FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 18, 2008
CONTACT:  Chelle Somsen, (605) 773-5521

State Historical Society offers Ft. Pierre–Deadwood Trail Historical Atlas

PIERRE, S.D. – The South Dakota State Historical Society has created an atlas detailing the historic Fort Pierre-to-Deadwood Trail.

Archives staff created the Ft. Pierre-Deadwood Trail Historical Atlas using survey plat maps from the 1880s and 1890s. The plat maps offer detailed measurements of all of South Dakota’s townships, down to the very section. The maps show the trail as it was surveyed from Fort Pierre to Deadwood. 

The atlas features both the original survey plat maps and current highway maps showing the route of the historic trail. Also shown are various images and captions of stage stops, road ranches, rivers and other places of interest along the trail. 

The Fort Pierre-to-Deadwood Trail was the main line of transportation between central and western Dakota Territory in the later half of the 19th century. The trail connected the Black Hills with the Missouri River, before the arrival of railroads in western South Dakota. 

“This work makes no attempt to be the definitive atlas of the Fort Pierre-to-Deadwood Trail,” said Matthew T. Reitzel, manuscript archivist with the State Historical Society-Archives. “Instead, the atlas presents the location of the trail at the time it was surveyed, with the main feature being the survey plat maps.”

The atlas costs $21.20 and will go on sale Tuesday, June 24. The atlas will be available for purchase at the State Archives in the Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre. All proceeds from the sale of the historical atlas will go toward preserving and making materials held in the Archives more accessible.

All images, maps, and plat maps in the Ft. Pierre–Deadwood Trail Historical Atlas can be found in the collections of the State Archives. 

Starting on July 30, from Fort Pierre, the Verendrye Museum in Fort Pierre will commence a wagon train consisting of about 47-50 animal-drawn wagons plus 200 horse riders on the original Fort Pierre-to-Deadwood Trail, arriving in Deadwood on Aug. 15. The museum has been preparing for this historic ride, which will consist of riders from about 15 different states, for approximately a year and a half.

The event is scheduled to be filmed by South Dakota Public Broadcasting television and radio, numerous other radio stations, newspapers and writers. The limit of riders on the trail, which has been filled, is 300. This is a one-time project over the trail, which hasn’t been ridden for 100 years. The ride will only hit two cities, Hayes and Sturgis, before arriving at Deadwood.

The State Archives is open Monday through Friday and the first Saturday of the month from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Contact the archives by phone at (605) 773-3804 or e-mail archref@state.sd.us