John Mitchell shared these recent photos of a snow-covered Black Hills. View more of his photos on Facebook and at sodakmoments.com.
Black Hills Winter
Tag: lawrence county
Is This Jack McCall?
When you hear the name Jack McCall, there’s probably one image that comes to mind: a black and white photo of a man with black hair, black mustache, black jacket and seated, facing the camera with his bent left arm resting on a table. We’ve come to accept that this is a photograph of McCall, but historians in Yankton, where was McCall was executed on this day in 1877 for the murder of Wild Bill Hickok, are skeptical.
I never gave the photo a second thought until our book, South Dakota Outlaws and Scofflaws, was released in August. I wrote a chapter on McCall, which features the image in question at the bottom of page 41. Not long after we finished the book, Yankton historian Bob Hanson visited our office and listed five or six reasons why he believes the man in the photo is not Jack McCall. The assassin’s age and various descriptions of his physical appearance don’t match, he said. McCall was called”Crooked Nose,” or”Broken Nose” Jack, and the nose on the photographed man doesn’t seem that crooked. Plus, McCall was no more than 25 years old when he died. The photographed man appears to be older.
A few months later I mentioned the controversy to Jim Lane, another Yankton historian who is married to our circulation director, Jana. He deepened the mystery by pointing out that no other image of McCall or his hanging has ever surfaced.
McCall’s trial and execution in Yankton were pivotal moments in Dakota history. His trial helped established the territorial court’s jurisdiction over Deadwood, and his execution — which was well reported attended by as many as 1,000 people — was Dakota Territory’s first. It seems astounding that no verified image (a photograph, sketch or woodcutting) has ever been seen, especially since Yankton was home to expertly trained photographer Stanley J. Morrow.
Morrow was an Ohio native who learned his trade as an apprentice to famed Civil War photographer Mathew Brady. Around 1868 he moved to Yankton and started a photography studio. His passion was as a traveling photographer, and his summers were spent traveling to forts, towns and reservations along the Missouri River making portraits and landscape scenes.
In the summer of 1876, around the same time McCall shot Hickok at Saloon No. 10 in Deadwood, Morrow left for the Black Hills to photograph the gold rush. He also spent time with Gen. George Crook’s troops, who had battled Indian tribes in the Slim Buttes of far northwestern South Dakota.
He arrived at the Red Cloud Agency in Nebraska in October 1876 and spent a month there photographing Indian leaders like Red Cloud. It is believed that Morrow returned to Yankton in mid-December, just a week or two after McCall’s trial had concluded. McCall spent January and February of 1877 in jail downtown, but either Morrow never attempted to photograph him or McCall never granted permission.
Even if Morrow wasn’t in Yankton, his wife Isa had the expertise and opportunity to capture an image of McCall. After the Morrows moved to Yankton, Stanley taught Isa how to make photographs, and she ran the studio while her husband was gone on photographic tours of Dakota.
Morrow left Yankton in 1883. Many of his images were lost in a fire, but about 500 that we know of have survived. And maybe an image of his, or another traveling photographer, depicting McCall has survived tucked away in someone’s attic or basement. Pay attention the next time you’re rifling through old boxes. You might be holding a never-before-seen piece of Dakota history.
Christmas Spirit of the Hills
Mike Welchynski’s Spirit of the Hills Wildlife Sanctuary celebrates the season each December by hosting a living nativity in Spearfish each evening from Dec. 18-24 in the sanctuary’s barn. Guests are welcome to mingle with the animals while enjoying creamy hot chocolate.
The sanctuary is home for a variety of species, from African lions to potbellied pigs. Around 60 animals and 20 people comprise the cast for the Christmas nativity, and several of those actors and animals appeared in the original Passion Play that helped bring Welchynski to Spearfish.
For many, a visit to the sanctuary is a holiday tradition. “People can come to know the animals by name and love them, and they were someone else’s throwaway,” Welchynski says.
