The story
On December 23, 1874, the Gordon Party — 26 men, one woman, and a child, led by guide John Gordon — reached Custer's old expedition camp on French Creek and built a log stockade. The lone woman, Annie Tallent, is widely credited as the first white woman to enter the Black Hills and later became the region's first schoolteacher. Their presence was illegal under the 1868 treaty; in April 1875 the U.S. Cavalry evicted them and marched the party 421 miles to Fort Laramie. Today's stockade is a reconstruction — the third, completely rebuilt in 2004.
Everything that was here
- 1874–present
Gordon StockadeHistoric Site
Twenty-eight illegal prospectors — including the first white woman known to enter the Black Hills — built this log fort on French Creek in the dead of winter 1874, defying both a Lakota treaty and the U.S. Army.
See the map in 1875 →
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Connected places
Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF)
Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway
Roughlock Falls
Galena (silver camp)
Nemo (Homestake timber camp)
Explore the full web of connections on the map.
Nearby history
1874 French Creek Gold Discovery Site
Custer City
Flintstones Bedrock City
Needles Highway
Sylvan Lake
Crazy Horse Memorial
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