I think I can see Deadwood from here . . .

Image credit to Jim Angy and his excellent serious wildlife photography. Thanks also to Marge Bell DHS58 and her classy web site Space Coast Beach Buzz to protect beach critters with timely information.

Blast from the Past from Woody ~~ With Embedded Comments

Select on scan image for enlarged view

This classic Blast from the Past report comes from Woody (Walter Jr.) Williamson DHS56. The wreck viewed after 50+ years kinda seems funny but the effects at the time were very serious.

The three "Jeepsters", Billy Beshara, Woody Williamson, and Jack Keene were considered a terror when they were together. They took a Jeep up to White Rocks and ended where no Jeep should be. It took another jeep to get Dr. Heidepriem to the wreck site to administer medical aid.

All the names of those involved in this article provide a real walk down memory lane.

Woody observes that he feels they had a Guardian Angel watching over them on this adventure! He also added he likes this article and feels memories keep us young!

Additional Comment from Woody 8-8-2009:

Only one more comment on this one and I will let it be history. As I was running for help in pitch blackness, I did a major head Butt in Seth Bullock's head stone. After recovering from that, I was more concerned in getting my butt kicked from my Dad, as I was told not to get into that Jeep with Jack Keene under any circumstances, with Jack being all of 14 at the time. Later that night , when I dreaded the private time with my Dad, his only comment was. "Well I guess you have suffered enough for one night and hopefully a lesson learned. - Woody

Comment 1 of 2 from Bill Beshara DHS55 8-8-2009:

How well I remember this 1951 event. The newspaper did not report that the only reason I went on the Jeep trip is because they kept calling me chicken. I wanted out at the Mt. Moriah cemetery. Woody and Jack bailed out at the top, and I went down with the Jeep. Except for Woody pissing his pants, they came out without a scratch. I spent 3 months in the St. Joseph's Hospital. The Jeep was a WWII original and painted Army green. .

The risky trip was really scary as it was completely dark. The road up was steep and rutted. At the top Jack (the driver) took a quick left towards Two Bit. The Jeep nearly tipped over backwards. In a short distance the incline met the crest of the top of the ridge. The Jeep quickly pitched forward and down into the 75 foot deep gully. Jack and Woody jumped out on the ridge. I free fell separate from the Jeep. On the way down I split my head open on a rock outcropping. I then landed in the gully bottom unconscious. Stu Donovitz, the owner of the Old Style Bar, offered the use of his Jeep Wagon for the rescue efforts, as reported.

I don't remember much except all the voices and people helping me. They carried me out of the gully and drove me to the hospital where I lay immobilized in a sling all those months which was not fun.

I am unaware that there is a Pink Rocks South of White Rocks that Dick told me about. I understand it is a large outcropping of Pink Quartz on the ridge road and quite amazing.

Anyway, the Jeep was later reclaimed from the White Rocks gully. It took some major repairs but ran for many more years. Woody got some dry pants and went on being Woody. Jack Keene (Ed’s nephew) left town quickly after the wreck and was never seen again. My head wound did not make me any smarter except I have not gone up to White Rocks again or Pink Rocks either. I went on to high school and spent many months on crutches.

Comment 2 of 2:

A year or so after this incident I bought a 1941 Packard from my Uncle Joe and me being the only one of our “group” that had a car I was pretty popular. We went to many dances in Lead and Spearfish. One evening Walt Williamson Sr. came to our house and told my Dad that I was a bad influence on Woody and I was to stay away from him. As I recall it didn’t have much effect on our relationship. - Bill

Updated Reunions from Bob Heller

DEADWOOD HIGH SCHOOL REUNION AND THEN SOME, ALBUM FOR ALL.

August 4, 2009 Submittal
by HELLER AND OTHERS

A DEADWOOD REUNION AT ELKS AND LATCHSTRING AND OTHER PLACES, JUST PICTURES AND YOU GUYS CAN SEND ME MORE TO ENLARGE THIS ALBUM...... PLEASE. ALSO SOME PICS OF THE NORTHERN HILLS BAND. WHICH IS MADE UP OF MOSTLY NORTHERN HILL MEMBERS AND FROM ALL OVER THE STATE AT DAYS OF 76..

