T. D. Griffith - Outlaw Tales of South Dakota: True Stories of the Mount Rushmore States Most Infamous Crooks, Culprits, and Cutthroats

A fourth-generation South Dakotan, Tom Griffith attended the University of London before he was graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. He worked as a reporter, photographer, and managing editor of award-winning newspapers in Arizona, Montana, and South Dakota before serving as director of communications for the Mount Rushmore Preservation Fund, a nationwide campaign that raised $25 million to preserve and improve the mountain memorial.

In addition to writing articles for dozens of newspapers and magazines, Griffith is the author of five books, including Americas Shrine of Democracy, with a foreword by President Ronald Reagan; South Dakota, a comprehensive guide to the state distributed worldwide; and Greeno: A Winning Tradition, with a foreword by NBCs Tom Brokaw. Griffiths travel writing, news articles, and features have appeared in newspapers and magazines from New York to New Zealand, including the Rapid City Journal, Wisconsin State Journal, Billings Gazette, Bismarck Tribune, St. Paul Pioneer Press, and New Zealand Herald, as well as a host of periodicals including Historic Traveler, Midwest Living, AAA Home & Away, AAA Living, Native Peoples, Country Inns, Hadassah, SkyWest, and Western Horseman.

Griffith is an active member of the Society of American Travel Writers and Western Writers of America. As a contributing writer to major publishing companies for nearly two decades, including The Globe Pequot Press, Griffith also has coauthored more than three dozen volumes, including Fodors USA, Healthy Escapes, Great American Vacations, The Old West, The Lewis & Clark Trail, South Dakotas Black Hills & Badlands, and National Parks of the West. His travel writing has taken him to forty-five countries. Griffith and his wife, Nyla, make their home in the Black Hills of South Dakota. In their spare time they enjoy trout fishing, motorcycling, and traveling.

History is often defined by those who write it. In the case of Outlaw Tales of South Dakota, historys course has been charted by a variety of individuals and organizations that strive to preserve the stories of our treasured past, while embracing many of the legends that still give it the luster and patina of time. Kudos and my deepest appreciation are reserved for Carol A. Jennings, government archivist for the South Dakota State Historical Society, whose knowledge of South Dakotas collections and research expertise are reflected in virtually every page of this book. This tome of tales also could not have been realized without the expertise and guidance of Mary Kopco, director of Deadwoods Adams Museum & House, and her capable associates, Jerry Bryant, Arlette Hansen, Kate Bentham, and Darrel Nelson. So, too, did Deadwood Library director Jeanette Moodie assist with her gentle smile and welcome direction.

So many members of the Association of South Dakota Museums provided insights and knowledge of the characters and criminals who are inexorably linked to this states past. It is with thanks that I acknowledge their contributions, particularly those of Linda Velder and the Newell Museum, Bill Hoskins at the Siouxland Heritage Museums, and countless others who were pestered for anecdotes and directions to the nearest tall tale often relegated to a musty storeroom or a brittle spindle of microfilm.

As with any project of this scope, I stumbled upon kindred souls who share a love of the past and endeavor to preserve it. Retired Sioux Falls Argus Leader reporter C. John Egan Jr. wasnt informed until his midlife that his grandfather had been erroneously executed for a crime he didnt commit. Johns own book, Drop Him Till He Dies, provided incredible detail of the Egan case and I thank him for his personal insights. Appreciation also is extended to my old friend Larry Atkinson and the Mobridge Tribune.

Special thanks to my editor, Pat Straub, who shares a love of clear mountain streams and dry flies, as well as the lure and lore of the Old West. And finally, to my wife, Nyla, a fellow author who understands that research and writing are too often solitary pursuits, I pledge my undivided attention, at least until the next project too attractive to pass up.

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