Paha Sapa, the Black Hills, sacred land of the Lakota Indians, had long
been the destination for prospectors. In 1874, Gen. George Armstrong
Custer conducted an expedition into the Black Hills confirming rumors of
gold. The findings of the expedition were widely publicized and the gold
rush began. Unable to stem the tide of prospectors seeking their
fortunes, the federal government opened Black Hills Native American land
to settlement in 1877. During the rush, from 1874 to 1879, unknown
numbers of mines were worked and more than 400 mining camps and towns
sprang up in the gulches overnight. When the mines played out, most of
the settlements died. Black Hills Gold Rush Towns looks at the mining
towns that once flourished.