The story behind the animal sanctuary is as touching as any holiday story we’ve heard. We published a feature article about the sanctuary in the Nov/Dec 2007 issue of South Dakota Magazine. Paul Higbee, the author, lives in Spearfish and his wife, Janet, was a volunteer at the sanctuary. In 1998, Welchynski lived in Canada, his home country, providing care to people with disabilities and running a small animal sanctuary in Manitoba. Then he met husband and wife Johanna Meier and Guido Della Vecchia of Spearfish. They were on tour in Canada with their Black Hills Passion Play. The couple told Mike if he wanted to expand his sanctuary they would donate land in South Dakota because they admired what he was doing. The Meier family had property south of Spearfish that included pastureland, pined hills, a deep Black Hills gulch, a stream, pond and a cabin.
Welchynski agreed it was the perfect setting. “I came to Spearfish and smelled the pines, and I knew this was a place that would sustain me physically and emotionally,” he told Higbee. He moved to Spearfish in 1999 and began preparations for Spirit of the Hills. Around 300 animals live at the sanctuary, and he plans on taking care of them for the rest of his life, without pay. He uses donations to pay for food and care for the animals and is grateful for volunteers who help with manual labor.
“I want this place to be a permanent institution for those kinds of animals, and I want it to be here long after I die,” Welchynski told us. He also believes it is important to educate the thousands of kids who visit the sanctuary on field trips. He worries that more and more youth are isolating themselves from the lessons that only nature holds. Although Welchynski rarely discusses his past, he grew up in rural Manitoba in a situation where, at times, his best option “was to go to sleep with the sheep and pigs, or out in the woods for a few days.”
And today Welchynski is giving back to nature, a place he once found refuge. The hardest part of running the sanctuary is relying on the uncertainty of donations to care for the animals. If you’d like to make a donation this holiday season, or get directions to the live nativity, visit www.spiritofthehillssanctuary.org or call (877) 761-7754.
Meet the Beasts
Labor Day weekend is summer’s last hurrah for many. If you’re traveling around South Dakota to enjoy the holiday, stop and appreciate the inventiveness and creativity of our fellow South Dakotans at one of our unique roadside attractions featuring wild things. There’s Bear Country USA, Dinosaur Park and Reptile Gardens, sure, but here are three you may not know about.
A Lot of Bull
Drivers see South Dakota at 75 miles an hour crossing the state on Interstate 90, but many slow down, gawk and even swerve as they pass the Montrose exit 25 miles west of Sioux Falls. It’s probably the 60-foot tall scrap iron longhorn bull that diverts their attention. The bull is the centerpiece of Wayne Porter’s Sculpture Park, which comprises 10 acres of welded dragons, butterflies and other mythical creatures. Porter spends seven days a week at his park during the summer working on new projects and greeting visitors. It’s an ironic venture for Porter, who told us in 2007 that he studied political science and history at South Dakota State University because he thought an art career would be too time consuming. He even tried sheep ranching in Hand County before turning to sculpture full time.
His creations make people laugh and think. There’s a boy on a sled, a man’s hand reaching out from a brain for ideas and vultures lined up like fence posts. Everyone’s favorite, though, is the longhorn, made from 8-inch square steel plates from abandoned railroad tracks.
South Dakota’s Heaviest Bird
Another hard-to-miss animal resides about two hours north of Porter’s park. Most Chinese ring-necked pheasants measure two or three feet from beak to tail and weigh less than five pounds. They are dwarfed by the Tinkertown Pheasant, easily our state’s heaviest bird. The Walters, proprietors of a country store along U.S. Highway 212 about 12 miles west of Watertown, built the concrete bird in 1950. They later added a concrete donkey they called Depression Nag. Girl Scouts from Clark paint the pair each summer.
Pheasants were introduced to South Dakota over 100 years ago and legislators declared it our state bird. Each fall hunters flock here to bag their limit. Plenty of South Dakota towns claim to be the”Pheasant Capital.” Huron, Gregory and Redfield each boast giant, plastic pheasants to support the claim, but those are lightweights compared to Tinkertown’s everlasting rooster.
