SDLA and MLA Roundup

Librarians have always been important contacts for the South Dakota State Historical Society Press. These professionals know what their patrons like, and they can be valuable promoters of our books. In order to keep in touch with librarians we have met before and meet new ones, in October SDSHS Press staff attended both the South Dakota Library Association conference in Aberdeen and, for the first time, the Minnesota Library Association conference in Saint Cloud. Many South Dakota librarians stopped by our booth to say how much they and their patrons enjoy our books and how they look forward to new releases. In Saint Cloud, the Press received a warm welcome. Many Minnesota librarians picked up our catalog and placed orders for titles to add to their collections. Both conferences were worthwhile, and the Press will continue working with these important constituents.

A Marvelous Hundred Square Miles, part 9

Here is the ninth installment of the SDSHS Press serialization of A Marvelous Hundred Square Miles: Black Hills Tourism, 1880-1941 by Suzanne Julin.

In 1905, a visitor complained to the secretary of the interior that his party had arrived at Wind Cave in the morning, but Rankin would not allow them to enter the cave until afternoon. To delay entry, Rankin had cited regulations, but the tourist suspected he was trying to coerce them into buying his wife’s lunches. Seth Bullock, chief forester of the Black Hills National Forest with jurisdiction over the park, told the secretary he believed the disagreement was instigated by a Hot Springs “hack driver” who was disgruntled by the disruption of his former monopoly. In 1908, the Interior Department’s acting secretary reassured Congressman Martin that the department intended “to improve this reservation so as to make it a pleasuring ground for the people and carry out the spirit of the act establishing it.” In 1914, however, Acting Superintendent Frederick M. Dille informed the secretary that despite the intention of the law, the park had not been operated in a manner that served the public well. He reported that unqualified guides were collecting exorbitant fees, that the numbers of visitors had been inflated, and that, despite the fact that most of the visitors were women, “the ladies room has been a joke.” The national park was not fulfilling its promise as a tourist attraction.

In addition to lack of money, inconsistent administration and staffing contributed to the problems. Between 1903 and 1919, Wind Cave National Park had seven superintendents. The men were area residents, and most of the appointments were politically motivated. As an example, Rufus Pilcher served as superintendent from March 1910 to May 1911. He succeeded his father, who died while holding the post. Rufus Pilcher later wrote that he resigned after one of the senators succeeded in taking the patronage for the superintendency away from Congressman Martin. The use of the position as a source of political patronage contributed to the rapid turnover and retarded long-term planning. Politics and resulting policy governed the administration of Wind Cave National Park.

The establishment of the National Park Service in 1916 did not appreciably improve conditions at Wind Cave. By mid-1918, Superintendent Thomas Brazell was the only regular employee at the park. Two or three rangers were hired on a seasonal basis, mainly to guide tourists through the cave. The buildings consisted of the superintendent’s residence, a small administration building, the structure over the cave entrance, a barn, auto shelter, camp pavilion, and blacksmith shop; all except the auto shelter needed repair. Most of those who came to the cave were from South Dakota or nearby states. Nine thousand people reportedly visited Wind Cave in 1916, but two years later the superintendent noted a decline in visitors, which he attributed to wet conditions, bad roads, and war activities. At the end of World War I, the park remained ill-equipped and sparsely staffed.

A Marvelous Hundred Square Miles, part 8

Today we continue to serialize A Marvelous Hundred Square Miles: Black Hills Tourism, 1880-1941 by Suzanne Julin and published by the South Dakota State Historical Society Press.

The conflict over the ownership of Wind Cave may have given impetus to its becoming a national park. In 1896, the Hot Springs Star noted that as long as the McDonald family continued to operate the cave, it could not reach its potential of drawing tourists. S. E. Wilson, a Hot Springs attorney, and Eben W. Martin, a congressman from Deadwood who owned property in Hot Springs, exerted political pressure on the federal government to take the cave out of private hands. At one point, Martin suggested that the area be incorporated into the newly designated national forest. Later, Martin supported the establishment of a national park and complimented the secretary of the interior’s office for saving the property from the “individuals and companies” who were trying to gain title to it.

In January 1900, the secretary of the interior authorized the temporary withdrawal of Wind Cave-area lands from settlement, pending a decision to make the site a national park. Additional withdrawals were made over the following two years. Early in 1902, Senator Robert Gamble of South Dakota and Representative John F. Lacey of Iowa introduced bills to establish Wind Cave National Park, making it one of the earliest national parks. Gamble’s bill passed the Senate and the House with little discussion, and Theodore Roosevelt signed the law early in 1903. Perceived scientific values of the cave strengthened arguments for creating a national park, but its importance as a tourist attraction also played a role. The legislation authorized the secretary of the interior to lease the cave and surface areas of land for development of tourist amenities, with the funds from such leases supporting park maintenance and improvements.

