History on the Lawn – The Hanging of Two Sticks in Deadwood

DEADWOOD – Deadwood History, Inc. and the Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission will host a presentation by Philip Hall at 12:00 p.m. on Friday, August 16, 2024, at the Historic Adams House, 22 Van Buren Street, Deadwood. The event is free for members and $5 for non-members. In case of rain, the lecture will be moved to the Homestake Adams Research and Cultural Center (HARCC). 

Philip Hall will discuss Two Sticks, an Ogalala Lakota Chief, who was the sole Native American executed for the murder of cowboys on February 4, 1893. On the morning of the killings at Halfway Camp, Philip Wells, the Boss Farmer for the White Clay District who was part Santee, personally led a small party to investigate the crime scene. During the arrest at No Water’s village, Two Sticks’ son, First Eagle, was killed. The evidence against Two Sticks was circumstantial, and unfortunately Two Sticks was executed on December 28, 1894, in Deadwood. 

Philip Hall obtained his Ph.D. in 1972 from the University of Montana. During his forty-year professional career, he assisted teachers in Montana, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming in their efforts to help children with debilitating learning and/or behavior problems find success in the classroom. As an academic, he helped graduate students become competent school psychologists. In the process, he wrote or co-authored ten books, including the widely-used Educating Children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder, and was a featured presenter at conferences or in-service training from Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Toronto, Ontario, Arlington, Virginia., and Boston, Massachusetts, to Los Angeles, California. As a hobby, he wrote three books about the history of southwestern South Dakota, the latest one From Wounded Knee to the Gallows: The Life and Trials of Lakota Chief Two Strikes, published in May 2020 by the University of Oklahoma Press. His next and final book, The White River Badlands: Its History and Characters, is in press.

History on the Lawn is co-sponsored by the Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission, Adams-Mastrovich Family Foundation, Deadwood History, Inc., Deadwood Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau, Black Hills Pioneer, and the Silverado Franklin Historic Hotel & Gaming Complex.                                                      

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Deadwood History, Inc. preserves and presents the history of Deadwood and the Black Hills through exceptional places, interactive exhibits, and engaging events.

Adams Museum, Days of ’76 Museum, Historic Adams House, Homestake Adams Research and Cultural Center, The Brothel Deadwood, and Fassbender Photographic Collection.