SBHP Special to the Beacon,
The 137th Annual Meeting of the Society of Black Hills Pioneers will be held September 12, 2026 at the St. Francis of Assisi Church Hall, 1049 Howard Street in Sturgis, SD.
Rocky Courchaine will give the program on “Murder and Mayhem in Crook County.” Rocky looked at 30 murders from 1896 to 1933 to tell the story about Crook County, Wyoming, a place to come and better your lives and become independent, a great place to settle and have a family and prosper, but it was not always a Shangri-La. Rocky has found a common thread among the murders.
Rocky is a lifelong resident of the Sundance area and is a graduate of Montana State University with a degree in oil painting, metalsmithing and multiple studies in art history. He is director of the Crook County Museum since 2010 which is housed in the 1923 School building know as Old Stoney.
The schedule for the day is 10:30 AM to 11:00 AM registration and social time, 11:00AM to 11:30-Meeting, 11:30AM– lunch with program to follow. Cost is $15 for lunch. You can attend program without having lunch.
Please call, write or email Secretary by September 4 for reservations at Chris Maupin, Box 252, Hulett, WY, 307-467-5260, 307-290-0935 or [email protected].
The Society is open to members who are direct descendants or their spouses of people who arrived in the Black Hills by 1890. The counties included are Butte, Lawrence, Meade, Pennington, Custer and Fall River in South Dakota and Weston and Crook counties in Wyoming. Life Membership is $152. Regular membership is $12 with dues $10 a year. Membership may be reinstated by paying dues of $20. Membership application are available by contacting Chris Maupin.
The Society have a float in the Days of ’76 parade and help with cemetery work within an established cemetery and other historical work. They have records of all the annual meetings dating back to the first meeting in Deadwood in 1889.
See more pictures and read the full issue of the Belle Fourche Beacon by clicking here.
