PRESERVATION THURSDAY: ERA OF THE LAKOTA-FRENCH FUR TRADE FROM THE MISSOURI RIVER TO THE BLACK HILLS

DEADWOOD – Deadwood History, Inc. and the Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission will host a presentation by South Dakota Humanities Council Speaker’s Bureau Scholar, Donovin Sprague at 12:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 4, 2018, at the Homestake Adams Research and Cultural Center (HARCC), 150 Sherman Street, Deadwood. The event is wheelchair accessible. Please feel free to bring your lunch.

Donovin Sprague will focus on the Lakota-French fur trade which includes personal accounts of the life of Fred Dupris and his wife, Good Elk Woman, along with Felix Benoit, Sr., and Chief Hump – these individuals are Sprague’s great grandparents. Sprague will bring primary source data such as letters about the fur trade dated 1861 along with letters from the period of 1900. On the French side he will present information on trading posts, and on the Lakota side he will show how the people lived and interacted as cultures came together as one family. A last buffalo hunt of the family will also be shared. Excerpts of the presentation will come from a chapter on the fur trade from an unpublished book by Sprague, along with photographs from his published books.

Donovin Sprague earned his Master’s degree from the University of South Dakota. He is an author, musician, and historian who is employed by Black Hills State University and the University of Iowa. Sprague has authored ten books and is a contributing author to several others. He is the great-great-grandson of Chief Hump, whose father was also named Hump/High Backbone. Sprague is an enrolled member of the Minnicoujou Lakota. He grew up on the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation and now resides in Rapid City.

Preservation Thursday is co-sponsored by the Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission, Deadwood History, Adams-Mastrovich Family Foundation, Saloon No. 10, Fresh Paint, Jerry Greer’s Engineering, Deadwood Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau, and tdg Marketing & Public Relations, and the South Dakota Humanities Council, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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We inspire the global community by preserving and celebrating the cultural heritage of Deadwood and the Black Hills in the context of the American West through exceptional exhibits, innovative educational programs, and access to extensive collections in unique settings.

Adams Museum, Days of ’76 Museum, Historic Adams House, and
Homestake Adams Research and Cultural Center (HARCC)

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