What is the History of Black Hills Gold Jewelry?

The history of Black Hills Gold dates back to 1874. An expedition led by George Armstrong Custer to investigate the Black Hills of South Dakota set off the last great gold rush of the 19th century, when a scout of his reportedly found a gold nugget.

Horatio Ross

One summer day, a scout of Custer's, Horatio Nelson Ross, spotted a nugget in French Creek. The discovery led to such a furry of miners descending onto the site in the hopes of discovering gold.

Gold

It was said that miners had found gold the size of pine cones. The fervor of the discovery began to have jewelers and gunslingers such as Buffalo Bill Cody and Calamity Jane arrive at French Creek.

A Dream

A French jeweler by the name of Henri LeBeau got lost in the Black Hills one night. When he fell asleep, he dreamt of a stream with grapes vines, which then led to the creation of what is now known as the shape of Black Hills Gold.

Creation

In 1878, an apprentice of Le Beau, S.T. Butler, opened the first Black Hills Gold company. In 1919, that company was divided into two corporations, the F.L. Thorpe Company, and the Black Hills Jewelry Manufacturing Company.

Design

Black Hills Gold incorporates three distinctive gold colors: rose, green and yellow.

Facts

Silver and copper are added to create the green and rose coloring. Just to make Black Hills Gold jewelry, requires about 40 different steps to get the detail in the design.

Resources

• Black Hills Gold
• Black Hills Gold Facts
• History of Black Hills Gold