A Century of Light THE EARLY YEARS Belle Fourche The town of Belle Fourche was founded in 1891. The town was started when the railroad bypassed Minnesela, then the trade center and county seat. They built shipping pens on Middle Creek west of town and a depot at the old Belle Fourche River Crossing. No one can dispute the name that early French explorers and trappers tagged onto the bustling little city of Belle Fourche. At a junction about a mile east of the center of town, the swift, turbulent waters of Redwater Creek empty into the placid, slow moving Belle Fourche River. It was because of this junction that the founders named it aptly, Belle Fourche, meaning Beautiful Forks in the French language Early in the century, settlers realized that the broad valley extending northeast of Belle Fourche would be ideal for raising small grain and farming if water was available. Belle Fourche became a trade center and fun spot for cow punchers, sheep ranchers and farmers in the vast area. The Northwestern railroad was quick to recognize the potential of the town as a shipping point and soon built their line from Whitewood to Belle Fourche and on to Newell. At the turn of the century the city was the largest livestock shipping point in the entire West. On July 6, 1906, Belle Fourche Light, Heat and Power Company began supplying power to Belle Fourche. Consolidated Power and Light Company bought the Belle Fourche Electric Light, Heat and Power Company from A. A. Moodie, Chambers Kellar, R. H. Driscoll, and T. D. Murrin on April 25, 1912. The company had just suffered a disastrous fire and was a willing seller. In 1937, General Public Utilities purchased the property of the Tri-State Milling Company located near Belle Fourche. It was comprised of a 350 kilowatt hydro-electric plant on Redwater Creek and approximately six and a half miles of three-phase distribution lines. These facilities were constructed in 1929 and 1930 by Mr. Quarenberg. This property was integrated into the system and designated Redwater Number Two. Vale Vale was the first town on the north edge of the Black Hills. Henry C. Wilson was the first permanent settler in the valley. He was the grandfather of Russell Wilson who was the Company Manager at Newell for many years. Henry Wilson staked a claim north of the Vale site in 1877. Andrew Rosander platted the town in 1905, and in 1908, he drilled an artesian well to furnish water for the town. In 1905, construction of the Belle Fourche irrigation project was started and Vale enjoyed a building boom. Since then, Vale has been known as the Heart of the Irrigation Project. In 1909 the town of Newell was started. In 1910, the Chicago amp; Northwestern Railroad built east from Belle Fourche to Newell, and the town of Nisland got its start on May 7, 1910, and continued to grow for several years. Newell In the August 23, 1917, issue of the Newell weekly paper the headlines read, "Light Line Coming Soon." The article stated that the Consolidated Power and Light Company was extending their lines from Belle Fourche to Nisland and Newell and hoped to be there by September 15, 1917. After months of work under adverse weather conditions and against a war-caused labor shortage, the "Irrigator" of February 25, 1918, carried the headlines, "Newell Is On The Great White Way," and stated that the "Irrigator" was the first customer to be turned on in Newell. They received lights on Sunday, February 21, at 5:00 p.m. In 1932 the 11,000 volt line was built south from Newell to Vale. Spearfish There is reason to believe that the white man first set eyes on the beautiful valley, criss-crossed by a rippling stream, at the present location of Spearfish in 1833. In 1887, Louis Thoen found a stone slab with the following inscription, "Come to these Hills in 1833. Seven of us, Delacompt, Ezra Kind, G. W. Todd, T. Brown, N. Kenb, Wm. King, Indian Crow. All dead, but me, Ezra Kind. Killed by Indians beyond the high hill. Got all our gold. 1834". On the reverse side of the stone was inscribed, "Got all the gold we could carry, our poney all got by Indians. I have lost my gun, nothing to eat and Indians hunting me." The stone was found by Thoen on Lookout Mountain and was concealed under a large rock. In 1876, two prospectors, looking for placer gold along the creek, decided to settle down along the banks of Spearfish Creek. John Johnson and party are generally credited with the founding of the settlement. They nicknamed the valley, Centennial, which has stuck ever since. On May 29, 1876, the townsite was laid out along both banks of Spearfish Creek from whence the town derived its name. Wandering bands of Sioux harassed them until it was found necessary to build a stockade. Scouts were posted on top of Lookout Mountain to scan the surrounding prairies for signs of Indians. Legislation was brought about in the territorial area for a normal school to be placed in Spearfish in 1881, but it wasn't until the fall of 1883 that construction was started. Construction was completed in February 1894 and school was officially opened in April of the same year with 20 pupils. Struggling along with an irresponsible principal, the school almost folded up, until they secured the services of F. L. Cook of Minnesota. A spur line of the Burlington railroad was built from Deadwood to Spearfish in 1893 via the beautiful Spearfish Canyon. In 1933 a cloudburst washed out a good portion of the tracks and the line was abandoned. The government located a fish hatchery just south of town in 1899. Spearfish Electric Light and Power Company Mr. George Favorite and some Chicago capitalists organized the Spearfish Electric