Monday, October 31, 2011

Uhhhh …. Mr. Adams, is that you? From Black Hills Pioneer

Photo Courtesy: Adams Museum and House
Posted: Monday, October 31, 2011 9:21 am
By Jaci Conrad Pearson Black Hills Pioneer


DEADWOOD — Footsteps, a door closing, children talking and plenty of electronic voice phenomena (EVP) are evidence of paranormal activity in two of Deadwood's most storied and stately historic structures.

It may have been Mary, it might've been Alice and it most certainly could have been Nathan or W.E.

Whatever or whoever presented themselves during the Black Hills Paranormal Investigations of the Adams Museum & House are proof positive that there is paranormal activity in the decades-old Deadwood mainstays.

“The evidence collected, along with personal witnesses, indicates that there is a level of paranormal activity taking place within the Adams House,” read a statement slide contained in a video presentation by Black Hills Paranormal Investigations to a group of nearly 100 packed into the Mary Adams Lecture Hall at the Homestake Adams Research and Cultural Center Saturday afternoon. “We can't say with any certainty that we captured an Adams or a Franklin, but we can say we captured something.”

>>Complete Black Hills Pioneer Article<<

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Mick Harrison's Limited Edition Release of "The 1902 Roundup"

Mick Harrison & "The 1902 Roundup"

In May of 1902 western South Dakota ranchers were ordered by the U. S. government to remove their livestock from reservation land. Up to that time it was still open range on the northern prairies and herds drifted with the weather, in this case to the Rosebud Reservation including the confluence of the Big & Little White Rivers south of Murdo, SD.

Ranchers from all over western South Dakota took part in one of the largest, and some say, last big roundup. Approximately 400-500 cowboys, each with up to 10 head of horses and 16 throwback wagons, rounded up and removed, by varying estimates, from 45,000 to 60,000 head in a three month period. The Rosebud agent, D.L. McLane, collected a $1 per head from each owner before they trailed their herds home. This spelled the end of the open range era in South Dakota.

In the summer of 2011, artist Mick B. Harrison, SD historian and Rapid City author Dave Strain, director Peggy Ables of the High Plains Western Heritage Center in Spearfish, SD and Rapid City writer Steve Miller, visited the White River location.

This painting is the result of that research and pays honor to those who took part in this historical event.


Enjoy Mick’s WEB SITE LINK.  Select “Limited Editions” for details of “The 1902 Roundup”

Monday, October 24, 2011

Classmate Peggy Huhta-Frank Web Site Comments and Link to Black Hills Sheet Music


Dick, thank you for your dedication and work you have put into the DHS website.  I have been meaning to write you long before this but this past year has been challenging as my husband is having a lot of health problems.   My time on the internet has been very limited but I always enjoy going to the DHS website to check and see what you and others have posted for all of us classmates and interested viewers.  Thanks again, for creating the site and all of the hours of work you put into it.

I especially enjoyed seeing Stacy Nickelson’s photography article.  When I saw the beautiful pictures, it brought back a lot of great memories and a song from years ago about the Black Hills.

It went something like this:

“The Black Hills of South Dakota
Ever, they're calling me

I sit and dream, and then I seem,
Once more all her beauty to see

The wind whispers through the pine trees
The birds sing a sweet refrain

Out there friends are true,
and heartaches are few

Take me back to the Black Hills again.”

That was all I remembered of the song.   I was curious who had written this and decided to, see if I could find anything on the Internet.  I found the following related article in a recent Rapid City Journal:

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Sheet-music collection pays tribute to Black Hills



The Black Hills have awakened many a composer’s muse.

Grace Mickelson sheet music from the 1920s-1950s
that is inspired by Black Hills
Grace Mickelson has the notes to prove it.  The 84-year-old Rapid City woman has inadvertently amassed a collection of sheet music over the years. All of it pays homage to the Hills.  The retired teacher and her late husband, John, never set out to collect sheet music inspired by local landscapes. In their quest to gather rare books on South Dakota history, the couple stumbled upon several songs that celebrate the land they call home.

The Mickelsons acquired their collection from auctions. They bid on books, newspapers and magazines that recorded events in South Dakota or chronicled the history of Mount Rushmore.

Sometimes sheet music came with their purchase.  Mickelson initially didn’t think much of the notes and lyrics that occasionally found their way into boxes of books she purchased at auction.  “I was bidding on books,” she said. “I wasn’t into bidding on music. That was not a special interest of mine.”  But then she began to notice where and when the sheet music originated. From what she can tell, much of it was published in western South Dakota during the first half of the 20th century.

Such local ties made those unintentional treasures too good to part with.  “I save anything that has to do with the Black Hills,” Mickelson said . . .

Thursday, October 20, 2011

An Excellent Aerial Video Tour of South Dakota by SkyworksHD