When I first got into the Poker Alice story, I figured it was an easy way to deep my toes into local history. I’ve researched and written a lot about other women of the old west, and expected some difficulties, but not what I found with Alice. Part of theRead More →
What’s the quickest way to obtain a large number of wolf pelts? Stealing them, or at least that was the tactic used by South Dakota’s champion wolfer, William B. Werd. The fraud Werd committed would stretch across two states, multiple counties, and even got the Meade County Bank involved. Werd’sRead More →
As winter approached, the Yanktonai and Hunkpatina bands of Dakota were busy hunting buffalo and preparing the meat for the coming season. Around them, the United States was split in Civil War, as the Union divided themselves between a war in the south, as well as on their western frontier.Read More →
The idea began in Tilford. The city had just lost its bid for the county seat, but they were determined to still cement their importance in the newly formed Meade County. In June of 1889, just a month after officially losing their fight for the county seat, Freeman Knowles wouldRead More →
“I don’t care whether you shoot me or hang me. I have done my work.” Those are quite possibly the last words of Richard Stoll, a man who would end his own life after having killed the mayor of Sturgis. The news of this “distressing tragedy” would spread throughout theRead More →
One of the big pushes we’ve done here at Historical Sturgis is to seek to produce a definitive history of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. In doing that, we’ve discovered history that is relatively unknown. With history that is relatively unknown, or that goes against public perceptions, it is important toRead More →
When thinking about the Sturgis Rally, a family fun event may not be what you think of first. Yet, when the Rally began in 1938, that’s exactly what it was, and for the next few decades, that is how it would continue. So how did we go from family funRead More →
How does the Mexican-American War lead to the development of Sturgis? Well in an exceptionally complicated manner, of course. But where there is this level of complication, there is a story worth telling. And that story starts with Texas. In October of 1835, a rebellion began in what would becomeRead More →
Scooptown was notorious for relieving local soldier of their money. And sometimes, it was local soldiers who had a hand in that scooping. Such was the case with Michael Pendergrass. Mike was born in Ireland in 1851. His family would later immigrate to the United States, settling in the NewRead More →
Sometimes, there just isn’t a lot of information when it comes to history. Like, who is Pompadour Mike? Pompadour Mike’s real name was Leo Burton, but also was commonly known as Little Mike. Almost nothing is known about their life though, even though while she was in the area, sheRead More →