A Haven in the Hills
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Mike Welchynski, founder of the Spirit of the Hills Wildlife Sanctuary, and friend. |
More agile (and dangerous) animals can be seen outside of Spearfish at the Spirit of the Hills Wildlife Sanctuary. Don’t be startled if you hear the roar of an African lion or the deep growl of a black bear. They’re supposed to be there, and Mike Welchynski is taking good care of them. Welchynski founded the sanctuary in 1999 as an escape for exotic animals victimized by illegal breeding farms and abusive carnivals and circuses. Welchynski grew up surrounded by animals in the woods of Manitoba and created an animal sanctuary there. Spearfish residents Johanna Meier and Guido Della Vecchia, who were touring Canada with the Black Hills Passion Play in 1998, convinced Welchynski to establish a sanctuary in South Dakota. Today more than 300 cougars, African lions, tigers, camels, tropical birds and other creatures (including dogs, cats, horses, hamsters and others) live on 200 acres of rocky Ponderosa pine forest on the edge of Spearfish. The playful, harmless critters roam free, but the more dangerous wild animals reside in spacious cages.
Terry Peak: A South Dakota Skiing Tradition
Terry Peak is a special mountain. It is where South Dakotans, and a whole lot of other Midwesterners, go to cut their teeth on skiing. Terry Peak’s 1150 feet of vertical are the most between the Rockies and the Alleghenies, but there’s a lot more magic going on there than just the high speed quads and over 100 days of skiing per year. With annual snowfall of over 180 inches and a ski season that runs until the end of March, this mountain has creds. But you can read Ski Magazine until your AARP application arrives and you’ll find no mention of this Black Hills gem, which is ok with the Midwesterners that occupy these slopes. There’s no Gucci on this mountain — this is denim and Carhartt country.
Terry Peak is designed for casual fun. The ranchers you meet on the slopes may well own a set of Rossies or a Burton board, but they’re just as likely to be newbies with rentals having a great time with their kids. There are a lot more vans, pickups and Suburbans than Beamers or Escalades at the Stewart Lodge parking lot, and you won’t need to float a bank loan for a family three-day ski trip. In fact, if you buy your season pass before October 31, they give it to you for half price — and kids under 5 get free passes.
Terry Peak is in the Northern Black Hills, just up the road from Lead, South Dakota, and the famous but dormant Homestake Open Pit Mine. From the top of Terry your inspiring views include a look down on Bear Butte, which is pretty skyline-dominating in its own right from the flatland perspective.
At Terry Peak, and at the Dark Horse, everybody was family…
After law school, while interning at a Rapid City law firm, I took up snow skiing — South Dakota style. With friends from home that were more likely to be dressed in snowmobile suits or just blue jeans than the latest rage in apr’s-ski, we turned and burned from first run until last call. When you only had a couple of days to try and break all your bones, you needed to get after it.
In the old days, Terry Peak’s ambiance was driven by the Dark House Lounge, which was kind of a converted, over-blown fish shack. It had a bar, with about 4 seats and 6 drinkers at it at all times. The center of the Dark Horse was occupied by a pot-belly stove, surrounded by the prized seats — converted, removed bus seats. At Terry Peak, and at the Dark Horse, everybody on that piece of South Dakota was family, and your best friend.
When gold mining of the heap-leach variety found the Black Hills, and specifically the base of the red chair at Terry, things changed. Golden Reward made the smart political move of buying into the always financially struggling operation, and infusing real cash. The chair lifts were replaced (except the red chair) with high speed quads, and fancy new base lodges were built. One sad aspect to the domestication of Terry is that the Dark Horse — the real one — was torn down (which probably took about 5 minutes and one good push).
As Terry Peak was transforming, so was our life. My wife really disliked skiing while pregnant — there’s just some of this stuff that is hard for a guy to wrap his head around. Ski trips became the annual Iron Man Ski Day, which was a 350-mile drive after work, one night of sleep, one night of skiing and 350 miles home. The group included some configuration of a priest, a doctor, a lawyer, a soldier and patrolman. That sounds like the set up for a good joke, but that’s how young guys with young families feed a skiing addiction out on the prairie. One of those years the temperature was fifty below wind-chill, but when you’re doing the iron man deal, it’s no wimps allowed and you keep turning and burning. One year we even let a group of similarly situated buddies from Sisseton join us, but if you’ve ever socialized with those”hill folks” from the Coteau you can appreciate why once is enough — unless the opportunity to post bail at the Lawrence County jail excites you.
Boarders are to skiing what penance is to Lent — a sadly predictable and necessary part of the experience.
