who were connected to some of these towns. Many attendees provided additional facts or corrections, which has helped with our biggest challenges of fact-checking so many stories. The screenings also allowed attendees to share additional towns for our growing list of vanished towns. I think people have connected with Vanished South Dakota because so many want to hold on to a piece of their past. We all know times will forever change and nothing will stay the same. But being able to talk about ‘yesterday’ and remember what ‘yesterday’ used to look like is a warm feeling for many. This documentary has brought to the surface memories in folks they forgot they had. Many also want to share the history and stories they know, but have never really known how to do that – other than oral stories within their own communities and families. Vanished is providing a vehicle for folks to share and remember the past for a much bigger audience. South Dakotans appreciate that. “ KB: “What are your favorite stories?” SR: “The story of Texas Town is one of my favorites. While the history behind African American slaves escaping the Civil War and finding freedom and a life along the Missouri River in Union County is vague and historians know little about the facts behind Texas Town, it’s one of my favorites. The towns of Terry and Trojan in Lawrence County were mining towns and their history is so interesting. Terry was a huge community with close to 1200 people. Calamity Jane died there and without Terry, Deadwood would not have been
the major mining town it became. Trojan, although a mining town, reinvented itself a couple of times. And the town of Harding/Nashville in Harding county has a fun story about Teddy Roosevelt traveling and staying in the area and no one knew who he was.” KB: “What has been most surprising about this project to you professionally?” SR: “This project has changed my life, in a way. I’ve always enjoyed travel and the great outdoors. This project has given me a new respect for travel and a new lens to look through life with. I find myself taking as many backroads as I can, looking for humps across the landscape where a railroad once lived. Documenting deteriorating homesteads so I can go back and dig up history on them. Small town South Dakota has become my favorite place to be and visiting with the locals about their lives growing up is one of my favorite things to do, on the job or not. Even more exciting, my kids are enjoying the travels and discussions with the locals, as they’ve asked me to take them to a few of these vanished locations. If we encourage our youth to explore history, document it and share the facts with others, preservation of ‘yesterday,’ will be more accessible into the future.” KB: “What are the ‘less glamorous’ details about the project people might not know? Hours spent shooting in the field? Contending with rattlesnakes and/or wasps? Hours spent editing? Logistical issues that folks who don’t do this for a living may be surprised by?”
SR: “We did have a few scary moments with rattlesnakes, mean dogs, deer, and rough roads and scary terrain. Many of our video shoots took us away from home for weeks at a time – which meant for long work days and little sleep. Our goal is to not only gather the stories, but we like to match it with great video and oftentimes the weather didn’t cooperate. We worked in extremely hot days, very windy days, snow, rain and sleet. Even so, I don’t ever remember us complaining – just appreciating those days that were perfect. Capturing what those towns look like today is the easy part – finding the old photos of what towns looked like a hundred years ago, that has been the difficult part. But, if those who homesteaded across this great state could do what they did, we can certainly keep looking for the perfect photo to help tell their stories. We’ve come across so many more Vanished locations since starting this project. Locations that won’t make it into this documentary, as there (continued on p. 21) August 2019
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