Wyatt Alderton“We shall advocate for you among all, and fear none.”

Established 1876
Deadwood Territory,
South Dakota

FIRST HICKOK AND NOW PREACHER SMITH: WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?

Details are sparse, but as we go to press, it is learned that Preacher Henry Smith, known for his big heart and booming voice on Main Street, had been murdered. His body, torn asunder by savage Indians, was found dead about four miles outside of Deadwood.

This means the first preacher to lead a church service in the Black Hills is no more.

Smith, 50 or thereabouts, had become a minister when he was 23. He confided to a few people that he served in the Civil War in the Massachusetts 52nd Infantry and actually became a doctor before he returned to the ministry.

Smith’s street preaching here was not sanctioned by official Methodist mission. He told the few sympathetic souls that he met here that Smith simply felt a calling to come here. He held the first known church service in the Black Hills in May in Custer City and came to Deadwood soon after.

“I felt him to be an honest, caring man even if I couldn’t understand all the Bible he was talking about,” said Ernest Felts, a …

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