Finally, when our youngest child was four, we headed back to the slopes like so many Midwestern families. The parent pattern on the slopes is amazingly predictable. First, put the little tyke in a ski school, ostensibly to learn to ski. But, for two hours mom and dad get to ski together — snuggling on the chair lift with your snow bunny. After ski school, mom and dad pull the split shift routine. One skis the bunny hill at a half hour a run, while the other takes the older kids to more challenging runs on the rest of the mountain. In hindsight, either shift is a good gig.
At some point the kids get good enough to leave the skis behind and migrate to the devil’s spawn — the dreaded snowboard. Every good skier can recount the agony of watching the”boarders” riding those things sideways down the slope — scrapping and mounding all the snow they encounter. Boarders are to skiing what penance is to Lent — a sadly predictable and necessary part of the experience.
Terry has two base areas. Since all the rentals and the bunny slope are at the Stewart Lodge, this is ground zero for family camping. The Occupy folk got nuth’n on the families and groups that roll into this Lodge. Parents move onto tables laden with coolers of trail mix, fruit drinks and the most passable healthy looking food they feel has some chance of being consumed by the kids. These treats will of course be going head to head against the local fare of nachos soaked in cheese and chili, chicken noodle soup, assorted power drinks — and of course, hot chocolate. The chances that parents on a health kick are going to prevail during this trip are pretty much nil. Ski breaks at Terry are a kid’s party at a surprisingly affordable price — for a ski area.
The family encampment program is fun to watch. The key is to get there early and dump as many bags as possible on a corner table, which makes it look like somebody would have to be very rude to move your gear or camp over it. Many groups come equipped with a”Lodge Mom”. The Lodge Mom (dads can do this too — my friend Mitch does) is invaluable. They read their book while saving the encampment. As chilled little ones come in, they blow noses, find change for hot chocolate, and bundle and unbundle youngsters heading for the facilities.
Ski breaks at Terry are a kid’s party at a surprisingly affordable price.
At Terry Peak, parents never feel like their kids are going to be nabbed by some ne’er-do-well. This is a safe place designed for kids to rule. It’s Midwestern friendly. Whether they brought one or not, any kid in the lodge in need of a couple of parenting hands will likely find them available. How can you not be smiling and friendly when the newbie antics are your panoramic view all day out the massive slope-side windows of Stewart Lodge?
For many years a collection of families from Watertown, loosely organized under the title of Snow Drifters, spent spring break at Terry Peak. When about 20 or 25 families converge on a mountain for three days, a lifetime of friendships and memories are created. One non-skier, Jan, raised a couple of Junior Miss South Dakotans and a US Naval Academy grad, but will still remain most famous for her work as the”Lodge Mom” to several hundred kids through those years. Those families would like to think our experience was unique, but the church busses in the parking lot are a testimony to groups creating those experiences all season long.
Terry Peak is a South Dakota reunion. Unless your visit to Terry was your first time out of a cloistered community, if you are a South Dakotan, you have friends at Terry Peak. Personally, since I’ve been wearing the same bright red ski pants, with a purple windbreaker for a shell, for 25 years, I have an easy time being recognized by my friends. My kids claim that the uniqueness of the attire lacks any redeeming social value, and that fashion has moved past me in the last few decades. I think they are jealous, and that eventually bright red and purple will make a comeback.
Lee Schoenbeck grew up in Webster, practices law in Watertown, and is a freelance writer for the South Dakota Magazine website.
Governor’s Snowmobile Ride
I spoke to Diane Hiles of De Smet yesterday while she and her husband, Greg, headed to the Hills for the 32nd annual Governor’s Snowmobile Ride. Hiles is the secretary of the Town and Country Snowdrifters Snowmobile Club, hosts of this year’s ride. The event takes place at Hardy Camp, a Forest Service station in Lead. Winter weather has been unseasonably warm but Hiles says the trails are in excellent condition for the 200 people expected to attend. She and Greg were able to snowmobile the Black Hills trails last week to test them.
The ride starts at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday with brunch, registration and introduction of special guests. Hiles says Governor Dennis Daugaard and his advisory council are expected to attend, as well as U.S. House Representative Kristi Noem. Invitations are extended to all state legislators and at least 12 plan to participate from Sioux Falls, Baltic, Mitchell, Big Stone City, Rapid City, Spearfish and Lead. SDSA provides snowmobiles for the invited guests with help from Yamaha Motor Corporation and Arctic Cat.
