Deadwood South Dakota

Sunday, August 16th Left early for the long drive to Deadwood, South Dakota. We drove through the Badlands, bypassed Wall Drug, and finally arrived (after almost 11 hours) at about 7 pm in Deadwood, where Steve’s mother was born 75 years ago. Steve’s uncle, Vince Coyle, now lives in Deadwood, and Vince and his wife, Joanne, hosted us for the next two nights.
Monday, August 17th After a long night’s sleep, we had lunch in Kevin Costner’s saloon in Deadwood and then headed over to the historic Frawley Ranch, which is the ranch started and still operated by Steve’s Mom’s family (and is on US National Historic Register). The ranch, started in the 1880s, once comprised 4,500 acres in nearby Spearfish. The ranch, which at one time included dairies and cattle and also had its own community school house (still standing), is still used today for cattle and buffalo grazing. Steve’s great uncle, Hank Frawley, gave us a great 2 hour tour over all the different ranch buildings, many of which have been restored. The highlight was when Hank took us (in his old Suburban) through the pastures into a heard of Buffalo, which we fed with some grain treats. The huge Buffalo surrounded our car and followed us for a mile or so, where the biggest males almost stuck their heads in our car. Then back to Deadwood, where we watched the Giants game and where Mom and Dad played Black Jack at one of the gambling saloons (no luck but at least we didn’t end up like Wild Bill Hickok…).