Black Hills Myths and Legends: The True Stories Behind History's Mysteries - Paperback

by T. D. Griffith (Author)

From tales of the mythical jackalope to legends about hidden caches of gold, this selection of fourteen historic stories from South Dakota's Black Hills explores some of the area's most compelling mysteries and debunks some of its most famous myths.

Back Jacket

Reading Line: Fourteen Mind-Boggling Tales from South Dakota's Black Hills In the summer of 1874, General George Custer and his men were the first to discover gold in the Black Hills...or were they? Over a decade later, two brothers unearthed a sandstone slab etched with a message that several prospectors had discovered "all the gold we could carry" in 1833. The authenticity of the Thoen Stone continues to be contested, despite convincing evidence. One Labor Day morning, Deadwood was rocked by an explosion that claimed the life of one of the town's most upstanding citizens. Was the compromised crime scene the reason investigators never discovered who would want to murder the highly esteemed civil engineer and volunteer firefighter? And how did transcripts of the trial involving the one known suspect simply disappear? Will anyone ever find the over $7.5 million in stolen gold that Lame Johnny hid in the Black Hills? At the height of the gold mining boom, the educated horse thief turned his knowledge of gold delivery into the take of a lifetime. However, a month after unloading an armored stagecoach of its burden of gold ingots, the leader of that heist was caught and hung by his compatriots for refusing to disclose the location of his treasure. From the wily--and some say dangerous--jackalope to the world's largest mammoth grave, Black Hills Myths and Legends makes history fun and pulls back the curtain on some of the Mount Rushmore State's most fascinating and compelling stories. Tom Griffith has been a reporter, photographer and managing editor in Arizona, Montana, and South Dakota. His previous works for Globe Pequot include Outlaw Tales of South Dakota, Deadwood: The Best Writing on the Most Notorious Town in the West, and The Insider's Guide to South Dakota's Black Hills & Badlands. Tom and his wife, Nyla, live in Deadwood, South Dakota.

Author Biography

T.D. Griffith has written or co-authored more than forty books, and his feature writing has appeared in magazines and newspapers throughout the world. He lives and writes in the Black Hills of South Dakota.