Rapid City Journal from Rapid City, South Dakota • 11

West' River News FEATURES The Rapid City Daily Journal "The Newspaper of Western South Dakota" RAPID CITY. S. SUNDAY. MARCH 12. 1950 PAGE 11 -m This structure, once an opera house, now serves as Buffalo Gap's auditorium and is scene of many community activities.

The Nolan Seed and Grain Elevator is Ruffalo Gap's main industry now. Peaceful Buffalo Gap Had Riotous Beginning few drops of rain fell. The unidentified rainmaker the cowpokes brought with them to town, but they were less willing to put up with the drunken antics By BOB LEE of the cowpokes. There were plenty of saloons in town and a number of brothels, but the cowpokes' most popular recreation was shooting up the town. The cowpokes would ride into town from the distance ranges and give vent to their exhuberance by indiscriminately firing their six shooters at the frightened townspeople.

This rowdiness continued unabated until one day in February, 1888, when the townspeople decided to put an end to it. They formed a posse and the men were stationed oeninu windows and doors along Main street as two cowboys rode into town, pulled their six shooters and started shooting from the saddle. The two cowboys Frank Potts and Stans-bury Arthur rode wildly down Main street while the posse fired at them from the buildings. They got as far as the auditorium, then both cowboys dropped from their horses dead. One of the posse members was tried for the murder, but he was released because no one Cattle still roam (he ranges surrounding (he town, although in much smaller numbers (han in earlier days.

There is no sales ring in Buffalo (Jap. however, and cattlemen now drive their herds either to Hermosa or Edgemont for shipment to market. Small grain crops have become increasingly important to the town. Jim Nolan's Seed and Grain elevator in Ruffalo Gap handles wheat chiefly, but alfalfa seed has been grown in abundance in the area during recent years. The elevator is perhaps the town's major industry now.

Other current businesses include two grocery stores, a barber shop, a bank, a hardware store and saddle shop, two filling stations, two restaurants, and two bars one on sale and the other off sale. Sewright, a farmer, is president of the board of trustees. Other board members include William Degnan, school janitor; Charles Ostrander, publisher of (he Buffalo Cap (Jazette; W. W. Sthmitz.

depot agent, treasurer; and J. W. Dalbe. retired, clerk. The town's only indebtedness now is $3,300 outstanding on the 1934 water bond issue.

Ruffalo Gap has no civic clubs outside a very active Modern Woodmen's lodge and a volunteer fire department. The fire department, headed by Ira Thurston as chief, sponsors much of the recreation activity. Howard D. Gallentine is first assistant fire chief, and Paul Miller is second assistant fire chief. The town has $12,000 worth of fire equipment, including a two-ton (ruck with a 360 gallon tank and two booster pumps, a converted Model A Ford trailer with 750 feet of hose, and a jeep with a 7." gallon tank and one booster pump.

Members of the fire department are fiercely proud of their firs-fighting prowess, as (hey have every right to be. hurches now serving the community include Episcopal, Catholic, Rible Standard, and Methodist. Rasketball games and dances are held in the town auditorium which once served as an opera house. There are 17 students in the grade and high school which sits atop a hill south of the town. The school teaches up to the senior grade of high school.

Seniors usually finish their education at the Hot Springs high school. Community spirit in the Gap is unexcelled. Just last week the entire community and surrounding ranchers turned out for a party to raise funds for a polio drive. The party netted over $400 and everyone enjoyed the old-fashioned cake social, home entertainment and dance music. Ruffalo Gap residents don't expect their town to make a comeback to its former glory.

Rut they are quietly-contented with their present lot and seem satisfied to enjoy life now that the hectic struggle for a comfortable existence is over. "The town has had its day," one resident philosophied. "Those days can never come back, but they're sure nice to remember!" claimed his $250 from the town board and disappeared. More practical efforts at getting water also fell far short of the goals, and brought on a unique series of bond issues. The townspeople voted to bond themselves for $5,000 for water on July 5, 1887, and two wells were dug.

However, no water was found and the town defaulted on the bonds although it paid interest on them for five years. The interest mounted (o 1,000 by hut the town board obtained a compromise from the bond purchasers and settled for $6,000. The money was raised by the issuance of refunding bonds voted on April 3. 1911. Meanwhile, townspeople paid $3.50 a (ank (six barrels) for water hauled into (own and caught water in rain barrels.

Another bond issue of $25,000 was voted on July 23, 1931, but again sufficient water could not be found and the bonds were not sold. In 1934, the town passed an ordinance repealing the 1931 bond and voted $18,300 to match federal funds for the digging of a well west of town. Water was found there and the well still supplies the town. The well has two flows and water is pumped to a 50,000 gallon reservoir atop a nearby hill. During the Indian scare of 1X90-91, many outlying ranchers brought (heir womenfolk into town.