Those improvements were slow in coming to Wind Cave National Park. Congress, the Department of the Interior, and the National Park Service took few steps to further the development of the site during its first quarter century of existence. Congressional appropriations were small, although in 1912 that body provided funds for the establishment of a game reserve at Wind Cave, to be administered by the newly created United States Biological Survey. The park’s first superintendent, William Rankin, reported that Wind Cave’s facilities included a log house at the entrance to the cave, a ramshackle hotel, and a few outbuildings for livestock. Poor roads and four unsafe bridges completed the park’s infrastructure. Perhaps to supplement his salary, Rankin gave his wife a permit to sell lunches to tourists, and she used the otherwise abandoned hotel as a dining room and shelter. Rankin directed some further exploration of the cave, erected fences, made minor repairs, and, in 1905, constructed a superintendent’s residence. The dearth of financial support precluded more than these minimal improvements, and local controversies about services and facilities at the cave continued to simmer.

A Marvelous Hundred Square Miles, part 7

Here’s some more in the serialization of the new SDSHS Press book, A Marvelous Hundred Square Miles: Black Hills Tourism, 1880-1941.

The development of Wind Cave in the southern Black Hills provides an illuminating and complex example of one of those parks. Although Hot Springs did not fulfill its promoters’ hopes, its success as a nineteenth-century resort helped to promote Wind Cave. Located about thirteen miles north of Hot Springs, the cave became popularized after nearby settlers Tom and Jesse Bingham noticed wind coming from the ground while on a hunting trip in 1881 and spread word of the phenomenon. For the next several years, area residents casually explored the cave for recreation, and by 1886, Hot Springs businessmen were promoting Wind Cave to visitors as an interesting and exciting day trip. In 1890, the South Dakota Mining Company, owned by the R. B. Moss family, bought three mining claims at the cave site and installed Jesse D. McDonald as manager of the property. Two of McDonald’s sons, Elmer and Alvin, became avid explorers of Wind Cave and developed maps of many of its subterranean passages.

In about 1892, John Stabler of Hot Springs also became involved in the operations, and the Stabler and McDonald families institutionalized touring at Wind Cave. They opened three routes through the cave, using explosives to widen the passages in some places. Their improvements allowed tourists to tour portions of the site with relative ease, even enabling women to enter the cave without donning overalls. In 1893, John Stabler, Jesse McDonald, and three other men formed the Wonderful Wind Cave Improvement Company and built a hotel near the cavern. Stabler also advertised the cave tours at Hot Springs hotels, and a stage brought passengers to the site. The operators devised colorful promotions to attract visitors’ attention. One of the most unusual occurred in 1893, when a “mind reader” named Paul Johnstone spent seventy hours searching for a pin that had been hidden in the cave. He fell into a coma after finding the pin but fortuitously recovered the next day. Newspaper publicity about the event helped to promote Wind Cave, making it a popular attraction.

The success of Wind Cave stimulated a contentious and bitter rivalry over its ownership. Jesse McDonald filed a homestead claim shortly after the vicinity was surveyed in 1892, apparently at the request of the members of the South Dakota Mining Company, who had purchased and filed mining claims in the area and were trying to strengthen their legal ownership. However, McDonald did not contract to convey the land to the company and appears to have believed his claim gave him full right to the property. After he sold part interest in the cave to John Stabler, the Stabler family filed additional homestead claims in the area.

In 1893, R. B. Moss of the South Dakota Mining Company sued the Wonderful Wind Cave Improvement Company, asking the court to restore the property to his company and to compensate him for specimens taken from the cave. At about the same time, another party, Peter Folsom, filed liens against the Moss claims due to nonpayment for assay work he had performed. Eventually, Folsom bought the insolvent South Dakota Mining Company’s property at auction. In the meantime, dissension arose between the McDonalds and the Stablers, and the latter family joined forces with Folsom. The next several years saw ongoing litigation punctuated by confrontations and threats of violence between the two factions. The suits were particularly complicated because no one had used the land for the primary purposes for which they had claimed it; Wind Cave had never been a mine, and it had never been a farm. From the beginning, it was a tourist attraction.

New Review of Seth Bullock: Black Hills Lawman

Below is a new review of Seth Bullock: Black Hills Lawman by David A. Wolff, the 3rd volume in the South Dakota Biography Series from the South Dakota State Historical Society Press.

I admit I do a lot of reading on the Wild West. I’m distressed that a number of recently published books that cross my desk are poorly written commercial non-fiction or dry academic yawners. There are exceptions, of course. Scott Zesch’s wonderful The Captured and James D. McLaird’s excellent Calamity Jane: The Woman And The Legend are two of my favorites.

