Badlands and Black Hills - The Most Scenic Drives in America: 120 Spectacular Road Trips - page 537

15. Deadwood
The history of white settlement in the Black Hills offers no shortage of colorful characters.
Laid to rest in the Boot Hill section of Mt. Moriah Cemetery are the mortal remains of any
number of hard-living real-life legends, including Calamity Jane and James Butler Hickok,
better known as Wild Bill Hickok.
Calamity, who lived by the creed “Never go to bed sober, alone, and with one red cent
in your pocket” survived to see the 20th century; Hickok was not so lucky. Arriving in
Deadwood in the summer of 1876, the onetime lawman and full-time gambler was killed
a month later, shot in the back of the head while playing poker at a local saloon. As he
slumped forward, the mortally wounded Hickok is said to have been clutching black pairs
of aces and eights—known to this day as the “dead man's hand.”
Visitors of Deadwood today will find that the spirit of the town has changed little since
gold-rush days. When gambling was legalized in South Dakota in 1989, investors quickly
capitalized on Deadwood's notoriety, and more than 80 gaming establishments now call
Deadwoodhome.ThetownisnoLasVegas,though;DeadwoodislistedasaNationalHis-
toricLandmark,andthecasinosarehousedinlavishlyrestoredperiodbuildingsthatdouble
as museums.
16. Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway
Soaring limestone palisades enclose this cozy canyon byway on Rte. 14A as it runs for
some 20 miles along Spearfish Creek. Two crystal-clear cascades, Roughlock and Bridal
Veil falls, punctuate the serene gorge, used as the setting for the final scenes of the film
Dances with Wolves . At the end of the road is the town of Spearfish, founded in the 1876
gold rush, an apt spot to bid farewell to the Black Hills.