Bygone Days On Your iPad

Apr 21, 2011

By John Andrews

John Penor was a Perkins County rancher who took photos as a hobby. The historic images he captured around his hometown of Bison from 1907 to 1957 were published in a book in 2005 and are now available as an iPad application.

"It's a voyage into South Dakota history," says Zach Smith, who created the application with Penor's great-nephew Steven Sebring. "It emphasized the story of the Penor family, but it also emphasizes the ways in which that part of the world was critical in the history of America."

Sebring discovered hundreds of negatives in Penor's home and created a book called Bygone Days in 2005. The iPad application of the same name includes photographs, early Black Hills film, newspapers and audio from an interview with Penor. Download the application here.