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45-463: The early history of the people mentioned in the inscription is limited. According to the stone, Ezra Kind traveled to the Black Hills in 1833 in search of gold, at which time a treaty prevented the party from entering the area legally. Among Kind's party were seven men: De Lacompt, G.W. Wood, T. Brown, R. Kent, William King, and Indian Crow. King and Indian Crow were experienced miners. The stone itself

90-586: A National Historic Landmark in 1991. Fort Pierre Chouteau was located just north of the confluence of the Missouri and Bad rivers, on a low terrace above the west bank of the Missouri River. This site was of strategic importance for several reasons. It served as a midpoint among the outposts of the American Fur Company (AFC), which monopolized trade on the upper Missouri by 1830, and as an endpoint for

135-689: A hill above the Spearfish City Park, and an annual seven-mile run past the marker is named after the stone. In 1966, Thomson published a book about the stone, titled The Thoen Stone: A Saga of the Black Hills . The Thoen Stone is carved out of sandstone. It is three inches thick and measures 10 inches by eight inches. Text is written in a cursive font on both sides of the slab. The inscription reads: Front: Came to these hills in 1833 seven of us De Lacompt Ezra Kind GW Wood T Brown R Kent Wm King Indian Crow all ded [ sic ] but me Ezra Kind Killed by Ind[ians] beyond

180-451: A local gold rush and may have gained knowledge of placer mining techniques during that time. Additionally, King and Indian Crow were both from Lumpkin County, Georgia , where another local gold rush took place in the 1820s. Thomson found that Kind himself was a German immigrant to Pennsylvania, and that he had indeed left home to travel west in the 1830s and disappeared. Thomson theorized that

225-555: A major overland shipment route to Fort Laramie in present-day eastern Wyoming . This fort was built as a replacement for Fort Tecumseh , located on what is now LaFramboise Island closer to the river confluence. The island fort had been built in 1817 by the Columbia Fur Company , the AFC's predecessor in the regional fur trade. That fort was poorly sited and subject to flooding from the river. Some of its timber elements were reused in

270-511: A male householder with no wife present, and 49.4% were non-families. 39.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.09 and the average family size was 2.79. The median age in the city was 33.2 years. 18.6% of residents were under the age of 18; 20.2% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 22.3% were from 25 to 44; 21.2% were from 45 to 64; and 17.7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of

315-493: A message in a wet sandstone slab, and theorized that Kind would have had ample time while hiding to carve something. In the 2000s, handwriting expert Marion Briggs and another in California compared the handwriting on the postcards and the writing on the slab. Both determined that the inscriptions were not done by the same person, and the stone was not inscribed by either of the two Thoen brothers, Cashner, or John S. McClintock, who

360-540: A near monopoly, purchased the assets of the Columbia Fur Company. The AFC turned management of the Upper Missouri Operation (UMO) over to Bernard Pratte and Pierre Chouteau, Jr. of St. Louis, Missouri . When Chouteau ascended the Missouri River in 1832 on the maiden voyage of the steamship Yellowstone , he ordered construction of what was formally dubbed Fort Pierre in his honor. Astor retired from

405-458: A temperature of 79 °F (26 °C), the hottest January temperature in South Dakota on record. As of the census of 2010, there were 10,494 people, 4,644 households, and 2,350 families living in the city. The population density was 642.2 inhabitants per square mile (248.0/km ). There were 5,045 housing units at an average density of 308.8 per square mile (119.2/km ). The racial makeup of

450-760: Is it that I've heard so little of this miracle and we, toward the Atlantic, have heard so much of the Grand Canyon when this is even more miraculous?" The Homestake Sawmill (previously part of Pope and Talbot, now owned by Neimen Forest Products) was built to supply timbers for the Homestake Mine in Lead (closed January 2002). In 1938, Joseph Meier brought the Luenen Passion Play to settle permanently in Spearfish and become

495-440: Is land and 0.01 square miles (0.03 km ) is water. Spearfish Creek is a fast-moving creek that emerges from Spearfish Canyon at Spearfish. It runs roughly south to north through the center of town (parallel to Canyon Street), year round. The creek freezes from the bottom up instead of icing over. This unusual phenomenon occurs due to the very fast rate at which the creek flows. This speed prevents ice from forming except along

