Deadwood is not dead and Devils Tower isn't a devil
For those who've been following my mid west America trip, in my last post I mentioned it was at freezing point at night. I really wasn't lying, when I woke up the next morning, snow had covered everywhere as we drove to the Black Hills. This is a mountain range that straddles South Dakota and our next destination state - Wyoming.
Deadwood
A couple hours later we arrived at our first stop Deadwood. Our vehicle was covered in snow from our journey. Compared to the local vehicles it looked like we had come from another country.
Deadwood is a cowboy town in the Black Hills. When it was founded in 1876 it was a notorious lawless thriving gold rush city. Murder, prostitution, gambling other sleazy business.. a truly wild west city. Many either lost their lives or made crazy riches. After the gold rush finished, the town went downhill. In 1988, gambling was legalised here (the third in America after Nevada and Atlantic City) and gambling tax was used to preserve and regenerate the city to turn itself into a tourist location. The casinos here are nowhere on the scale like Las Vegas. I went into a couple, it was mainly slot machines, nothing too exciting, but then I went on Friday morning, not sure how much difference weekend evenings will make tbh.
Adam Museum
With such a rich history, there are various museums in Deadwood for visitors to learn more about the town's history. There's even a prostitution museum located inside a centuty old brothel that sounded very interesting. But $15 entrance to see a few rooms sounded a little steep, plus I didn't think it was appropriate for little girls like Snowpea. I went to the Adams Museum instead. That provided a good all rounded history about Deadwood.
In the wild west world, exaggerated claims or fake news as we would call it today, was common in the Black Hills. I found some if these claims so amusing. I guess during the gold rush where you can quite easily find gold, you'd believe any news no matter how absurd it may sound. It sounds like the crypto world, when some things are just too good to be true.
In as far back as 1893, a professor Orlando Ferguson, "inspired by a phrase in the opening sentence of Revelations 7: “four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds” source stated that the world is square and stationery and did many talks to spread his theory. I wonder what the flatliners would have to say about this 🤔😁
Devils Tower
In the afternoon we crossed the state border to Wyoming and stopped at Devils Tower. This gigantic geological structure is over 5000ft above sea level and can be seen miles away even before we were near it. It is believed to have formed some 50 million years ago, but there are different theories on how. If you're interested to read more about it, this is a very good link.
Devils Tower is the first US National Monument created by President Roosevelt in 1906. It's 867 ft tall from base to summit and has many hexagon columns on the surface. This makes it very tempting for climbers and each year hundreds attempt the climb that takes around 6 to 8 hours. In fact when I was there, I saw two climbers. They were so tiny in comparison to Devils Tower.
The butte is so massive that you really can't appreciate it's size until you're standing at the base. Human vs nature, nature wins again.
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I've been to Deadwood a few times the last time I was kind of disappointed it was in the mid 90's. A lot changed there once the casinos went up. I felt the historic value was kinda of blended with the new. Maybe it's better now it's been awhile.
It wasn't very busy as it was still low season, maybe the vibe is better in the summer, I hear they have cowboy re-enactment every day on the summer. But in terms of the street itself, it did seem a bit newish trying to be old if you know what I mean, not very authentic 🙃
I know what you mean. It use to have a better authentic look. When the face of a building is changed to give it a new vibe in an attempt to attract it can take away from that.
The Devils Tower looked so fascinating!
Even so when you see it in real life
The Devils Tower is impressive. I would love to climb those columns. What an awesome place!!! Thanks for sharing.
I think if you're a climber it would be a lovely challenge, and I read there are different levels of difficulty depending on which side you climb up
I like sport climbing, I'm an inexperienced amateur 😊. The maximum height I've climbed is 21 meters.....nothing comparable, but it would be very exciting if only to put on the harnesses and climb a few meters up a beginner's route on Devils Tower 🤭🤩.
I'm sure it would be quite an experience, just to say you've climbed it, would be a great tick on your list
I also believe that!!
I've experienced something similar myself. I once ran out of my regular medication over the weekend and ended up going to a roadside medical store. I couldn't sleep the entire night, and it was such a struggle. Thankfully, I felt better by the morning. This blog is a strong reminder of how important it is to avoid self-medication and always seek proper medical advice. Our health is too valuable to handle carelessly!
This comment has nothing to do with my post
I am loving your trip. When my husband turned 40 I planned, three different vacation itineraries for him to choose between for his birthday trip. The Mt Rushmore, Deadwood, Yellowstone path was one of the options. He picked a California road trip instead. 😂 But I have always wanted to do this trip. Especially being a BIG fan of the Deadwood TV show! Did you ever watch it? Gritty Wild West drama. Sooooo good!
