Historic Black Hills Studios

The collection is owned by the cities of Lead, Deadwood and Spearfish in South Dakota. The collection may rank among the most significant photographic resources for historians of the American West. Potentially, many never before seen images of the early days of the South Dakota cities of Spearfish, Lead and Deadwood in addition to the entire Black Hills region are in the collection. The grand open

ing of Spearfish Canyon Road, presidential visits and a vast selection of early mining photos are among the many images that will have great interest to the general public. Also included are graduation, wedding and family photos that will be useful to genealogists. The Fassbenders’ interest in the Lakota culture yielded a large quantity of work documenting day-to-day life on reservations early in the 20th century, as well as traditional Lakota ceremonies on and off the reservation. Also the Fassbenders were accomplished rodeo photographers who shot images year after year at the Days of '76 and Black Hills Roundup, parades and rodeos, as well as small rodeo events in the region. Enjoy browsing the collection at http://historicblackhillsstudios.org and send us your comments. You may also send us your comments by email. You may contact us by email at: [email protected]. Images are available for commercial or personal use.