The other day I had a chance to tour the Days of 76 Museum in Deadwood. I have to admit that despite living in the Black Hills for the better part of two decades, I didn’t even know there was a museum next to the Days of 76 rodeo grounds.

Frankly, the museum doesn’t look like much from the outside. But on the inside, it’s a much different story. I found the collection of horse-drawn wagons, guns, photos, clothing and artifacts fascinating.

Ron Burns of the Days of 76 Committee was kind enough to show me around. He also told me the story of how the museum became a museum. It started out as a storage barn for the horse-drawn wagons, carriages and buggies that were used each year in the Days of 76 Parade in downtown Deadwood.

As the collection of carriages grew, so did interest in seeing them. “People kept wanting to bring somebody down to see the wagons,” he said. “They had to literally climb over wagons to see everything.”

At some point, the barn was laid out in a way to better view the wagons. Then other antiques, photos and historical materials from Deadwood’s storied history joined the wagons, and the Days of 76 Museum was born. In the early 1990s, Don Clowser – businessman, collector and historian – put his personal collection of guns, Old West furniture, Native American arts and crafts, and other artificacts on display.

Today, the Days of 76 Museum is home to an incredible variety of history.
The wagons – 52 of them – include one of the original Deadwood Stagecoaches, several ornately decorated horse-drawn hearses and small buggies. There’s a beer wagon, dray wagons, fire engines and a horse-drawn version of the dump truck. And Ron knows the story behind each wagon.

The Clowser collection is all over the place. There’s even a mastodon tusk on display. And a hand-cranked movie projector. And moccasins, photos, letters and … well, you name it.

But it is obvious that the museum has outgrown its current building – or the building has outlived its usefulness. Organizers are working to raise $6 million for a building that will be as impressive on the outside as it is inside. More on that later.

Meanwhile, I’m telling everybody that they should stop in and see the Days of 76 Museum, if even for a couple of hours.