South Dakota

Name: The Civilian Conservation Corps
Brand: Peggy Sanders
SKU: 9780738532646
Price: 18.74 USD
Availability: InStock

Hang out with the most fascinating characters in South Dakota history, a state where profiles get set in stone. Accompany fossil hunters through the Badlands and retreat with Calvin Coolidge to the Black Hills. Wild Bill talks shop in Deadwood, W.L. Dow gives shape to Sioux Falls and a cowboy governor finds a way through the Dust Bowl. Pick up a South Dakota history book to saunter through a passenger car packed with unforgettable personalities.

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The Civilian Conservation Corps

Haunted Deadwood

Rapid City

Fall River County and Hot Springs

On This Day in South Dakota History

Fall River County and Hot Springs

Mitchell's Corn Palace

Black Hills Gold Rush Towns

Dell Rapids

Calvin Coolidge in the Black Hills

The Civilian Conservation Corps

9780738532646

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

The Civilian Conservation Corps was established on March 31, 1933 by President Franklin Roosevelt as part of his efforts to pull the country out of the Great Depression. The program lasted until July 2 1942, successfully creating work for a half-million unemployed young men across the nation. They were housed, fed, clothed, and taught trade skills while working in forests, parks, and range lands. Paid one dollar a day, each man was required to send home $25 a month; the program provided work for young men as well as support to thousands of families. South Dakota was home to more than 50 camps over the nine-year time span with projects in areas ranging from constructing bridges and buildings in state parks, thinning trees in national forests to mining rock, crushing it into gravel, and graveling roads. Although this volume is set in South Dakota, the photos are representative of camps and men from all over the nation who served in the CCCs.

Haunted Deadwood

9781609493257

$23.99 $17.99 Save 25%

The Wild West may be tamed, but Deadwood's notorious past has not relinquished its hold on its corner of the Badlands or its place in popular imagination. And no wonder. If Wild Bill Hickok found its streets a little too rough, it should come as no surprise that the gamblers, gunslingers and general mischief-makers who put down roots at Deadwood's saloons and brothels did so in a ferocious and unforgettable manner. Mark Shadley and Josh Wennes prospect for ghostly activity as industriously as the town's former inhabitants dug for gold--and strike it just as rich. Greet Calamity Jane, Al Swearingen and a host of other characters as ready-made for haunting as they ever were for television.

Rapid City

9780738551845

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Rapid City, "the Summer Playground of America," was founded in 1876 by gold seekers, fueled by a rush to the Black Hills following Gen. George Custer's 1874 expedition. When the railroad arrived a decade later, cattlemen replaced prospectors, and Rapid City remained a hub of activity. By the end of World War I, the popularity of the automobile and newly constructed roads helped to shape area tourism. Mount Rushmore, 23 miles distant, was under construction in 1927, and the new Hotel Alex Johnson was completed in 1928. Together they were natural draws, complementing the pine-scented beauty surrounding Rapid City and making the city the center of western hospitality. As World War II ended, the traveling public again sought out Rapid City and its surrounding attractions as its destination for that memorable vacation out West. Today not much has changed. The Hotel Alex Johnson continues to be a landmark headquarters for tour operators, and Mount Rushmore remains a premier visitor site. And now Rapid City is further enhanced by the City of Presidents project, a work in progress in its historic downtown district.

Fall River County and Hot Springs

9780738519999

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

The unsung heroes of Fall River County made the area what it is. They were the men at the lumberyard, the pioneers, homesteaders, cowboys, farmers, homemakers, teachers, quarry workers, service station mechanics, blacksmiths, firemen, and the builders of Angostura Dam. Fall River County and Hot Springs: Views from the Past 1881-1955 showcases these everyday people. Each person played a role in the success of the county, from the children whose chores helped to ensure a family's survival to the visionaries who built irrigation ditches.

Sandstone quarries and buildings, sod houses and mansions, cattle and cowboys, work and play, and other images of daily lives are featured within these pages. Using over 200 vintage images and accompanying captions, author Peggy Sanders brings to life the rich history of the area and the incredible residents who made it all possible.

