In 1848, in a small hamlet in New York, two young girls would help begin a movement that would eventually burn through the country. For them, it was just a prank on their mother, a prank that quickly got away from them. That movement was spiritualism.
As the Black Hills began to open, that spiritualism movement would also make its way into the area, following those who came from the east. Along with the psychics and mediums though also came another group: witches.
Denial
That witchcraft would exist in the Black Hills seemed impossible for many. After all, the Black Hills were being civilized and the superstitions of the past had no place. Newspapers would carry articles remarking how it was strange relics of the past could endure in light of centuries of education. Others would simply say that witchcraft had died out, as no one of intelligence would accept it.
Why was witchcraft even being mentioned though? If it was dead, why would it be worth discussing? The articles were largely reactionary. Yes, there was witchcraft in the Hills, but no one had to worry, it was just the uneducated who were practicing it. There was nothing to fear as witchcraft wasn’t real.
The articles were attempting to hold at bay ideas that were just beneath the surface. But they could only do so much. In 1881, the dam would break and rumors would rumble through the Hills that witchcraft was alive and well.
That rumors had been circulating around the Black Hills about witches was known for some time. But in 1881, those rumors gained a bit of legitimacy as reporters for different papers began reporting on it. The Pioneer, from Deadwood, would quickly jump in, trying to explain away what had happened.
They blamed the stories on reporters being deceived by false reports that “evil minded people” started. While they assured their readers that most reporters wouldn’t fall for such, but that it did nonetheless happen, and often it was due to the reporter being young and inexperienced.
Locals were reinsured that witchcraft wasn’t something to worry about, that witches were just silly gossip. However, it was becoming much harder to deny that something was going on. And with the spiritualist movement also sweeping through the area, the supernatural was seemingly being proven.
Blame
As denial of witchcraft was becoming increasingly more difficult, the tactic would eventually switch to blame. First, the blame would be centered on various Native American tribes, that had beliefs that seemed mystical, if not misunderstood.
Such blame wouldn’t succeed in explaining why such beliefs were so firmly held by white settlers though. Instead, the blame would begin to fall on another group; farmers of Swedish and German descent. Their belief in witches was so firm that it was said they had created various methods of trying to either prevent or neutralize their evil influences.
Then, something interesting happened. The idea of witchcraft would become intimately intwined with feminist movements; with the suffrage movement. Witches took on the image, for many women in the West, of someone who was powerful, and could endure.
The narrative around witches would suddenly split. On the one hand, they were an evil force that had to be dealt with. On the other hand, they were a symbol of power, that would help fuel the suffragist movement.
In 1892, as this change of view of witches was hitting a high, the Deadwood Literary and Social Society held a program that would discuss the question: “Should the state of South Dakota confer the right of suffrage upon her female citizens?” What prompted that question was none other than a discussion on the historical point of view of witchcraft.
Were There Witches
That witchcraft had an influence on the Black Hills is undeniable. But was it really practiced as the rumors had it?
After more than a decade of denial, in 1898, the Pioneer of Deadwood finally admitted that yes, sorcery was being practiced in the Hills. While some may not have known about it, it was nevertheless a fact.
It wasn’t just a belief among the unintelligent, as it once was said. Even people who were “otherwise intelligent persons” held such beliefs. In particular, what the Pioneer would point out was the belief in using a dowsing rod.
The author of that article would lay out the evidence for the divining rod. He would point to a Dr. R. W. Raymond who had written a paper on the subject that was published in the transactions of the American Institute of Mining Engineers and in the U.S. Geological Survey Reports for 1883. He’d also point to the work of Prof. W. B. Barret of Cambridge, who wrote a book that was published by the English Society of Psychical Research.
But the author of the article wasn’t sold on the idea, and stated very clearly that there was no virtue “in the rod.” He would go on to dismantle the claims put forth by both Raymond and Barrett, while also citing the dangers of such beliefs.
In particular, he would point to the Sam mine in Lawrence County that was wrecked when one of the wealthy investors hired a dowser to determine if there was gold. The diviner would report back saying there was no gold, and the financial backing would fall out. Shortly after, another diviner would claim there was gold there, which really just caused even more trouble.
But the dowsing rod is quite far from what most would consider to be witchcraft. So where does this leave us at?
That there was a belief in witchcraft in the Black Hills is a certainty. That witches were blamed by some for various acts, such as livestock dying, is also a certainty. It’s also a certainty that some took the idea of witches and witchcraft and saw it as a symbol of empowerment.
Overall though, that it existed seems to have just been a belief held by someone who wanted something to blame. No famous witches would emerge, and when it came more to the supernatural, psychics and mediums attached with the spiritualist movement appear to have taken the lead.
That’s not to say that individuals who claimed to be witches never were part of the Black Hills though. They just weren’t part of the early history. It wouldn’t be until more than half a century after South Dakota became a state that the first “witches” would enter into the Black Hills. But they would do so under a different ideology than what was attached to the early witches. These were wiccans, and their story is for another time.