Light and Power Company. The first franchise to supply energy to the town of Spearfish was issued in 1893. They installed a 75 kW generator powered by water from Spearfish Creek. In 1904 a flood destroyed the plant. The Homestake Mining Company constructed another hydro-plant at the mouth of Spearfish Canyon in the fall of 1904 and began supplying energy to Spearfish. Homestake could not get certain water rights that it needed unless it agreed to supply power to the town. Homestake not only purchased the water rights but purchased the franchise from Mr. Favorite. That same year, Spearfish changed its street lights from arc to incandescent lamps. Service was continued until January 1, 1915, when Consolidated Power and Light Company bought the Spearfish Electric Light and Power Company from Homestake, with the mining company retaining their hydro-plant in Spearfish Canyon. Black Hills Water Power Company Little is known of the history of the Black Hills Water Power Company other than the fact that it was a Wyoming corporation organized about June 1, 1906, with water rights on Sand Creek. Some thought was given to diverting this stream to Redwater but it involved considerable distance and a crossing of state lines, which caused opposition from property owners, so the development did not materialize. Consolidated Power and Light Company acquired the stock of the Black Hills Water Power Company about 1910. Sturgis Sturgis, known as "Scooptown" from its earliest inception as a town in 1878, has been known to be aggressive. In fact, in its early days, the nickname of "Scooptown" was given by passing travelers who had the contents of their pockets and belongings literally scooped away from them. Annie Tallent, in her history book, makes this observation of Sturgis in 1898: "Sturgis has had its era of disorder, crime and speedy retribution. During the first decade of its history, it was by no means a shining example of morality and good order. These conditions were occasioned in good part by the riotous behavior of the Colored Infantrymen, who garrisoned Fort Meade at the time." The "Sturgis Weekly Record" of September 2, 1887, extolled its readers to vote and carried an editorial on "The Importance of a Full Vote." The question of the vote was on the division of Lawrence County. Sturgis was a part of Lawrence County until its voters decided to divorce themselves and form Meade County. The Sturgis Electric Light and Railway Company was granted a 20 year franchise in the spring of 1897. It was contemplated that an electric motor railway would be built from Fort Meade to the Elkhorn Railroad Station via Sturgis. The first power plant in Sturgis was built by J. A. Ward in 1896. He sold out to Sam Oliver and George Beardshear. They, in turn, sold the property to U. S. and Sylvester Allison in 1906. New equipment was added with each change of ownership. A mining association booklet stated in 1904 that the Sturgis plant was located on the main street in a building 5O feet square "with iron roof and rider." This company "lights Fort Meade also, by contract with the government." The bulletin also pointed out that Sturgis had a volunteer fire department "with an electric alarm system." Consolidated bought the Sturgis Light and Power Company from William Bartlett, Harry Phillips, and U. S. and Sylvester Allison on April 7, 1916. Edgemont In 1899, a railroad came through the territory from the south. A siding designated as Siding #7 was built, thus the beginning of the city of Edgemont. In 1893 an irrigation project was laid out. Homesteaders were brought in to prove up on the land, and every quarter section of land sprouted a claim shanty. In 1895, a grindstone factory started using the stone mined in Red Canyon. A woolen mill was built in 1894 to process the large crop of wool, but before it got into production, a fire razed the mill and it was never rebuilt. In 1895, a smelter was erected to process gold ore from the Black Hills, but due to lack of water and other causes, it failed. By then the town settled down to become a typical western cow town, dependent for survival on the surrounding ranches and the railroad which had established a division point at Edgemont. In early times coal oil, as it was known then, was used in lamps for illumination, and several lamps were installed along the business section to light the streets. They were hard to keep clean, so as a result, often gave off little or no light. In the early 1900's improvements were made by changing to gasoline mantle lamps, a practice that continued until 1913 when the town became electricity conscious. On September 26, 1913, a franchise was granted to C. H. Williams. A steam plant was erected, and the first current was generated in January of 1914. The plant was operated only in the evenings from dark until midnight. On Mondays and Tuesdays the plant would run from early morning until noon to enable those people with electric motor-driven washing machines and irons to do their laundry during daylight hours. This Company operated until 1919 when it was taken over by the Midwest Public Service Company. They added a 25 kW gasoline driven unit in 1920 and another 37.5 kW diesel unit. Somewhere along the line the steam plant was discarded. In 1924 the Western Utilities Company, a Wyoming company, took over from the Midwest Public Utilities Company and the city granted them a franchise. This Company operated until 1928 when Mountain States Power Company acquired the property. In 1929, a 180 hp diesel unit was installed and, as the load continued to grow, a 200 hp diesel unit was added in 1937. Back to Table of Contents |