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540-494: Is now central South Dakota . Established in 1832 by Pierre Chouteau, Jr. of St. Louis, Missouri , whose family were major fur traders, this facility operated through the 1850s. It was for many years the largest trading post in the northern Great Plains and a major trans-shipment point for buffalo furs. The archaeological remains of the fort, located in Stanley County just north of the town of Fort Pierre , were declared

585-508: Is the home of Black Hills State University , a four-year public university in the South Dakota system. Founded as Spearfish Normal School in 1883, it is still largely a teacher training institution, although its mission has expanded far beyond to include masters programs in Integrative Genomics and Business Administration. It also hosts a summer arts institute, with Spearfish native and international opera star Johanna Meier (daughter of

630-541: Is the largest city in Lawrence County and the home of Black Hills State University . Before the Black Hills Gold Rush of 1876, the area was used by Native Americans (primarily bands of Sioux but others also ranged through the area). Once the gold rush started, the city was founded in 1876 at the mouth of Spearfish Canyon , and was originally called Queen City. Spearfish grew as a supplier of foodstuffs to

675-554: The high hill got our gold June 1834 Back: got all of the gold we could carry our ponys [ sic ] all got by the Indians I hav [ sic ] lost my gun and nothing to eat and Indians hunting me Since its discovery in 1887, controversy over the authenticity of the Thoen Stone has circulated. Many people believe that the stone is a hoax and was fabricated by Louis and Ivan Thoen. Some have pointed to

720-576: The Black Hills Passion Play founder Joseph Meier) serving as Artistic Director. It is in the Spearfish School District 40-2 . Spearfish is the headquarters and hometown of two bus and coach transport services, Dakota Trailways and Prairie Hills Transit . Intercity bus service to the city is provided by Jefferson Lines . Local dial-a-ride transit is operated by Prairie Hills Transit. As of July 2024, hours of operation for

765-508: The High Plains , the climate in Spearfish is highly variable at any time of the year, a phenomenon especially apparent in the winter months. According to the Köppen climate classification , Spearfish has humid continental climate ( Dfb ). Snow depth is limited: even in winter half of all days have no snow on the ground, although on average 29.5 inches or 0.75 meters of snow falls. Spearfish holds

810-634: The Spanish flu epidemic . The stone was named for Louis Thoen and was transferred to the Adams Museum in Deadwood for preservation and display. Spearfish historian Frank Thomson formed the Thoen Stone Committee in 1950, which aimed to memorialize it at the site it was discovered. Three Thoen relatives were also among the committee members. A monument complete with a replica of the stone was later placed on

855-486: The mining camps in the hills. Even today, a significant amount of truck farming and market gardening still occurs in the vicinity. In 1887, the accepted history of gold mining in the Black Hills was thrown into question by the discovery of what has become known as the Thoen Stone . Discovered by Louis Thoen on Lookout Mountain, the stone purports to be the last testament of Ezra Kind who, along with six others, entered

900-588: The 1850s, the company was part of a complex trading network extending from the Rocky Mountains to the Eastern United States and Europe: it shipped 100,000 fur robes through Fort Pierre. In the 1850s the American bison or buffalo was subjected to extreme over-huntings, caused in part by the fur trade and high world demand, but also spurred by the advance of American railroads into the western frontier. There

945-577: The American Lewis and Clark Expedition , who camped in the area in 1804. They were commissioned by the United States government to explore and survey major areas of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. In 1817 trader Joseph La Framboise, Jr. , son of parents from Quebec and Ontario who were fur traders in the region, established a French-Canadian trading post here. His mother was Métis and took over

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990-582: The Black Hills Passion Play, drawing thousands of visitors every year during the summer months. After Meier's death in 2007, the amphitheater and 23 acres (93,000 m ) surrounding it were put up for sale. Spearfish is located at 44°29′23″N 103°51′9″W (44.489803, −103.852585). According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 16.35 square miles (42.35 km ), of which, 16.34 square miles (42.32 km )