On This Day in South Dakota History

9781467119351

$21.99 $16.49 Save 25%

South Dakota is quietly nestled in the grasslands and Black Hills, but its history is far less hidden. One day at a time, author Brad Tennant presents intriguing, event-driven anecdotes of state history. On July 17, 1925, the state American Legion passed a resolution to initiate American Legion baseball. On April 29, 1930, Congress passed an act honoring the deceased chiefs of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and the valiant men who made the supreme sacrifice in service in World War I. Celebrate an entire year of history in the Mount Rushmore State or enjoy it one day at a time.

Fall River County and Hot Springs

9780738551876

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Fall River County has a history built around water. Early industries, such as the Refinite Mineral Processing Plant at Ardmore, were built to enhance the water; other businesses--bathhouses in Hot Springs and Edgemont, the Michael J. Fitzmaurice Veterans Home (originally named the Soldiers Home), and the VA Black Hills Medical Center (known by longtime residents as the Battle Mountain Sanitarium) in Hot Springs--were established here because naturally warm water and the moderate climate enhanced their missions. Back in the day, small towns had flour mills, creameries, and ice companies, and the towns flourished with each industrial boom. Out in the county, on the government-run experimental farm, crops were tested and people attended agricultural classes and meetings. Oil wells were drilled, sandstone was quarried, and farmers and ranchers worked the land and the cattle. Through the years, county residents have been warm and welcoming, much like the water.

Mitchell's Corn Palace

9780738532578

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

The world's only Corn Palace began as "The Corn Belt Exposition" in 1892, a promotional enterprise established to showcase the rich agricultural region of the James Valley. The exposition became a popular annual event, and an icon of the American prairie. The Corn Palace has occupied three different buildings since 1892. Adorned each autumn with corn, grains, and native grasses in decorative patterns and themes, the Corn Palace has hosted famous entertainers, politicians, and community events. Now well into its second century and going strong, the Corn Palace has become a symbol of South Dakota. Mitchell's Corn Palace tells the unique story of the palace through a collection of over 200 fascinating vintage images, chronicling this unique piece of Americana.

Black Hills Gold Rush Towns

9781467113977

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Rising out of the prairie, the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming had long been rumored to have promising quantities of gold. Sacred to the Lakota, the Black Hills was part of the land reserved for them in the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. However, the tide of prospectors seeking their fortune in the Black Hills was difficult to stem. Members of the 1874 Custer expedition, lead by Gen. George Armstrong Custer, found gold. In 1875, scientists Henry Newton and Walter Jenney conducted an expedition and confirmed the rumors. By 1876, the trickle of prospectors and settlers coming to the Black Hills was a flood. The US government realized that keeping the interlopers out was impossible, and in 1877 the Black Hills was officially opened to settlement. In this sequel to their Black Hills Gold Rush Towns book, the authors expand their coverage of Black Hills towns during the gold-rush era.

Dell Rapids

9780738593760

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Formed by settlers in search of a new future in the early 1870s, what is now known as Dell Rapids has had its share of historical significance through the years. From the 1888 Valentine's Day fire that devastated the town's Main Street to the 1934 bank robbery perpetrated by the FBI's "Public Enemy No. 1" Maurice Denning, Dells has not been free from disaster. But resting on the pillars of faith, family, and community, the town has thrived, boasting original structures, thriving quarries, and annual traditions that have stood through time. Bolstered by innovators such as Titus Unger, whose minnow bucket is the top-selling one in the United States, and Charlotte Elliott, who is known for her work in bacteriology in corn crops, the city has its share of notable residents. From the early pioneers struggling to eke out a living and work the land to the ever-growing modern population, Dell Rapids has lived up to its name as "The Little City with Big Attractions."

Calvin Coolidge in the Black Hills

9781467119313

$21.99 $16.49 Save 25%

On August 2, 1927, President Calvin Coolidge shocked the nation by announcing he would not seek reelection. The declaration came from the Black Hills of South Dakota, where Coolidge was vacationing to escape the oppressive Washington summer and to win over politically rebellious farmers. He passed his time at rodeos, fishing, meeting Native American dignitaries and kick-starting the stagnant carving of Mount Rushmore. But scandal was never far away as Coolidge dismissed a Secret Service man in a fit of anger. Was it this internal conflict that led Coolidge to make his famous announcement or the magic of the Black Hills? Veteran South Dakota journalist Seth Tupper chronicles Coolidge's Black Hills adventure and explores the lasting legacy of the presidential summer on the region.