When gold was discovered in the Black Hills in 1874, one of the nearest approaches by rail was from Bismarck. Immediately, a stage and freight line was established which ran regularly from Bismarck to the Black Hills. It entered South Dakota in northwestern Corson County and crossed Perkins, Meade, and Butte Counties.
The trail covered 251 miles between Bismarck and Custer. It was continued in use until 1880 when the Northwestern was completed to Pierre. At that time the business was transferred to the Fort Pierre to Deadwood trail.
Between the 1870s to the 1890s, surveyors marked the trail through every township and section between Fort Pierre and Deadwood. It became one of the most detailed maps of stage and wagon trails across the Dakota Territory.
It was the main line of transportation between central and western Dakota Territory during the last half of the 19th century. At that time, it was the “Interstate 90.”
Horse, mule, and ox teams carried passengers, supplies, cargo, and miming equipment from the Missouri River across the open prairie to the Black Hills. A number of stage and wagon companies were established to meet the increasing demand for transportation after the discovery of gold in the mid-1870s. A number of roadhouses, stage stations, and places where the livestock pulling the coaches and wagons could be fed and watered were established along the trail.
In 1887, 20 oxen pulling three wagons with 20,000 pounds of freight were able to average about 13 miles a day and made the trip in 15 days. Whenever it had rained and the trail was wet, the sticky blue clay called “gumbo” was the enemy of everyone — drivers, bullwhackers, and the animals. There were times and places where the wheels would become clogged up and they would have to be cleaned out before being able to move.
This would even happen when going downhill and in some cases with each revolution of the wheel. It was at this time that movement on that part of the trail stopped and they waited until it was dry. Those early settlers west of Fort Pierre knew what gumbo was and had a firsthand experience of dealing with it.
Stage coaches were in constant motion going both directions on the trail. Riding on each of the stage coaches was a messenger. It was the duty of this individual to record the arrival and departure time for every station along the trail and the stage had an allotted time to reach each station to deliver the mail. This individual also collected the money at stations where meals were served. They had charge of all mail and express and were expected to make themselves generally useful along the route.
In the development and enhancement of Dakota Territory, the ox was an important and indispensable factor. With the patience and fortitude only exceeded by that of his master, he transported the settlers, their household goods, supplies, and equipment westward.
In driving the oxen, the “bullwhacker” walked on the left side near the wagon. There were no reins to an ox-team and the bullwhacker relied on the whip and their voice to drive and direct the animals.
The whip was usually about twenty feet long with a foot of buckskin at the end which was called “the popper.” The whip was not used to strike the ox. It was the “pop”, a pistol-like sound, made by the end of the whip which was used in directing and driving the team. Bull whackers grew so skilled with their whips that they could flick a fly from an ox’s ear and not touch the flesh.
They were not some of the most honored figures in America’s westward expansion. In the social ladder of the West during the last half of the 19th century, the bullwhacker, including both men and women, were at the very bottom. The sweat-soaked unwashed clothing worn for weeks if not months at a time was the normal lot of the bullwhacker. Their clothing rarely had the benefit of washing. It was stained with mud, dirt, sweat, food, axel grease, and tobacco juice. Their unwashed hair was notorious.
After the long and difficult trip from Fort Pierre to the edge of the Black Hills, these oxen which had just pulled in most cases three wagons loaded with more than three tons of freight needed a place to rest and receive nourishment. Just by chance, a group of down-on-their-luck prospectors looking for another opportunity had an idea.
In 1876 they saw potential in a large river valley situated between the Black Hills to the west and the plains to the east. It was a good place to sell supplies to the miners and homesteaders. They also realized that a large supply of hay would be needed to feed the horses, mules, and oxen after dragging tons of freight across the prairie.
They set up business on the banks of Rapid Creek and laid out a one-square-mile business district and named it “Hay Camp.” They later changed the name to “Rapid City.” Six months later, the population of Rapid City grew to over 100. The community was advertised as the “Gateway to the Black Hills.” The nickname is still used today.
The Daily Press and Dakotan (Yankton) in a “Rapid City Notes” column on November 23, 1877 reported that “Rapid City is the boss hay camp of the Hills. There is not less than one hundred tons in store there.”
Author Clarence Shoemaker, originally published in the Gregory Times-Advocate on July 13, 2022