Financial and Technological Entrepreneurs in the Black Hills: The San Francisco-De Smet Connection

Abstract

One of the more important developments in American mining during the last quarter of the nineteenth century was the gold rush to the Black Hills of the Dakota Territory.' Sporadic reports of gold discovery had been made prior to this time, but aggressive action by the Sioux had prevented any largescale development. In 1868 the Black Hills were incorporated into the Sioux territory under the terms of the Laramie Treaty, and the federal government deployed the army effectively to prevent most prospectors from exploiting the area. But post-war restlessness, the depression of 1873, and the discovery of gold in the summer of 1874 by members of Custer's expedition brought so much pressure on the Grant administration that the government tried to purchase the land from the Sioux in 1875, but without success. In Grant's view, it would have been impossible to maintain the integrity of the boundaries established by treaty, and so the army was withdrawn. Miners and those who catered to their needs swarmed into the Hills. Even the historic Sioux War of 1876 failed to deter many of them. Papers were signed in October 1876 and ratified by Congress on February 28,1877 formally ending these hostilities. The Sioux ceded the Black Hills to the United States opening the way for unlimited development. The most intense activity of establishing claims was in Deadwood Gulch, which today includes Deadwood, Lead, and Central. Following the usual pattern, the easily worked placers were soon exhausted, making the search for quartz lodes the obvious next step unless the whole rush was to end in a bust. Fortunately the prospectors were successful. Much of the historical writing on gold mining in this region has focused on the great Homestake Mine in present-day Lead.2 This is only natural, since this operation is world famous for its contributions to mining technology, its humane labor policy, and its continuing international economic influence. George Hearst, its principal promotor, and his descendants have also been in the public eye for over a century. And, since the Homestake eventually absorbed adjacent mines, these mines and their developers faded into obscurity and lost their identity with the pioneer mining efforts. One such example is the Father De Smet Consolidated Gold Mining Company.3