Bob Heller

View Bob's Album
Play Bob's Slideshow the last one is a video with sound

Deadwood High School Class of 1964 Celebrates Their 45th Year Class Reunion

DHS Class of 1964 will have their 45th Class Reunion at the VFW in Deadwood on September 4th and 5th, 2009

There is a no-host mixer Friday September 4th starting at 6:00 PM. We would like to invite all DHS Alumni and Teachers to stop by and say hello.

The reunion dinner will be Saturday, September 5th starting at 5:00 PM for registration--6:00 PM for dinner- program-picture etc. We should be done by 8:00 if anyone wants to stop by then also.

See you there . . .

Janet Hendrickson Cottingham

The Jessy Walker Family Attended Deadwood High School

African American Jesse and Belle Walker and their family contributed greatly to the history of Deadwood. They had nine children (5 boys, 4 girls) born from 1880 through 1896. All the children could have attended Deadwood Schools at one time or another. Research shows at least four of the Walker family graduated from Deadwood High School.

The following Jesse and Belle Walker Family story is reprinted with permission from Lilah Morton Pengra’s book CORPORALS, COOKS AND COWBOYS: African Americans in the Black Hills and surrounding areas. The book title was chosen in recognition of three occupations and and what they stood for in Black history: CORPORALS - for the limitations imposed by prejudice and racism; COOKS - for the positive choices made because of personal values; and COWBOYS - for the people written out of history. Lilah's book will soon be out of print but is still available for purchase at www.LuneHousePublishing.com

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In Part III of her book, Pengra wrote that “Jesse Walker was born in Alabama between 1842 and 1845.” According to Irma Klock in her book Yesterday’s Gold Camps and Mines in the Northern Black Hills, Walker was given as a wedding present to the master's son. The master continued to enslave Jesse's mother. Jesse would sneak away to visit her. He received floggings for this behavior but Klock wrote, "He didn't cry". His master observed, “Some day, Boy, you'll make a good soldier.”

Pengra continued the story: “ Walker served in the 22^nd U.S. Colored Infantry, with service in Virginia , Washington , D.C. and Texas during the Civil War. After the war, he worked his way through Indian Territory . By 1870, he lived in Omaha , Nebraska and worked as a barber. . . In 1876 Jesse headed west for the gold rush in the Black Hills .”

The March 21, 1879 issue of the Black Hills Daily Times noted that Rev. Daniel Ames married Jesse Walker and Belle Bruce, the daughter of Charles and Keziah Brown. The Bruces lived in Central City where Brown operated a "boss dance house" (Black Hills Champion, August 13, 1877, p. 1). After the wedding, the Walkers joined the Browns in Central City where Mr. Walker operated a barbershop.

It was announced in the October 18, 1884 Black Hills Daily Times that "Charley Brown and Jesse Walker have transformed the building formerly occupied by the Adams Bros., and will open a saloon and club room."

According to Pengra, “ Walker continued to operate his barbershop during the day. He nearly lost it in March 1885 when the building next door burned down. His shop suffered water damage but was saved. He, along with a number of other businessmen with buildings that were saved, made cash donations to the fire department and published a thank you ad in the Black Hills Daily Times.. A few months later, Walker again was mentioned in the Times (June 2, 1885) because he rescued the infant son of the W.E. Lowe family from a fall down a flight of stairs. The child had crawled away from home and had not yet been missed. Mr. Walker was mentioned in the July 24, 1885 Black Hills Daily Times. He was included in a list of businesses mourning the death of General Ulysses S. Grant, along with other leading businesses such as Star & Bullock, Ayres & Wardman, Overland Hotel, Pioneer Newspaper and the Keystone Restaurant.”

The Black Hills Daily Times, February 17, 1886, reported that Mr. and Mrs. Walker's twelve-day old daughter died and was buried at Mt. Moriah Cemetery . Ten months later, the Black Hills Daily Times described another tragedy visited on the Walker family:

Jesse Walker's residence, three miles from Crook City, was burned to the ground Wednesday morning, and its contents, including provisions and clothing, entirely destroyed. Jesse came to Deadwood early in the day. About 10 o'clock Mrs. Walker sent her little son to the front room to replenish the fire, and a few minutes later the flames burst through the doorway and passed like a flash throughout the building, expelling the inmates and preventing the saving of any property whatsoever. Mr. Walker was not aware of the calamity until last evening when his family arrived in town. His loss is estimated at $1,000; no insurance. Much sympathy is felt for the unfortunate family so well known in this city, and esteemed for their industry and good qualities generally. Mr. Walker sold out his Main street restaurant a few weeks ago, and had nicely located in his new home.

