Deadwood


I must confess that before last weekend, when I heard “Deadwood” I thought “that show Tim Omundson and Jim Beaver were on?” A show, moreover, that I have never seen. this doesn’t really surprise me, as my previous trip to western South Dakota occurred well before an age that would allowed me to participate in what makes Deadwood famous.

there have been disputes over the legality of Deadwood, as the Black Hills (in which the town is nestled) were granted to the Lakota people by the Treaty of Laramie in 1868. of course, gold rushes and prospectors pay no mind to such things as “legal ownership” or “morally defensible behavior.” and so, with the help of wagons filled with the “needed commodities” (i.e. prostitutes and gamblers) the settlement exploded in just a few years.

the legality of Deadwood’s existence came into play in conjunction with the town’s most infamous event — the murder of Wild Bill Hickock. during an initial trial his assassin was acquitted, but because the town was not a legal settlement the verdict was deemed invalid. Jack McCall was then retried in a Dakota Territory court, found guilty, and hanged. Wild Bill is buried in a cemetery on a hill overlooking the town but, seeing as Mount Moriah charged admission (and we only drove past on a whim on our way out of town) we opted to forego the “historic” site.

the town was devastated several times, first when smallpox spread through the mining camp during 1876 and required quarantine of the sick, in 1879 when fire destroyed most of the town, and again by fire in 1959. despite being placed on the National Historic Landmark in 1961, the town continued its decline as mining in the immediate vicinity became less important and mines opened up elsewhere in the surrounding area. to make matters worse, the route for I-90 bypassed Deadwood in 1964 and the final nail in the coffin came with the closure of all brothels in 1980. yes. the brothels of Deadwood didn’t go out of commission (or underground, whatever) until 1980. as we drove around town, we guessed as to which of the neatly maintained, multi-story homes on side streets once housed brothels; some of our judgments were based on structural observations — external entrances, lots of upstairs bedrooms, etc., — others on whim.

after a fire in 1987, the town sought permission to allow gambling in an effort to revitalize town — after all, it was one of the town’s founding elements. it’s somewhat odd now to think there was a time when there weren’t casinos wedged into every fifth storefront of Deadwood and on every other corner throughout the rest of South Dakota. in the end, legalization of gambling did what Deadwood hoped and revitalized the town. it’s no Vegas, but it expands the town’s appeal to more than just people looking for gun fight re-enactments and the graves of Wild West outlaws.

Great Fire(s) of Portland

as apparently any schoolkid in Maine can tell you, fire has devastated the city of Portland four times. once when it was a small settlement — settlers fled and local tribes burned the structures; once when it was a fort; once during the French-Indian War; and finally on Independence Day in 1866. my guide at the Observatory said that students are told that children playing with fireworks were to blame for the 1866 fire but sadly that’s not actually the case.

the fire started in a warehouse on the docks early in the morning and firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze. or thought they did. in fact, embers smoldered late into the day and eventually the fire caught once again. the building next door housed a sugar refinery and the highly combustible material went up quickly. the direction and strength of wind are largely to blame for the spread of the fire and extent of the damage. the fire continued north-northeast from the wharf and towards Munjoy Hill mostly unchecked. my guide said what preserved the Observatory was simply that the wind died down in the evening not, as myth would have it, that the owner sat on the roof with buckets and buckets of water to douse any flames that encroached. (he did, however keep vigilant watch and put out embers as soon as they alighted on the shingles, so perhaps things might have gone differently had he not been watching out for his investment.)

prior to the Great Chicago Fire, the 1866 one in Portland was the largest urban fire in U.S. history. part of what made it so famous were telegraph cables that allowed the transmission of the story all across the country. within twenty-four hours, people in San Francisco, Houston, Chicago, Washington knew the details of the fire; it was a truly national news event.

Iowa City’s Old Capitol Building

Iowa had several different territorial capitals before Des Moines became the permanent site of state governance. this cornerstone for this particular building, the third and final territorial capitol, was laid in 1840. construction did not start off smoothly, however, as the architect resigned a mere nine days into the project, leaving one of the territorial commissioners to oversee the project. the limestone blocks and oak beams used in construction came from around Iowa and the copper covered the original dome. it took two years to complete four rooms in the capitol, two of which housed the legislature.

the territorial legislature met in this building for six years, until Iowa became the 29th state to join the Union (in 1846). Iowa City remained the state capitol for a decade, after which point legislators decided to move the capital to Des Moines due to its location at the center of the state. the building wasn’t completed until after the removal to Des Moines, which occurred shortly after the appropriation of $4,000 to complete the capitol. among other events, the Old Capitol Building saw the drafting of the Iowa state constitution and the inauguration of the first governor (Ansel Briggs), as well as the authorization of the state’s first public university (now the University of Iowa). in January 1857, the State Historical Society of Iowa was founded in the capitol.

when the capital moved to Des Moines in 1857, the Old Capitol became the first permanent structure owned by the University of Iowa (to that point they’d held classes in rented space). until 1863, the entire university fit into the building, though during the 1858-59 academic year financial and organizational problems kept most of the university closed. (the Normal School — now Department of Education — continue to meet and remained in the Capitol building until 1960.) over the next five decades additional appropriation of funds allowed for the construction of four additional buildings, now known collectively as the Pentacrest, which make up the heart of the UI campus.

renovations occurred throughout the 20th century. the first major project came in the early 1920s, when (among other things) a 650-pound crystal and brass chandelier was added to the Senate chamber and the dome was gilded gold leaf. between 1970 and 1976, historical restoration occurred, returning the building closer to its initial Greek Revivalist design. this project also set out to create a “living museum” that included historic furnishings and displays (not unlike the Wisconsin Historical Society building, I imagine). the Capitol reopened on the nation’s bicentennial and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

in 2001, while removing asbestos from under the dome in another renovation project, contractor using open flame torches and heat guns on the gold dome set it on fire. thank to a concrete slab that was installed beneath the dome during the 1920s restoration, damage was contained to the dome, which was completely destroyed. it has since been replaced by a wood dome covered in gold leaf, complete with new bell (the old, mangled bell is now on display inside). as of 2006, the building is once again open to the public.

visit here for a virtual tour, or here for more extensive history of rectifying the fire damage.
more info from wikipedia.