Anyway, your posts are reigniting my desire to take this road trip!
Thank you for letting me live vicariously through you. 😄
Your husband has got the best travel planner to arrange trips for him, no one beats the pros 👍😉
I haven't watched Deadwood before, not normally a big fan of cowboy films, but now I've been I might feel different. Have a great weekend!
I had thought they barred people from climbing devils tower. Maybe they just heavily regulate it. That's so crazy to see snow. We have been snow free for several months now.
I believe they have to apply, or rather register with the authorities if they want to climb, and they have to finish during the day, no overtime camping is allowed.
The snow was kinda crazy, we saw it quite a few times as we had to go over quite a few mountains. Looks like some areas probably have snow all through the year by the looks of it
Yeah, that probably makes sense. It gets pretty chilly when you get up where the air is thin! I don't know what the elevation is like in England but have you noticed a difference with being at such a high altitude?
Nice road trip indeed, I hope you packed your thermals!
Deadwood,
My kinda town yeeeee haaaaw
Oh and I am a flat earther too btw.
🙃
I had to pack thermals and T shirts, kinda crazy!
1Holiday/4Seasons LOL
Great post @livinguktaiwan!😊 The snowy surprise must have been something else. Deadwood sounds like a fascinating place with a rich history, and your visit to the Adams Museum seems like it was a good choice. The comparison between the gold rush and the crypto world is spot on! And Devils Tower looks absolutely breathtaking—nature really does have a way of making us feel small. Thanks for sharing your adventure!🤩💗
I'm blown away by the many and varied landscape I saw in America, just shows how great nature can be
A real wild western town, very cool.
The tower looks indeed huge. Great captures of it.
Such a cool road trip 😁
The Devils Tower was really something, we saw it miles and miles away even before we were anywhere near it
Wow… I have it on my to visit list for ages now… one day 😁
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Looks like you are having an awesome time ! The devil's tower looks totally amazing. It actually looks unreal (ie, fake !). Would love to see it.
Yeah, my big trip this year, am having a cracking time
Beautiful 😍
Damn, we live in such a small world!
The Devils Tower is very similar to Detunata Goala from my home country. Those geological formations are making you feel like being part of a completely different world for a moment.
Look what came up after wiki on my search for Detunata Goala 👍⭐
Ha!!!! How cool is that! Sadly I couldn't find a way to the bottom but actually on top of it! It's a very wild and unknown part for Romania yet. That's why I've shown you a picture from the internet 🥰
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I like hearing wild wide west stories! It is good to know that they have preserved historical information about the town. Oh, tale as old as time. I know there are more stories to tell in the west. 🤠
Guess the wild west isn't called wild for no reason, so many stories bouncing around
Ohhhh the Deadwood stage is coming on over the hill....
Not a single mention of Calamity Jane or Wild Bill Hickock?
Take me back to the black hills, the black hills of Dakotaaaaaa...
Hmm Doris wouldn't be happy!
Nice to see you having such a wonderful trip!
Ahhh memories :-)
They're actually buried in Deadwood Cemetery, but we didn't have time to visit as we were just passing through. Tbh I'm not a cowboy fan so didn't know much about any of the famous people, Buffalo Bill Cody was one that seems to come up a lot in many places we went
We enjoyed the history of Deadwood, and visited the cemetery where Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane buried. I liked the hat. Sounds like you're having a great trip. The Devils Tower looks really amazing. May have to make a trip for that if we get back out west.
Unfortunately we missed the cemetery due to time, I would have liked to visit but we had too many places to go during my trip.
Still got a lot of places to share for my trip, which was awesome
There are a lot of cool stones around Devils Tower... :D
The text from the link says that it is formed of a rare igneous rock, phonolite porphyry. And the theories of how it was formed sound interesting.
Prostitution museum - I also think it was not appropriate for Snowpea 😅
The stones, or rather rocks are a bit on the large side.... Rocks from other places I visited are a lot smaller ❤️
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Omg its so nice the snow must have been a surprise, but it sounds like it made the journey even more memorable. Deadwood seems straight out of a history book, and it's cool to learn about its wild past.
We were at quite altitude at some places and snyw kept on appearing, which was a bit odd for May
I passed through there several weeks ago! I only had time for a detour to see Devils Tower, and couldn't properly explore Deadwood.
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