Black Hills Gold History

The year was 1874 – George Armstrong Custer led one thousand men of the Seventh Cavalry to the Black Hills of Dakota territory. Custer was scouting the lay of the land and looking to verify the rumor of gold in the Black Hills. Gold was discovered by Horatio Ross in French Creek, east of the present day town of Custer.

More gold was discovered by gold rush miners in the northern Black Hills at Lead and Central City. The legendary town of Deadwood grew up just 3 miles east of Lead. Deadwood was the home of many Western folk heroes including Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane.

Legend has it, that the first Black Hills Gold jewelry was crafted by a French goldsmith named Henri LeBeau. In 1878, Henri found himself prospecting for gold in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Things didn’t go as Henri had planned. Before long, he was lost, hungry and tired. LeBeau fell asleep and dreamt of the babbling brooks and vineyards of his native France. To his good fortune, Henri awoke near a small creek and was surrounded by wild grapes. With fresh water at hand and grapes for provisions, Henri was rejuvenated. He found his way to Deadwood and decided to give up prospecting and stick to the art of jewelry making. In commemoration of his good luck in finding the provisions that saved his life, Henri and his apprentice S.T. Butler began handcrafting jewelry featuring grapes and grape leaves using yellow gold, pink gold and green gold. These attributes define the distinctive tri-colored configuration that is known as Black Hills Gold.

In the early 1900’s, a 16 year old woman named Clara Arnold learned the art of making Black Hills Gold jewelry from relatives of S.T. Butler. By the 1940’s she owned and operated her own manufacturing plant in Rapid City. In 1959, Clara decided to retire and sold her company to Ed and Amy Stamper. It continues to operate today under the name of Stamper Genuine Black Hills Gold Jewelry, located in Rapid City.

Some visitors may think that Black Hills gold denotes that the yellow, pink and green gold are mined within the Black Hills. This is a myth – Black Hills Gold jewelry denotes the styling using the three colors of gold in the grape leaf and grape cluster motif.

In 1980, U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Bogue ruled that Black Hills Gold jewelry must be made in the Black Hills of South Dakota.