Deadwood becomes civilized
In the mid-1880s, the mining of gold shifted to deep shaft mining as the placer lodes were played out. Individual prospectors moved on to other strikes, and other ores, such as copper in Montana and silver in Nevada. Labor organization began to make itself apparent. The civilizing influence of mothers and children, schools and churches, and political reform began to drive out the gunslingers, pimps, drug traffickers, and other evil influences. Deadwood became a town of prosperous businesses, supported by its own narrow gauge railroad, electric lighting, and relative law and order. The threat from the Sioux vanished, and they became part of a burgeoning tourist industry, fed in part by interest generated by Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show.
Frontier Deadwood did not go easily into the dark night. When Calamity Jane returned to the area in 1903 she found employment and shelter at one of Dora DuFran’s brothels for a time. Dora continued to operate brothels in Deadwood and nearby Belle Fourche until 1909, when she left the town and moved to Rapid City following the death of her husband. In 1889, the Dakota Territory became the states of North and South Dakota. The following year saw the death of Sitting Bull and the final pacification of the Sioux. Deadwood, no longer just a mining town but with many miners residing there, became a business and commercial center.