| A Brief History of the Holy Smoke Camp
Located one mile northwest of Keystone in Buckeye Gulch, the area was first inhabited by Fred Cross as early as the 1870's.
The Vulcan Mining Group, of which Holy Smoke is part of, originally occupied 102 acres of gold, silver & copper deposits & was founded by the colorful Col. James A. (Big Hat) Clark. Clark was so intrigued with the naming of Keystone's notorious "Holy Terror" mine, that he named his property "The Holy Smoke." Ore was located in this area in Pre-Cambrian Schist & Quartzite & two shafts were sunk at the 85 & 106 foot levels. Ore from the mine was taken to Keystone's custom mill for processing.
Popular author Stewart Edward White came to the Holy Smoke in the late 1800's dressed like a miner & leading a pack mule. Here he stayed in a log cabin & wrote three best selling novels - "The Westerners," "The High Graders," & "The Claimn Jumpers." Working as paymaster in one of the local mines, White was almost hung by mistake over a wage dispute. He left the Holy Smoke & went to Arizona & became a well-known author of Western Semi-fiction. |
Campground: The Holy Smoke Resort in Keystone South Dakota *