A bell atop the hardware store was supposed to he rung if (he Indians attacked, but no (rouble developed. The alarm bell now sits atop (he fire station. Buffalo Gap's population began to decline after a tragic fire in 1891 burned down most of the buildings. Many people moved to other and more promising Hills towns rather than rebuild, and Buffalo Gap never fully recovered. The Buffalo State Bank, which was started by Lake and Halley of Rapid City, moved to Hot Springs in 1893.

The bank was reorganized in 1907 and two years later was organized as the Citizen's State Rank. The town is now serviced by a branch of the Southern Hills Bank of Edgemont, and E. W. Carpenter is local manager. Energetic townsmen broughl about a revival of (he town's prosperity when (hey formed (he Ruffalo (Jap Fair associalion, represenUng Fall River and Custer counties, and held annual fairs for more than 20 years.

attracting thousands of persons into (own. The fair was a (op feature of (he year for (he en(ire Black Hills area for many years. Disaster struck again in 1937 and 1938, however, when floods washed out the railroad between Hot Springs and Buffalo Gap. A popular Buffalo Gap couple Floyd Sewright and Helen McVey, who were engaged to be married were drowned when the car in which they were riding was swept downstream by the flood waters. Buffalo Gap today is only a mere shell of its former greatness.

But there is still life there and townspeople are determined to keep the town going. Mayor Sewrighi BUFFALO GAP The riotous sound of gun fire died down long ago in Buffalo Gap, but the memory lingers on in the hearts and minds of its 155 residents. Townspeople here would rather talk about the "old days" because they were so much more colorful and exciting than life here is today. And the memory of Buffalo Gap's turbulent past is still fresh in the minds of many residents. There are probably more pioneers per household in Buffalo (Jap than any other Black Hills community.

Many of (hem lived on ranches in (he vicinity during the (lap's boisterous heydey. but moved into town to grow old with it during their twilight years. It is unfortunate that there are no good roads into Buffalo Gap. Many persons by-pass this romantic and picturesque community because the only route to it is the tortuous State Highway 79, a graveled road that twists crazily for 39 miles from the junction of Highway 36 south of Hermosa to Highway 85-A just north of Hot Springs. The casual visitor to Buffalo Gap would be impressed with the somnolence and restful atmosphere of the quiet little town.

Its wide Main street, attractively shaded by ancient cottonwoods, is devoid of the bustle so noticeable in other Hills towns, and every day seems like Sunday here. But it wasn't always so! Time was when the Gap's Main street was the scene of rowdy shenanigans, bawling ox teams, gun-happy cowpokes, land and cattle infriques, and liquor-soaked railroad crews. It was headquarters for the rugged cowboys who rode the vast ranges along the Cheyenne river, and it was the terminal for the Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Vallev's first railroad line into the Black Hills. Buffalo Gap, so named because it sits near the mouth of the gap in the southern Hills which the buffalo used in their north-south migrations, was first located on the George Boland ranch, one mile northwest of the present town. It first consisted of a log cabin relay station on the Sidney-Deadwood stage line, a postoffice and a saloon.

Boland, the first postmaster, gave the Black Hills a memorable tale of early-day individualism when he was admonished by a postal inspector for using empty beer cases for the mail and placing the postoffice in the same building as the saloon. Boland, pioneers still will tell you, tossed the beer cases with the mail out into the road and gruffly told the inspector to find himself a new postmaster. His angry suggestion, however, wasn't quite practical as he was the only man in town at that (ime. In 1885, the Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley railroad, which became the Chicago-Northwestern in 1902, extended its tracks from Chadron to Rapid City. It came through the gap a little southeast of Roland's place and a lively settlement quickly took shape.

The population swelled to 2,000 overnight and the town boomed. Among the early-day buildings were four blacksmith shops, 23 saloons, 17 hotels and eating places, two general stores, one drug store, two dance halls, three Chinese laundries, and a bank. Although the railroad had pushed through the gap, the town remained a stage stop for a spell. Three stage barns were located there, and train and stage passengers would stop over at either the Commercial, European, Grand or Palmer House hotels. The country was open range then, and oldtimers can remember making rides from Ruffalo Gap to Fort Pierre without stopping to open a gate.

The lush grassland surrounding the Gap quickly filled up with Texas cattle and the town prospered on the money of the cattlemen who drove their herds in for shipment. Ru( the town's first settlers paid an unwilling price for the prosperity brought on by the cattlemen and cowboys. They gladly accepted the money llutfalc Gap Ha Smallest Weekly could prove who actually fired the fatal shots. Buffalo Gap became more peaceful after that incident, and cowboys confined their activities to the saloons and brothels. Following the fatal shooting of the two cowboys, a fine of $10 was levied against anyone shooting firearms within the town limits.

