| Thoen Stone | |
|---|---|
 Thoen Stone replica monument above Spearfish City Park | |
| Material | Sandstone |
| Size | 10 by 8 by 3 inches (254 mm × 203 mm × 76 mm) |
| Writing | English |
| Created | 1834 CE |
| Discovered | March 14, 1887 on Lookout Mountain, Black Hills, South Dakota, United States |
| Present location | Adams Museum & House, Deadwood, South Dakota |
The Thoen Stone is an inscribed sandstone slab that was discovered in the Black Hills of South Dakota by Louis Thoen in 1887. The inscription, dated 1834, was supposedly made by the last survivor of a gold mining party whose members were killed by Native Americans after discovering gold in the area. The discovery of the stone called into question the first discovery of gold in the Black Hills and the history of gold mining in the area; if the account provided by the inscription is authentic, it would mean that gold was discovered in the Black Hills 40 years before the Custer Expedition of 1874 and the subsequent Black Hills Gold Rush.[1] It is currently on display at the Adams Museum & House in Deadwood, South Dakota.[2]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
dm2was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Higbee, Paul; Aney, Kathleen (2000). Spearfish: A History. Spearfish, SD: Black Hills and Bighorns History Project. pp. 10–11. ISBN 0-9676762-0-7.