The Walker story was continued by Pengra: “More trouble visited again when his father-in-law Charles Brown and his 17-year-old son Ralph Walker were arrested for the murder of a Chinese woman, Mrs. Emma Frances Stone. Brown and his grandson had been drinking and playing poker at Ben Simpson's clubroom the evening of May 14, 1897 but Brown had lost all his money by midnight. He had previously been employed by Mrs. Stone and knew the layout of her household. Apparently, she woke up while he was trying to open the trunk where she kept her valuables.. He struck her across the face with one blow of a meat cleaver, then returned to Simpson's and continued playing cards until 5 a.m. when he and his grandson returned to Whitewood by horse and wagon. Police pieced together the story and arrested Brown and his grandson. News of the murder had spread so quickly that there was a lynch mob gathered by the time they returned to Deadwood. Somewhere along the trail, police separated the two prisoners. Only Brown was brought into town that day and jailed, although Ralph was indicted later. Brown's trial took place at 10 a.m. on June 10. The jury took 20 minutes to decide on a guilty verdict. Charles Brown was hanged in public on July 14, 1897 in Deadwood.” For more details of the trial, click on The Deadwood Magazine Archive of Swift Justice .

The conclusion of the story of the Walker family in Deadwood, according to Pengra, was that after the hanging of Charles Brown, “the family stayed in Deadwood and tried to reestablish their business. At least four of their children graduated from Deadwood High School . Ray Walker played on the football team in 1902, the team that won every game that season. After high school graduation in 1904, Ray married and had two children, Dorothea in 1906 and Raymond in 1911. Jesse Walker died March 27, 1908 and was buried at Mt. Moriah Cemetery in Deadwood. Eva Walker graduated in 1908. In the 1910 census Belle Walker and three of her children were living in Deadwood. She was 48 years old, widowed and working as a janitor. Her son Edwin worked as a bartender. . . By 1920 Edwin had moved to Seattle and Ray had died. Mrs. Walker, her daughters Eva and Lady and Ray's two children moved to Minneapolis , Minnesota .”

My favorite comment by Pengra in the her whole account of the Walker family is underlined here for emphasis and for you to think about the strife and triumphs of life. Pengra wrote that “Belle Walker was probably one of the unsung heroines of the Deadwood community. Even though her father had been hanged for murder, her oldest son indicted as an accessory, her home burned to the ground and her husband dead, she still managed to support her children through high school graduation.”

~~Click on picture sets for larger view~~
PICTURE SET ABOVE
Left: 1899 Deadwood High School Football Champions
with unidentified Walker son, second row right
Right: 1902 Undefeated Deadwood High School Football
team with Ray Walker, second row right
PICTURE SET BELOW
Left: 1908 Deadwood High School Graduation Class
with Eva Walker, second row secpmd from right
Right: 1908 Deadwood High School Football
team with Edwin Walker, back row right

Sir Deadwood Knows His Priorities

New Historical Author Lilah Pengra - Her Web Site and "Sarah Campbell" an African American Western Women Book

Lilah Morton Pengra

Since I started my dhsclassmates web site , I have become more enamored and drawn to related history of Deadwood and the Black Hills. My site has been a journey for me. One of the big pleasures I gained is the contact and support from authors of history and keepers of image/text archives. Although not a dhsclassmate, Dr. Lilah Pengra is an adjunct and she helps me immensely with research and information for future dshclassmates articles. She recently finished her own new web site and will release a new book soon.

Click on >>> Lune House Publishing for Lilah’s web site links, amazing Bio, and her new book SARAH CAMPBELL The first white woman in the Black Hill was an African American. Lilah's books are available for order.

Click on image for larger view:

Several quoted reviewers say:

This book will establish Lilah Pengra as a major regional historian. Impeccably researched and wonderfully told, she engages us to see ourselves while telling about Aunt Sally. This should be required reading for how to ‘do’ history.
Colonel Rod Thomas (USA, Ret), Editor
Little Big Horn Associates Newsletter

This delightfully told story of Sarah Campbell's journey through historically significant times is a “must read” for South Dakotans who believe they know their Black Hills' history. In addition, Pengra's background narrative of the connotation of color adds a fascinating dimension to the emotionally debated contemporary concept of race. The reader, oriented by plentiful and significant maps of the land and of the mind, will find that Sarah is with us still.
Peggy Palmer, Avid reader of Black Hills' history