PRESERVATION THURSDAY: THE ORIGIN OF THE BLACK HILLS NATIONAL FOREST: 1875-1907
DEADWOOD – Deadwood History, Inc. and the Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission will host a presentation by David Miller at 12:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 28, 2019, 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.
The story begins in 1876 amidst the Black Hills Gold Rush that triggered settlement in the Black Hills. Gold miners needed large volumes of timber for placer mining, and even larger volumes as they followed surface gold to its underground sources. Add to that the demands of domestic and other industrial users for timber that soon followed – railroads, flume line builders, and fuel wood for mill boilers – and you find a frontier economy with a voracious appetite for timber. Frontiers were notorious for depleting renewable resources such as timber and water. What was unusual was how this pine forest was transformed into the Black Hills National Forest.
David Miller, a citizen with decades of involvement in renewable resource conservation policy, earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Black Hills State College and a Master of Arts degree in American history from Colorado State University in the 1960s. He worked as a warehouse and truck manager at Twin City Fruit in Deadwood and owned two small businesses in Deadwood in the 1980s. Miller taught American History at Black Hills State University’s satellite campuses at Ellsworth Air Force Base and the South Dakota School of Mines.
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.
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Photograph available upon request.
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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