SCOUTING YESTERDAY: Stage coach pulled from Sylvan Lake as Custer celebrates discovery of gold

This week in South Dakota History July 26-Aug. 1

Deadwood Coach, 1890. (Wikicommons)

Once the only form of transportation for gold out of the Black Hills, the Salsbury Stage Company’s coach was pulled from the bottom of Sylvan Lake, according to a July 27, 1923, article in The Miller Press. The target of highwaymen and Sioux defending their land, the stagecoach formerly ran the Cheyenne-Deadwood Trail. The coach was able to ride on its own wheels after being pulled from the lake and was featured as part of celebrations of the 49th anniversary of the discovery of gold at Custer.

The Cheyenne-Deadwood Trail became a major thoroughfare following the discovery of gold at Custer. The 300-mile trail connected the newly discovered gold fields with the Union Pacific Railroad. Lasting only 11 years —between 1876 and 1887 — the trail was eventually obsolete with the arrival of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad line, according to the Wyoming Recreation Commission.

SCOUTING YESTERDAY: Serpent effigy at Medicine Knoll dates back five centuries