Such goings on weren't very educational to the school children, the town board reasoned. However, the town leaders weren't too strict with the visiting cowboys. Records show that (he town board passed an ordinance prohibiting children under 16 years of age to be on the streets after 9 p.m. when the cowpokes took over. And from Sept.

1 to March 31. when the cowboys spent much time in town due to the winter lull, children weren't permitted on the streets after 8 p.m. Strangely, that curfew ordinance is still in effect although it is no longer enforced. Another early-day ordinance that is still on the town books prohibits anyone from riding their horses off the streets. The ordinance was passed after a drunken cowboy rode his horse into a store.

He was fined $8, plus $3 justice fees and $6.20 sheriff's costs for his crime. Perhaps the s(ranges( cn(ry in the old justice record, however, lis(s W. Swinford. (he justice of (he peace, as defendant. He fined himself $5 for being drunk.

Buffalo Gap also played a prominent role in the nefarious career of one Cornelius Donahue, more popularly known as Lame Johnny. Nobody in Buffalo Gap knows very much about Lame Johnny's early life, but nearly all of them are familiar with his demise. It was rumored in the early days (ha( Lame Johnny, so named because he walked wi(h a limp, was a graduate of Stephen Girard college in Philadelphia. He became a horse thief in Texas and came to the Hills during (he gold rush of 1877. Lame Johnny got himself appointed as deputy sheriff of Custer county and became well known to Buffalo Gap residents.

He later moved to Deadwood and was living a law-abiding life when one of his Texas friends showed up and exposed him as a horse thief. The cripple disappeared for awhile, and was all but forgotten when the Sidney stage was held up. and one of the drivers shot near Buffalo Gap in the fall of 1878. One of the stage passengers thought he recognised Lame Johnny among the holdup men and Cap). Frank Smith, a stock detective, was sent out to look for him.

He arrested Lame Johnny on (he Pine Ridge res-servation a week later, tossed him in a stajre coach and headed for Deadwood. A group of vigilantes, however, stopped the stage four miles out of Buffalo (Jap. removed Lame Johnny without opposition from his escort and hung him at a (ree near (he creek which now bears his name. W. A.

Sewright, president of the present board of trustees at Buffalo Gap, was born Oct, 8, 1880, just one half mile south of Lame Johnny Creek. He remembers when his father and several other men dug up Lame Johnny's grave when he was about 10 years old to see whether or not the body was still there. Although Ruffalo Gap is loca(ed on Beaver creek, early -day residents were plagued by water shortages. So frantic were (hey for water, in facL that (hey hired a "rainmaker" (o draw wa(er out of the clouds. One Sunday morning the rainmaker set off some gunpowder on the ridges surrounding the town, and a RUFFALO GAP.

This peaceful little community is one of the smallest towns in the state with a legal newspaper. In fact, the community once had two weekly newspapers. The Ruffalo (lap Republican was founded on August 9, 1890, with Lyman Rallou as foreman and local editor, and Issachar Schofield as editor and manager. The Republican was la(er owned by E. L.

Senn of Deadwood, and Rallou became owner of the Ruffalo (Jap (JazeMe. Senn discontinued the Republican. and Paul V. Loss, now of Igloo, ran (he Gazette for Mrs. Rallou after her husband's dea(h.

Foil later purchased the Gazette and ran it until 1938, when he sold out to Francis Case, who owned the Custer County Chronicle. Case sold the Gazette to Carl and Roy Simdstrom along with the Custer weekly. The present editor and publisher of the Gazette is 32-year-old Charles Ostrander, who purchased the newspaper on March 19, 1948, from the Sundstrom brothers. Ostrander. a na(ive of Deadwood.

attended State college and (he University of Wyoming. He graduated from RIack Hills Teachers college. Spearfish, and (aught school at Edgemont. He became educational director at the Rattle Mountain sanitarium at Hot Springs and held that post until he purchased the Gazette. Ostrander lives in Buffalo Gap, but prints the weekly newspaper at the Custer County Chronicle shop.

He solicits advertising, and gathers news items in Buffalo Gap, then drives to Custer every Thursday to print the weekly. He is assisted in his work by his wife, who also does most of the nook work. Ostrander is also a member of (he Ruffalo (Jap board of trustees. He says he likes Ruffalo Gap because "it has the best climate in the Rlack Hills." 'pUH ff Charlea Ottrandar, editor and publisher of the Buffalo Gap Gaiette. ia a native of tha Black Hilla, This modern school at Buffalo Gap is a cry from fht community! UpM schooliiouse.

which wai located in a log cabin. Th chool feachea up to th fourth year of high ichooL.