1035-547: The Black Hills in 1833, "got all the gold we could carry" in June 1834, and were subsequently "killed by Indians beyond the high hill." There is corroborating historical evidence for the Ezra Kind party. In the 20th century, the history of Spearfish was tied to mining and tourism. Architect Frank Lloyd Wright , who visited Spearfish Canyon in 1935, later called the area "unique and unparalleled elsewhere in our country," and wondered, "How

1080-556: The Thoen Stone, who claimed to have had ancestors who disappeared in the American West around 1830. Some of these relatives had written back to their families before their disappearances. One, Kent, allegedly had sent a letter—possibly using one of the American Fur Company trading posts in the territory—reporting that he had found gold and would be returning home. Thompson also found evidence that Brown grew up in North Carolina during

1125-469: The attack on the party may have been orchestrated by the American Fur Company as a way to dissuade outside encroachment in its territory, and found evidence that the company had indeed sponsored attacks on other parties from its positions at Fort Pierre Chouteau and Fort Clark . Thomson also believed that the hunting knives carried by pioneers in the 1830s would have been sturdy enough to inscribe

1170-462: The bottom of the creek bed where friction and turbulence allow the water to slow down long enough to freeze. Since the creek continues to flow atop this ice, the water level of the creek gradually rises as more ice accumulates on the bottom, in some cases causing flooding on the north side of town where the channel is not as deep. Given its location at the base of the Black Hills and its proximity to

1215-571: The city was 47.1% male and 52.9% female. As of the census of 2000, there were 8,606 people, 3,638 households, and 1,931 families living in the city. The population density was 1,409.1 inhabitants per square mile (544.1/km ). There were 3,904 housing units at an average density of 639.2 per square mile (246.8/km ). The racial makeup of the city was 95.33% White , 0.35% African American , 2.31% Native American , 0.36% Asian , 0.02% Pacific Islander , 0.33% from other races , and 1.30% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.73% of

1260-419: The city was 93.5% White , 0.4% African American , 2.0% Native American , 1.1% Asian , 0.6% from other races , and 2.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.7% of the population. There were 4,644 households, of which 23.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.5% were married couples living together, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.3% had

1305-598: The construction of Fort Pierre Chouteau. The first people of European descent to encounter Native Americans in the Fort Pierre area were a pair of French explorers, the La Vérendrye brothers, during their 1743–44 expedition. They buried an inscribed lead plate on a hill near the confluence of the Missouri and Bad Rivers, claiming the territory for the King as part of New France . The next major non-native visitors were members of

1350-458: The fact that Louis Thoen was a stonemason . Others doubted that a man running for his life would have stopped to leave a message, or that seven men—most of whom had no mining experience—could have found as much gold as described on the stone. Until their deaths, the Thoens defended the authenticity of the stone. The 1888 Detroit Free Press article urged anyone with information on the men mentioned on

1395-521: The fur business in 1834, and Chouteau purchased the Fort Pierre operation. He eventually bought out Pratte and became the principal operator of this post and its fur trade. Fort Pierre and the surrounding community rapidly developed as a major center for Chouteau's trading business. In addition to its central location for company logistics, it was also generally surrounded by a settlement of Lakota Sioux and other Plains Indian tribes, who traded buffalo furs for American and European goods. At its height in

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1440-436: The median income for a household in the city was $ 26,887, and the median income for a family was $ 40,257. Males had a median income of $ 30,242 versus $ 20,431 for females. The per capita income for the city was $ 16,565. About 9.8% of families and 17.4% of the population were below the poverty line , including 16.1% of those under age 18 and 9.4% of those age 65 or over. AM radio FM radio Television Spearfish

1485-450: The population. 37.5% were of German , 13.5% Norwegian , 9.6% English and 8.2% Irish ancestry according to Census 2000 . There were 3,638 households, out of which 25.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.4% were married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.9% were non-families. 37.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.5% had someone living alone who

1530-636: The post in Michilimackinac , Michigan after her husband's death. The development of the trading post marked the start of permanent white settlement of the Missouri/Bad River area. In 1822, former fur traders for the privately held, British Hudson's Bay Company established the Columbia Fur Company in competition. They built Fort Tecumseh as well as other outposts on the Upper Missouri. In 1827 John Jacob Astor through his American Fur Company ,

