BUTTE COUNTY—Come one, come all to the Butte County Historical Society’s annual His- torical Tour of “Rails, Trails, and Pioneers of the Piedmont Valley” on June 21. The tour marks the organization’s 53rd year and is open to any members of the public who are interested in learning the history of the area.
The day is set to start at 7 a.m. with motor coach bus pickups starting in Spearfish, then Belle Fourche, Newell, and Sturgis. Once everyone has been picked up, the bus will travel to Tilford and Piedmont. The tour will be packed with speakers including Ken Wetz, Peg Apland, John Boylan, Dave Bies, Kim Ford, Neil Vollmer, Phil Anderson, Gary Reynalds, Kathy Hawkins, and Ken Eide. Speakers will give educational talks about the historical sites seen on the tour, and many of them come from pioneer families of the Piedmont area.
Plans for historical sightseeing include the cemetery, school, railroad, gypsum and brick plant, city park, Sacora Station, the Petrified Forest, and more, plus a historical city tour. A sack lunch and coffee breaks will be provided. The bus will start heading home at 3 p.m.
“Most people don’t realize how much history there is to Piedmont, because there were trails there then, too,” said Ken Wetz, BCHS President. “The stage line from Nebraska—Sydney, Nebraska to Deadwood came right up there—and Sacora Station was there, the covered wagon resort.”
The Butte County Historical Society has approximately 100 members. Over the years, they have completed several projects including marking the Bismarck trail from Deadwood to the North Dakota border and marking all of the Post Offices in Butte County. Their current project is marking the Fort Pierre-Deadwood trail from Deadwood to the east side of the Cheyenne River.
“The history, the struggle of the people, the pioneers, different nationalities that came here to make up our communities—a lot of that has been forgotten, and some of the people who have moved into the area don’t know about it,” said Wetz. “And so the role of the historical society is to research and preserve this history.”
If you are interested in signing up, contact tour director Ken Wetz at 605-456-2247 or Linda Vollmer at 605-456-1055.
Fee is $50 and includes bus ride, coffee breaks, and a sack lunch. Deadline for registration is June 17.
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