McLaird, who spoke at the NOLA convention in Rapid City in 2007, has followed up his earlier Calamity Jane biography with a second volume in the South Dakota Biography Series, put out by the South Dakota State Historical Society Press, Wild Bill & Calamity Jane: Deadwood Legends.

The third volume in this biographical series of important South Dakota pioneers is David A. Wolff’s Seth Bullock: Black Hills Lawman. Wolff, an associate professor of history at Black Hills State University in Spearfish, South Dakota, has produced a readable, well researched, and interesting biography of this significant pioneer. Bullock, of course, is remembered as a popular lawman and pioneer. The Seth Bullock character in the memorable HBO series “Deadwood” only hinted at the larger role the real Bullock achieved. David Wolff explores Bullock’s actual career as a pioneer, entrepreneur, lawman, businessman, promoter, rancher, soldier, and friend of Teddy Roosevelt.

I thought I knew something about Bullock, but I was surprised to learn from Wolff’s book that Seth Bullock’s role in the establishment of Yellowstone National Park was not as great as I had imagined. I also learned that Bullock arrived in Deadwood the day after Wild Bill Hickok was killed. Of Bullock’s later life I knew little, but Wolff’s readable narrative fascinated me all the way to the end. Without hesitation, I would recommend this book be on the bookshelf of anyone interested not only in South Dakota’s history, but the history of the Wild West.
–Dennis McCown

This review appears in the Wild West History Association Journal, Vol. 2, No. 5, Oct. 2009

SDSHS Press at the NGPHC!

SDSHS Press staff renewed old acquaintances and made new contacts at the forty-fourth annual Northern Great Plains History Conference held in Saint Cloud, Minnesota, October 14–17. For many years, the conference has provided a venue for manuscript acquisition for the quarterly journal South Dakota History. This year’s gathering was no exception, with some especially good papers given on topics in Lakota/Dakota Indian history that may work their way onto the pages of future issues of the journal. Our new and improved display was a great attention-getter. Besides showcasing SDSHS Press books, it served as our “home base” where researchers with South Dakota-related questions could easily seek us out. Stop by and see us at next year’s Northern Great Plains History Conference in Grand Forks, North Dakota, October 13–16 2010. It’s a great opportunity for graduate students and established scholars alike to present their work to knowledgeable colleagues in a friendly atmosphere.

A Marvelous Hundred Square Miles, part 6

Here is another chunk of the new book from the South Dakota State Historical Society Press, A Marvelous Hundred Square Miles: Black Hills Tourism, 1880-1941, by Suzanne Julin.

The automobile also offered a physical challenge, one that many Americans were seeking. In 1899, Theodore Roosevelt used the words “the strenuous life” in calling for American men to be strong and vigorous. Roosevelt’s phrase created an antidote for what many people saw as the draining tensions of modern life. In motoring, the quest for a strenuous life and the need to escape from structured society combined with the fascination for new technology and the burgeoning consumer culture to establish a satisfying and popular mode of travel.

Initially, car travel was restricted to the well-to-do, but by 1920, economical cars and improved roads opened motoring to greater numbers of people. Although their trips might remain shorter, more modest, and in areas closer to home than those of the first wealthy motorists, they shared the pleasures of car ownership and travel. The restrictions on their time compelled many of these tourists to reach well-known sights as quickly as possible during their vacation and to see as many of them as they could. The nature of car travel created a new kind of tourist as well as a new kind of vacation. Motoring travelers were restless and anxious to move down the road. Traditional resort sojourns in places like Hot Springs did not appeal to them; new services and amenities soon developed to serve their interests.

In the early twentieth century, the national park system became a major attraction for automobile tourists, providing exciting destinations, wide-open spaces, and opportunities for adventurous motoring. The development of these parks stimulated automobile tourism in the American West and encouraged some of those travelers to come through the Black Hills. Until 1916, national parks were administered as separate units under a variety of agencies. In that year, the National Parks Act created the National Park Service, providing for the regulation and management of national parks and most national monuments and reservations under one entity. The National Park Service was charged with protecting the scenic, natural, and historic features of these areas while at the same time providing “for the enjoyment of the same” by the public. A manifestation of the Progressive trend toward centralized management and planning, this administrative umbrella over the national parks and monuments was created at the same time that economical autos, a higher standard of living, increased free time, and growing road systems encouraged Americans to see their country. The National Park Act directly influenced the growth of modern tourism in the United States. From 1917 until 1928, the policies of Steven Mather, director of the National Park Service, established the parks as tourist destinations for the growing number of American travelers. Mather established relationships with political leaders and with railroad officials, who helped to advertise the parks and to develop visitor accommodations within them.

A Marvelous Hundred Square Miles, part 5

The South Dakota State Historical Society Press recently published Suzanne Julin’s A Marvelous Hundred Square Miles: Black Hills Tourism, 1880-1941. This is part 5 of the short serialization that we’ll be running through this blog for a couple of weeks.

