Thunder Butte

1880s Bismarck Trail (Click for a Larger View) 

South Dakota, west of the Missouri River, was ceded to the Lakota peoples following the Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1851. However, non-natives continued to trek through the region with regularity until gold was discovered in the Black Hills in the early 1870s. In fact, the Battle of the Little Big Horn at which Lt. Colonel George Custer and much of the Seventh Cavalry lost their lives was fought in 1876 by the Lakota under the leadership of Sitting Bull because of white incursions into the lands promised the Lakota by the Treaty of Fort Laramie. Though Custer and his men lost their lives, it was a turning point in the lives of the Lakota, who witnessed continued land takings and forced relocation to smaller, discontinuous reservations within their ancestral homelands.

In 1876, shippers, prospectors, and homesteaders began traveling in wagon caravans across the rolling prairie landscape from the railroad terminus in Bismarck, North Dakota, to the growing center of gold mining and white settlement in the Black Hills—Deadwood, South Dakota. If one took a map and drew a straight line from Bismarck to Deadwood, they would know the approximate route of the trail. During its heyday, which lasted into the 1880s, the trail was the primary shipping point for goods and materials between Deadwood and places back east. It also was the primary stage line, with more or less permanent encampments growing up along the way to serve food, lodging, and provide provisions for the travelers. The trail was about 242 miles long, and in 1880 was divided between seventeen stations at which horses could be changed and provisions gotten. Even after the railroad finally came to Deadwood in 1886, the trail continued to be used by farmers, ranchers, and homesteaders as a way to travel to and from the population centers of the day.

In 1975, the Butte County (South Dakota) Historical Society began a project of laying markers at various points along the old lay of the trail. In many places, the tracks that made up the former trail can still be seen today. The project and much of the history of the trail can be found in Vernon Holst’s, “A Study of the 1876 Bismarck to Deadwood Trail,” published in 1983 by the Butte County Historical Society. Unfortunately, the book is out of print and difficult to find today.

The trail had an interesting history aside from the routine movement of wagon caravans and stages that occurred for a time along this stretch of open prairie. As with many frontier trails, there were occasional skirmishes with outlaws and Native Americans. There are even occasional tales of travelers who split off from the trail or wandered off during blizzard conditions, either never to be seen again or later found dead. Various versions of the massacre of one family of travelers—variously said to be the Wagnus, Waggoner, or Warner family—tell of an attack by Indians on July 17, 1877, near the site of today’s Highway 79, north of Bear Butte. Bodies were mutilated and possessions scattered across the prairie, according to the stories. Sometimes such stories were embellished to justify raising raiding parties to attack the Native Americans. No doubt, for a time, few whites or Native Americans who traveled near the trail in insufficient numbers lived to recount their adventures. In any case, the land traveled by whites was claimed by Native Americans as their own, and passage along the Bismarck trail probably further inflamed passions among both peoples.

Interestingly, the trail passed within some twelve to fifteen miles of Thunder Butte. Perhaps the butte could have been seen from the trail. The trail probably served as one route of passage for early homesteaders in Thunder Butte country before the railroad came to Dupree and Faith early in the next century. Thomas Crowley may have traveled part of this route when he moved his young family from Bismarck, North Dakota, to the vicinity of Thunder Butte in 1908.

--Mike Crowley

John Crowley notes: "There were many obstacles to overcome on the trail. The major obstacle was the Moreau River. There was only certain period of the year when it is passable at all; at other times they chose certain scarce, wide and flat locations where the river could be forded at its shallowest spot. The other obstacles were the cliffs and canyons. The nearer you get to the river the more steep and broken would be the terrain. Beyond the MOreau they would have to cross the Cheyenne river, Cherry creek and several other streams that were nearly bad as the Moreau."

Ben Ash Monument

I’ve stopped at the Ben Ash Monument before without realizing its significance. On July 17th, while on my way to Faith, I took a closer look. About 30 miles west of Faith, South Dakota, on Highway 212, travelers may stumble across the monument at a little cut-out or rest area just off the main road. The monument celebrates the first sighting of the Black Hills by Ben Ash and a small party on December 26, 1875, along what came to be known as the Bismarck Trail. I wrote earlier about the Bismarck Trail here. Of course, this was neither the first sighting of the Black Hills by people, whether Native American, white settlers, fur trappers, or other passersby. Also, the Bismarck Trail did not yet have that appellation, as a survey for the trail wasn’t commissioned by the Dakota Territorial Legislature until 1877. However, Ben Ash and his party were the first to mark the route from Bismarck, and Ben Ash's name was closely linked with the trail for years.

The Ben Ash Monument is an interesting marker and does show approximately where the trail cut across the rolling prairie and today’s modern highway. It is often said that you can see remnants of the trail in the patterns of the vegetation as you gaze out across the prairie. On July 17th, as I peered into the distance from the Ben Ash monument, I could see no signs of the trail. Of course, the prairie grass was about three feet tall from an unseasonably wet spring and summer.


The Ben Ash Monument Shows a Map of the Bismarck Trail

Later that day, I passed another marker about 35 miles north of Faith on Highway 73 while making my way back from Bison.


Bismarck-Deadwood Trail Marker on Highway 73

This marker also notes the location of the Bismarck Trail. One can’t be certain of the exact route of the trail as you gaze out on the prairie, but if I were a betting man, I’d say that it likely would be the route of the modern ranch road that is visible in the background of the two pictures below. According to this marker:

“At this point the Bismarck – Deadwood Stage Trail passed in a line about 240 miles from northeast to southwest. In 1877, the Dakota Territorial Legislature commissioned the survey of the trail, which transported passengers and freight between Bismarck, the western terminus of the Northern Pacific Railroad, and Deadwood. Rich mineral deposits in the Black Hills had been confirmed by an 1874 expedition led by General George Custer.

“The first four-horse Concord stagecoaches, owned by the Northwestern Express, Stage and Transportation Company, started over the trail from Bismarck in April 1877 with daily service in operation by May. A typical run took 36 hours and a one-way ticket cost $23. As many as 26 stagecoaches and more than 200 teams comprised the rolling stock. The company also utilized many mule and oxen wagons to haul freight. Twenty relay stations and two overnight stations serviced the line.

“A shorter trail to the Black Hills was later opened from Pierre, and by 1880 the Bismarck route was abandoned by official traffic. The trail subsequently served area ranchers and settlers until a modern road system was developed.”


Ranch Road Possibly Follows the Route of the Old Trail

The Trail was long out of use by the time my grandfather and his family moved down from Bismarck at the turn of the last century. I’m not clear of the route they took to the environs around Faith, but know that it passed through Fort Yates on the Standing Rock Reservation. Still, I’m sure that in their day they would have seen clear evidence of the old Bismarck Trail in the wagon ruts that crossed the land not far from Thunder Butte, where they lived.

--Mike Crowley