LITTLE “BIG” TOWN

ONE OF THE OLDEST PHOTOS OF BELLE FOURCHE

• STORY BY COLLEEN BRUNNER • • PHOTOS FROM TRI-STATE MUSEUM & VISITOR CENTER •

The little town at the beautiful forks, aka Belle Fourche, South Dakota, has a big reputation. That reputation comes from its rich history as a wellknown fur-trading rendezvous point, and farmers and ranchers settling in the fertile valleys, growing food for the miners who came with the gold rush of 1876. It also holds a big reputation as huge herds of Texas and Kansas cattle were driven to the area, and it was a way station for the stagecoach line established by Theodore Roosevelt, running between Medora, North Dakota and Deadwood.

And it’s claim to real fame comes from its location as the geographic center of the United States. This center of the nation designation was made in 1959 with the admission of Alaska and Hawaii. Seth Bullock, a Canadian-American frontiersman, who was a wellknown politician, sheriff, and U.S. Marshal, was instrumental in founding the city after he came to the Black Hills to sell supplies in Deadwood. When the railroad came to the area, he offered free rightof-way to build the terminal, located near present-day Belle Fourche Livestock Exchange. Nearly 2500 carloads of cattle shipped through the beautiful forks during peak season, making it, at that time, the world’s largest livestock shipping point. It became an agriculture center in the TriState area of South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming, and it remains so today. This little “big” town still serves a large trade area with wool, cattle, sheep, and bentonite industries as the mainstay. It is considered the gateway to the northern Black Hills. Any traveler coming north from Canada or from various points to the south, will most likely travel on Trans-Canada Highway 85 right past the Tri-State Museum and Visitor Center and the “Buckskin” Johnny Spaulding Cabin. A quick detour to the museum can quickly become an all-day excursion. The museum, originally at another location on State Street, along with the historic cabin, was started in 1955 with a donation from Mrs. Roy Williams, to accommodate his substantial western collection. Once it was moved to the new location along Highway 85, it continued to grow and now houses a complex build-

Cattle branding Calves on the prairie