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    Sundance
    Sundance
    Sundance
    Ebook185 pages1 hour

    Sundance

    By Rocky Courchaine and Pam Thompson

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    About this ebook

    Sundance, in the northeast corner of Wyoming, may not be the only place with that name, but it is the original Sundance--the place where the Kid got his name. There was no settlement of any sort when Crook County was created in 1875. The town was founded in 1878, named after the mountain that stands south of town where the Plains tribes held their sun dance ceremonies. Sundance is not that different from the many other small towns that sprang to life in the boom of gold, cattle, and oil throughout the West, but it is different in that it has ridden through the booms and the busts and still survives. This book contains images of people's lives as they worked and played, lived and died. It tells of those who passed through, and those who stayed and helped the community establish its roots and grow.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateSep 18, 2012
    ISBN9781439640326
    Sundance
    Author

    Rocky Courchaine

    Rocky Courchaine is the director of the Crook County Museum and Art Gallery in Sundance, Wyoming. He also owns the Sundance Mercantile. Rocky lives on the family ranch north of Beulah, Wyoming. Pam Thompson serves on several committees concerning the history of Crook County and Wyoming. After living in the Southwest for many years, Pam and her family have returned to Wyoming and now live a few miles north of Aladdin.

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      Book preview

      Sundance - Rocky Courchaine

      Wyoming.

      INTRODUCTION

      Long before the first settlers moved into the area, the Sioux and Cheyenne tribes inhabited the land that would become Crook County. It was not be until after the Custer expedition discovered gold in 1874 that settlers and miners began to flock to the Black Hills. In the early 1800s, many of the people believed that the Dakota mining towns were really in Wyoming. Sometime in the late 1870s, a group organized to request that the Black Hills become part of the Wyoming Territory. The congress of that time did not see things as those Westerners did. They considered northeastern Wyoming nothing more than a piece of this country, where gold nuggets and beefsteaks should not mix together. Not too many years later, congress would be pushing people to come West, where life was mellow and the land was fertile.

      The original Crook County was about 102 miles square. Sundance is located about 20 miles from the east border and 45 miles from the north line of the state and at the base of the Bearlodge Mountains, which extend in a broken chain a distance of 25 miles north to northwest. The valley in which the town lies is about 1 mile in width and has been called one of the most picturesque spots that could have ever been selected for a town. Sundance is situated in the pass between the Black Hills and the Bearlodge Mountains, Inyan Kara Mountain, and Green Mountain, and at the base of Sundance Mountain on the north side. This was the most accessible way for the travelers to pass to the Black Hills from the cattle country to the west.

      It is through this wide pass that the miners traveled to the gold fields in the Black Hills and the gold fields in Montana to the north. These gold miners were spilling over into the surrounding hills from the gold fields of South Dakota and Montana. Most of the gold found in here was in streams—deposits called placers. It took tough men to pan for gold because the life of a miner was dangerous and lonely. The danger could come to the miners and farmers alike in many ways. Danger could be found in most every part of their environment. The loneliness came with the vast open spaces; the miles and miles of rolling grass; the deep, moist, quiet canyons; and the endless stars in the dark sky. It is heard in the howl of the coyote and the song of the birds. Sundance Creek, a small mountain stream, flows through the town to meet up with Sand Creek, and together they flow into the Redwater River and then race along to catch up with the Belle Fourche and continue their journey to the mighty Missouri.

      Both the town of Sundance and the mountain take their names from the fact that it was here that the native tribes of the area annually gathered to hold their sun dance celebrations. We know from history that Native Americans from a radius of hundreds of miles in each direction annually congregated here to hold these celebrations. These people also found something they were looking for among the four mountains.

      A little to the east of town, the valley widens until the Black Hills are reached in about 6 miles distance. A little west of town, the valley also opens out, and some fine agricultural lands are found as well as the outlet to the vast open country beyond. In 1879, the present town site was but a ranch. During the succeeding years, the only business was a road ranch that underwent various changes in ownership. Early in 1883, Sewell Bullard obtained an interest with Albert Hoge, the original homesteader, and a small store was added to the ranch. In 1883, a blacksmith came to set up his shop. A livery barn, a hotel, and even a newspaper followed. Soon other business were arriving and setting up shop. By 1887, Sundance had two banks, three general groceries, supply stores with large stocks of goods on hand, and the school was busting at the seams with hopeful scholars. As the only town in the county, trade was good and that was seen as a sign that the town’s future growth would be even greater. The founders felt that since Sundance was located in the pass between the mountains, it was the natural and only roadway leading westward from the Black Hills towns. The future looked very good. It was also highly speculated that a railroad from Deadwood or Rapid City, South Dakota, leading west to the coalfields and to the national parks, must necessarily occupy the Sundance pass. The cattlemen were bringing their herds from places where the grass was less lush to the wide-open plains just west of the town. The railroad would be as good for the cattlemen as the cattle would be for the railroad. Scientific reports were saying that the Bearlodge mining districts all pointed to wonderful opportunities of developing possibilities. The hopeful fathers of this little town did not see that the train might not come, that the minerals might run low, or that the elements were going to test them. In their atmosphere of great expectancy, the town was incorporated October 3, 1887. With the incorporation of the town and with the new and different notice that brought the fledgling town more people, they arrived to see if this was the place for them. Those that wanted to be a part of a growing town arrived, and so did those that just liked to know people were near. The few hardy souls who managed to stay and establish roots were the determined ones. They were also the lucky ones. And they may just have known that.

      One

      THE MOUNTAINS

      The heart of Crook County in northeastern Wyoming is the Bearlodge mountain range, which is part of the Black Hills. These Black Hills cover an area of about 6,000 square miles, or about the size of Connecticut. For the native tribes, these Paha Sapa, or Hills that are Black, were and are the literal center of the earth, the place where human beings were first created, the first gathering of the stone, Eden, from where the hoop of the world bends to the four directions. Two thirds of the Black Hills are in South Dakota, and the remaining third is in Wyoming. The Redwater River separates the Bear Lodge from the main

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