1575-634: The river. The trade in buffalo furs effectively ended by the early 1860s, when the United States Army established a presence in the region. Fort Pierre Chouteau became part of reservation lands assigned to the Sioux in the Treaty of Fort Laramie of 1868 . When the Dakota Territory was partitioned in 1889 and the Sioux reservation was reduced in size, the fort's land became available for homesteading . It

1620-476: The service are 7am-7pm on weekdays, 9am-4pm on Saturdays, and 8am-12pm on Sundays. Black Hills Bike Share is a bikeshare service with two stations located at Spearfish City Park and Black Hills State University . Fort Pierre Chouteau Fort Pierre Chouteau , also just Fort Pierre , was a major trading post and military outpost in the mid-19th century on the west bank of the Missouri River in what

1665-575: The stone and the location where it was found. The stone was then taken to the Spearfish Register . One day later, Louis decided to display it in a store in Spearfish that was owned by John Cashner; Cashner and Louis sold pictures of the stone as postcards . In 1888, Cashner traveled to the Detroit Free Press in Michigan and sold the story of the stone to the newspaper. Louis died in 1919 during

1710-543: The stone to contact Cashner. One reply came from a Harvey Brown, Jr., who alleged his half-uncle, William Thompson Brown, had left Michigan for the American West with a man named Kent in 1832, and neither man had returned nor had been heard from again. In the 1950s, Thomson traveled to the East Coast in search of the families of the party's members. Thomson located several families, all with surnames similar to those listed on

1755-498: The temperature had risen to 54 °F (12 °C). Suddenly, the Chinook died down and the temperature tumbled back to −4 °F or −20 °C. The 58 °F or 32.2 °C drop took only 27 minutes. The sudden change in temperatures caused glass windows to crack and windshields to instantly frost over. Extreme winter maxima in the district are remarkably warm given the latitude and altitude; on January 19, 1921, Spearfish reached

1800-405: The world record for the fastest recorded temperature change. On January 22, 1943, at about 7:30 a.m. MST , the temperature in Spearfish was −4 °F (−20 °C). The Chinook wind picked up speed rapidly, and two minutes later (7:32 a.m.) the temperature was +45 °F (7 °C). The 49 °F or 27 °C rise in two minutes set a world record that still holds. By 9:00 a.m.,

1845-439: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.15 and the average family size was 2.85. In the city, the population was spread out, with 20.3% under the age of 18, 21.5% from 18 to 24, 23.3% from 25 to 44, 17.9% from 45 to 64, and 17.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.3 males. As of 2000

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1890-475: Was an early advocate for the slab's authenticity. Doom metal band Pine Beetle has a song called "Thoen", which is based on the Thoen Stone mystery. Spearfish, South Dakota Spearfish ( Lakota : Hočhápȟe ) is a city in Lawrence County, South Dakota , United States. The population was 12,193 at the time of the 2020 census , making it the 10th most populous city in South Dakota . Spearfish

1935-442: Was an increase in the number of men who hunted the animals for sport and killed as many as they could shoot. Pierre Chouteau sold the fort that bore his name to the United States government in 1854. The government found the facilities inadequate and abandoned them in 1857 in favor of Fort Randall to the south. Salvageable buildings and materials were transported to Fort Randall, and any surviving timbers were used to fuel steamboats on

1980-522: Was inscribed in 1834 by Ezra Kind after his entire party was killed by Native Americans. Kind himself later died of unknown causes. On March 14, 1887, Norwegian immigrants and brothers Louis and Ivan Thoen discovered the slab while collecting sandstone on the west face of Lookout Mountain near their home in Spearfish . The stone was buried several feet below the surface. The men took the slab home, and Louis invited Henry Keats (a later mayor of Spearfish) to see

2025-409: Was used as pasture land until 1930, when it was acquired by the state of South Dakota. The state property was further enlarged by a land gift in 1970. Archaeological activity in the 1980s identified a number of elements of the fort's structure, confirming its location. The site is now an open meadow just north of the city limits of Fort Pierre, on the north side of Fort Chouteau Road. It was added to

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