Fort Pierre to Deadwood: Along for the Ride

Sep 4, 2008

The Fort Pierre Verendrye Museum led a 17-day ride along the Fort Pierre to Deadwood trail to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the trail's closing. Greg Latza rode along and took pictures as wagons and horses traveled the historic route.

Download Original

After gold was discovered in the Black Hills in in the 1800s, many people loaded wagons and headed west.
Download Original

One of the shortest and easiest traveled routes went overland from Fort Pierre, the nearest river port, to Deadwood.
Download Original

As the gold rush faded, the historic trail was quickly fenced in by ranchers, overgrown and largely forgotten.
Download Original

The participants of the July trail ride included many interesting characters, most with wide grins on their faces.
Download Original

On day one, the train pulled slowly out of the Missouri River valley behind the Fort Pierre sale barn. Along the way, the towns of Hayes, Phillip, Wall and Sturgis held camp events and celebrations.
Download Original

The train spread out as it crossed Willow Creek west of Fort Pierre.
Download Original

The scenery of the trail started with alfalfa fields laced with sunflowers.
Download Original

Traffic on Highway 34 got a real show as the wagon train followed it for a time on the first day.
Download Original

After a long day of riding, participants ate, drank and enjoyed the company of others. Many evenings, speakers would present on a variety of topics ranging from the history of the trail to what snakes to watch for.