Deadwood, SD is full of bikers and prostitutes

The most interesting place where we spent the night was in Deadwood, SD. To prepare, Josh and I watched some of the HBO series Deadwood, so it was interesting to be in the actual place.

Here is the view from our hotel room:

I love the houses in the hills

Our hotel was really cool because it was historic and still had an original, working Otis elevator:

You had to close both doors to make it work. I felt so fancy.

What makes Deadwood so interesting is that it is technically illegal. A bunch of settlers decided to stay here, even though it was reservation land, and just refused to leave. The other interesting fact about Deadwood is that it is the place where "Wild Bill" Hickok was shot in the back while playing poker.

In fact:

 

Next to our hotel is this memorial to Wild Bill, sculpted by the sculptor of the Crazy Horse monument and from the extraneous rock blasted from the Crazy Horse memorial site:

 We woke up early on Wednesday (for context: we had been on the road for three long days at this point) and walked through town trying to find a place for breakfast. We finally settled on the Gem Steakhouse and Saloon, which used to be the Gem Theater. The Gem plays a significant role in the tv show, but was a little less impressive in person.

There were a lot of bikers due to some biker convention in a nearby town, so eating my eggs next to a bunch of burly bikers made me a bit nervous.

also, I should have known better than to order eggs bennedict

This is just a random store, but Josh thought the door handles were clever:

There was also a boy scout soapbox derby happening:

And every small town needs its name on a water tower:

We then went to the Adams Museum, which had historical artifacts from the town and was located conveniently across the street from our hotel:

 

Josh thought it was very fitting that the symbols of the city are a gold pan, shovel, and deadly, deadly pickaxe:

Inside the museum, we saw sights such as:

The first train engine in the west, brought in by oxcart, and a bell reported to be used on a steamship, but the note says that this claim is unlikely

a binder of the history of prostitution in the town, including pictures that were reversed to negative in order to protect the identities of these ladies who are now probably grandmas

Josh sampled the newfangled stereoscope machine

an old-timey slot machine

fan art of Wild Bill Hickok

one man took 3,700 hours to carve out these 97 figures that make up this teeny, tiny nudist colony

And thus ended our day in Deadwood.