The large crew of snowmobilers will split up with experienced riders designated as group leaders through the Black Hills trails maintained by Hardy Camp. The day culminates with a meal and social gathering for riders to visit about their experiences of the day. “The ride was started by the South Dakota Snowmobile Association (SDSA) as a way to showcase the trail system in the Black Hills,” says Hiles. “SDSA works for the good of the snowmobiling sport, trying to make sure the trail system continues to operate both East River and West River.”
Wild Bill and Calamity Jane: A Love Story?
We’ve all heard the stories about Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane being more than just friends. But of course we know better. James McLaird, a longtime history professor at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, debunked the myth pretty forcefully in his book Wild Bill and Calamity Jane: Deadwood Legends. He proved the two knew each other for only a brief period in Deadwood, and were certainly nothing more than casual acquaintances.
But that’s not what The Days of’75-’76 would have you believe. The 1915 silent film was the first movie to link the two romantically. Audiences haven’t seen the film in decades, but it reappears this weekend, the opening of the Historical Film Series at the Black Hills Roundhouse in Lead.
Scholars at the University of Nebraska discovered the film in their archives over a decade ago. They were unable to identify the locations or characters portrayed, so they contacted Wayne Paananen in Lead. Paananen owns the largest private collection of historical films in the state, and was able to piece the story together.
The Hart brothers, filmmakers from Omaha, shot the picture in the Black Hills, Badlands and Fort Robinson in Nebraska. Its run time is about 70 minutes, much longer than other films produced 100 years ago. And it’s clear the directors did not strive for historical accuracy.”It takes tremendous liberties,” Paananen says.”For example, Jack McCall vies with Wild Bill for the affection of Calamity Jane early in the film.”
It includes typical Western scenes depicting Indian uprisings and stagecoach robberies. One of the final scenes shows Jack McCall on trial in Yankton for the murder of Wild Bill.”It is truly a real piece of Americana, not only portraying the true Western format of filming, but it was done at a time when movies were the rage,” he says.”It was a totally new form of entertainment.”
Paananen says the film is exciting for two reasons. First, you get a feel for the filming techniques of the day.”When they had an indoor shot, they only built a three sided set with no roof, and they used all natural light and shot from the open side,” he says.”That was really a great technique, except in this film when they are supposed to be indoors the tablecloth and papers on table are blowing around because of the wind.”
Audiences also get to see the Deadwood of a century ago. A scene at Mount Moriah Cemetery shows the second of two statues that once stood over Wild Bill’s gravesite. Souvenir hunters regularly chipped pieces from the monuments.”You can see it’s already been attacked by tourists and starting to look ugly,” he says. It was eventually removed and is now displayed at the Adams Museum in Deadwood.
The Days of’75-’76 screens at 7 p.m., tonight through Saturday. Future films include Homestake: The Legend and Legacy (Feb. 15-18), World War II films (March 14-17, and a film festival and competition open to amateur filmmakers in April and May. Information on each film and the upcoming festival can be found at www.bhroundhouse.com.
Tubing Rocks
Looking for a unique activity this holiday season? Rock out on the slopes in Lead at Ski Mystic Deer Mountain‘s Zero Gravity Tube Park. You can tube under the stars on Thursdays from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Local bands perform in the lodge and the music is pumped outdoors.
“We just wanted to created a venue with a lot of action,” says co-owner, Mark Brockman.”When you combine the thrill of tubing in the park at night with live music, it’s just awesome.” The cost is $25 or $20 with college ID. Tonight (Dec 22nd) features Letta People, the rock/blues band from Rapid City, and on the 29th you can hear Don’t Touch Me from Spearfish.
The Zero Gravity Tube Park is new this season. Tubing was always a popular attraction at Ski Mystic so Brockman and co-owner Alicia Salas decided to expand to what was formerly a beginner’s ski slope. “It’s probably one of the biggest [tube parks] in the country,” says Brockman.”We have a 1,000 foot tube lift with a 250 foot vertical drop.” The park is also open during normal ski hours from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. And it’s family friendly — children ages three and up are welcome.
