Description

What is Black Hills Yesterday & Today?

This is a large-format hardcover photographic history of the Black Hills, built around a deceptively simple idea: find the exact spots where photographers stood between 1874 and 1935, set up a camera in the same position, and shoot again. Author and photographer Paul Horsted spent four years doing exactly that, traveling thousands of miles across South Dakota and Wyoming, working through images from 50 different historical collections to produce more than 160 matched pairs of then-and-now photographs.

The book covers towns: Custer, Deadwood, Rapid City, Spearfish, Sundance, Belle Fourche, Wall, Hermosa, and others. It covers landmarks: Harney Peak (now Black Elk Peak), Sylvan Lake, Spearfish Canyon, Bear Butte, Pactola (now a reservoir, formerly a mining camp), Mt. Rushmore, Devil’s Tower. Some locations have changed almost beyond recognition. Others have barely changed at all. That contrast is the book.

Paul Horsted and his wife Camille Riner founded Golden Valley Press in Custer, South Dakota. The imprint name references the valley near Custer where gold was discovered in 1874. Horsted has been a working photographer for more than 40 years. His work has appeared in LIFE, Reader’s Digest, National Geographic, Smithsonian, and South Dakota Magazine. This book is one of five coffee-table volumes published under the Golden Valley Press imprint.

What is inside

The core of the book is the photograph pairs themselves: a vintage image on one side, the modern rephotograph on the other, with field notes from Horsted explaining the history of each location, what changed, and what stayed. Each spread is full-color and full-page. The vintage images are reproduced with their original imperfections (bends, bumps, scratches) intact, which helps distinguish them from the crisp modern photographs.

Beyond the images, the book includes:

• GPS coordinates for the photograph locations, so readers can find the original camera points themselves
• Historical context for each locality covered, including the gold rush, military expeditions, and early tourism
• Source credits for approximately 50 historical photographers and collections
• An index for easy reference by location
• Travel suggestions from Horsted based on his four years in the field

Specifications

• Author and photographer: Paul Horsted
• Publisher: Golden Valley Press (Custer, South Dakota)
• Edition: 2nd Edition, 2007
• Format: Hardcover cloth with dust jacket
• Pages: 304
• Dimensions: 12 in x 11 in x 1 in
• Weight: 77.1 oz
• ISBN: 978-0-9718053-3-0
• Country of origin: United States (unconfirmed, pending physical copy)

Who is this for?

If you have driven through Deadwood or hiked up to Sylvan Lake and wondered what it looked like a hundred years ago, this book answers that directly. The photographs are the argument. Horsted’s field notes are specific and practical, not romanticized. He describes the logistics of tracking down each location and what he found when he got there. Readers who have been to the Black Hills will recognize the landmarks; readers who have not will understand the landscape by the end.

For collectors and history readers, the vintage source material alone is worth the price. Horsted pulled from 50 different archives and collections to find images most people have never seen. The gold rush, the early expeditions, the first tourist photographs from the 1890s and 1900s are all here, printed at a size where the details are visible.

As a gift, this is a substantial book. At 12 by 11 inches and 304 pages, it reads as a serious object, not a gift shop item. It is appropriate for anyone with a connection to South Dakota, the Black Hills, or Western history.

Frequently asked questions

How did Horsted find the original camera positions?

He compared landmarks visible in the historic photographs with current topography and worked out positions by triangulating features in the background. For some images he had written records; for others it was field work over multiple visits. The GPS coordinates printed in the book are the confirmed shooting positions.

What is the oldest photograph in the book?

Some images date to 1874, when the Custer Expedition entered the Black Hills. That expedition included photographers documenting the terrain. Horsted sources images from the period 1874 through 1935.

Does the book cover Wind Cave or Jewel Cave?

The book is focused on surface locations rather than cave interiors, though the Black Hills region it covers includes areas near Wind Cave. The towns and above-ground landmarks of the southern Black Hills are well represented.

Is this the most current edition?

The copy sold here is the 2nd edition, published in 2007. This is the current edition from Golden Valley Press.

Does buying this support national parks?

Yes. BHPFA is the official nonprofit partner of Wind Cave National Park, Jewel Cave National Monument, Scotts Bluff National Monument, and Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, as well as the Black Hills National Forest and Nebraska National Forests & Grasslands. Proceeds from every purchase support education programs, conservation projects, and visitor services at these sites.

Is this available anywhere else?

The book is available through the Golden Valley Press directly and through some regional booksellers and museum gift shops. Buying through BHPFA supports the partner parks and forests listed above.

Is this a good choice for someone who has never been to the Black Hills?

Yes, though readers who have visited will get more from the location-specific context. The historical photographs are interesting independently of any prior visit, and the field notes provide enough background that the geography is not a prerequisite.

What binding and cover type does the book have?

Cloth hardcover with a printed dust jacket. The construction is appropriate for a large-format coffee-table book.