They Passed Here: lost and historical cemeteries of the Black Hills

by Hugh O'Gara

Over a period of nearly seven years, Hugh and Linda O'Gara of Hill City located and researched more than thirty cemeteries and lone graves in the Black Hills, relics from the 1870s gold rush camps and a piece of the region’s history. After Gen. George Custer's 1874 expedition reported gold in the area, miners quickly followed. Mining communities sprouted and vanished as quickly as the gold. Often their graveyards were all that was left from these Black Hills gold camps once the diggings played out. Many of these communities - Carbonate, Greenwood, and Bear Town - vanished with the gold. Others, such as Keystone, Rochford or Nemo, continue to exist today, but in vastly different incarnations. "They Passed Here" looks at the people who lived and died in these camps as well as the parts they played in the settlement of the Black Hills.

170 pages

Published December 1, 2018

Reviews

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book on Black Hills cemeteries. O'Gara performed great research on presenting historical information on the local towns (many now ghost towns) of the Black Hills of South Dakota and the characters buried here. I used to help my husband teach local Black Hills history and was greatly satisfied to see the stories were based on fact. A unique way of introducing people to the local citizenry of the early days of the Black Hills. Thanks for the hard work.