Along with businesses that supported the tourist industry and the general population, Hot Springs attracted public institutions based on its reputation as a health resort. The Grand Army of the Republic selected Hot Springs as the site of a territorial soldiers’ home, and in 1889, over Governor Louis Church’s veto, the legislature passed a measure establishing the institution in Hot Springs; it opened in November 1890. In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt also signed a bill locating a national veterans’ hospital in Hot Springs. The hospital, named Battle Mountain Sanitarium, was completed in 1907. It crowned the resort area with a complex of buildings in Mission-inspired architecture, set in a circular configuration on a plateau above upper town. Hot Springs soon became a center for health and medical services as well as a warm-water resort.

Despite that reputation, the twentieth century brought changes that dashed Hot Springs promoter’s hopes of continuing as a permanent health-resort town. As the public began to comprehend the bacteriological causes of contagious diseases like tuberculosis, they were less inclined to seek warm-water treatments in the company of strangers. Located in a sparsely populated region, the resort could not draw upon a large elite class to support it solely as a social center. A series of destructive fires and floods and divisiveness between the two areas of town threatened the community’s growth. The agent most responsible for the decline of the health-resort concept, however, was the automobile. For large numbers of wealthy travelers, a lengthy automobile trip replaced an extended stay in the pink-walled canyon as a status symbol and as an ideal vacation. Personal automobiles also allowed people of more modest means to enjoy the area’s features without spending significant amounts of time or money in hotels and spas. Residents began to tout good roads, rather than luxurious hotels or sophisticated entertainments, as attractions. By 1917, most of the tourists visiting Hot Springs were motorists, and most of them camped.

The effect of automobile traffic on the resort industrt of Hot Springs illustrated a permanent change in tourism in the United States. At the turn of the century, Americans owned approximately eight thousand automobiles. By the end of 1930, nearly twenty-six million cars were registered, one for every 4.63 people in the country. This rapid expansion of auto transportation exerted a profound impact on American society. In 1932, the President’s Research Committee on Social Trends said that the influence of the automobile “has . . . cut down railroad traffic, especially on short hauls, lessened the isolation of the farmer, aided the consolidation of small schools and churches, has helped, along with electricity, to disperse factories, and has developed a new kind of vacation.” Trains set fares, but with cars, motorists could manage their own travel expenses. Trains demanded adherence to schedules and routes; motorists could depart, pause, and stop for the day where and when they pleased. Tourists who traveled by car could create and control their own experiences, schedules, and budgets. In an era of industrialization, the car provided an exhilarating freedom.

Keep checking back for the next part in this serialization.

A Marvelous Hundred Square Miles, part 4

Continuing our serialization of the brand new book, A Marvelous Hundred Square Miles: Black Hills Tourism, 1880-1941 by Suzanne Julin, published by the South Dakota State Historical Society Press:

The baths were as important as the hotels. Facilities included the four-story Stewart Bathhouse with a central atrium and plunge bath and the Catholican Springs Bathhouse with “vapor baths.” A three-story bathhouse addition to the Evans Hotel offered various treatments, including “electric baths,” in which the bather held one elctrode and placed another in the water, thus receiving an invigorating charge. In 1891, Fred Evans built his most enduring contribution to the bathing facilities, Evans Plunge. The wood, glass, and iron building covered a warm-water pool about one hundred fifty feet long and contained slides, rafts, and other paraphernalia for guests to enjoy. Unlike the traditional bathhouses that concentrated on well-being and sybaritic pleasures, Evans Plunge was designed as much for recreation as for healthful soaking.

As in other health-resort communities in the United States, the emphasis in Hot Springs soon shifted from the therapeutic warm waters to the social life offered by the local attractions. Hotels gave dinners and parties for guests and local residents. A curio-shop proprietor took visitors to the White River Badlands, southeast of Hot Springs, to search for specimens. The local opera house offered traveling productions. Tourists enjoyed day trips to nearby Cascade Springs, another warm-water area, and to Wind Cave, a large cavern north of town. The entertaining of travelers led to controversy in Hot Springs as saloons, gambling, and prostitution developed. While some citizens protested the illegal activities, others reluctantly acknowledged that they were probably necessary components of a pleasure resot. Attempts to eliminate these activities were intermittent and unsuccessful during Hot Springs’s heyday. However, formal and informal means of control, including fines for saloons and brothels and an unspoken agreement that gambling should take place out of the public view, helped to temper the effects of the vices.

More coming soon. Stay tuned.

New way to get here

You can now access this blog directly from any page on the South Dakota State Historical Society Press website. Just click on the WordPress logo button towards the top left of the page and you’ll find yourself right back here!