shirts and other memorabilia.  Vendor sites are being set up.  Campgrounds are getting ready.

This fellow has probably seen a lot of rallies.

We walked by all of the well-known saloons but didn’t stop in to patronize any of them.

On our way to our next stop of Deadwood we passed through a portion of Black Hills National Park.  We followed a group of motorcycle riders, this would be a great ride on a bike.  We had no idea at this time that there had been a tornado hit part of the Black Hills National Park last Friday.  In addition, strong winds and hail did a lot more damage to the area.  We learned this after we got home and were listening to the news.  They mentioned that the Spearfish Canyon area was partially closed because of the tornado damage.  Spearfish was to be one of our next stops, we’ll have to save it for next time.  Tornadoes in the Black Hills area are rare, glad we missed it.

We stopped at the Deadwood ’76 Historical Museum before heading into town.

The grandstands for the rodeo are right off the parking lot for the museum.

As we parked I noticed this beautiful well-kept football field.  It’s not near any school.  I took some pictures just because I liked the way it looked.

A lady we met coming across the parking lot said her husband made fun of her for taking pictures of the football field.  I said you never know when you might want that picture.  Well, after we learned about the tornado and strong winds that came through the area it explains the trees on the hill that we thought might have been cut down – a closer look shows they were broken, not cut, down.  So now I can use my picture!

I took a picture of this buffalo because this may be the only wildlife we see.  We have a history of never seeing wildlife beyond a few lizards.  We’ve passed all kinds of signs warning of wildlife in the area.  One even said to be prepared to stop for mountain goats – no goats.  We have seen one prairie dog from a distance and the back end of another which was a little closer, they were all we saw in this huge prairie dog town.

I’m always amazed at the beaded Indian clothing like this dress and yoke.  Where did they get all these beads and how did they have time to do all of this?

I’ve taken a picture of us in this lovely mirror for a reason.

This sign is the reason.

In 1920 it was a really big deal, it still is.

I can’t believe I stood looking at this chemise and corset remarking on the tiny waist and I still went from here to eat lunch at a buffet!

Downstairs they had 50 horse-drawn vehicles.  The vehicles were beautiful and in really good condition.  However, the lighting was dim and I couldn’t use flash on my camera.

From the museum we headed into the town of Deadwood.

In 1875 gold prospectors illegally entered Deadwood Gulch, so called because of a rugged stream clogged with dead wood.  Deadwood was at first only a series of gold claims.  Within a decade it had matured into a Victorian community (with some thriving illegal enterprises).  It lived through fires, floods, and fluctuations in the gold market – fodder for frontier storytellers – the most famous was Buffalo Bill Cody.

In the 1920’s city leaders decided that Deadwood couldn’t rely on the gold industry to keep it prosperous.  They decided to take advantage of the new automobile tourism trend and to promote the city as a place to relive the wild days of the American frontier.  The Days of ’76 celebration was modeled after Buffalo Bill’s traveling show.  That festival, the museum and the exhibits in it grew directly out of the love Buffalo Bill had for the American West and his personal connection to Deadwood.  The Days of ’76 Celebration is still the biggest event in town.

The main street is pretty quiet today.  The lot where we parked had a lot of glass in it.  We found out later that it came from cars having windows broken out by the hail that came through on Friday.

This beautiful statue stands in front of the fire station.

In the background is the Hickok Hotel and Gaming facility.  We had to laugh as we walked by it, we passed a family with little kids and one of them says, “but why can’t we go in, it says “gaming”?”  The definition of “gaming” is different for different generations.

We enjoyed the lunch buffet at the Silverado Casino.  The buffet was a little limited in choices, but the choices they had were very tasty.  After lunch we went upstairs to the casino, we can now say we have gambled in Deadwood.  Didn’t take us long to deposit our $20 apiece on the penny slots.  I was surprised that most of their slots appeared to be $5 slots, that is some serious gambling to me.  It was also the quietest casino we have ever been in, the machines didn’t make any noise.  I feel better with that positive input of bells and whistles going off when I win 15 cents on a 30 cent bet.

Across the street is the original location of Saloon #10.  The significance of this is that Wild Bill Hickok was fatally shot there on August 2, 1876 by Jack McCall.  Wild Bill came to Deadwood for the same reason as many others – gold.  Only two months after he arrived he was buried in the local Mt. Moriah Cemetery.

Another picture of the Black Hills on our way home.