Black Hills Gold

When we lived in Colorado (1971-1976), a neighbor woman, who ran the office, hired me as a temp in the Office of Revisor of Statutes in the Colorado State Capitol building in Denver.  Then she hired me full time. Many of the legislators, native Coloradoans, wore boots and Stetsons and shirts with pearl snaps and leather vests every day. One of the attorneys in our office named Bill Pilgrim did as well.

Milton Foe was a jovial retired attorney who got bored with retirement. He became a surrogate grandfather, calling me a flatlander about every day.

Several Coloradoans wore Black Hills Gold jewelry, with its distinctive three shades of gold. You’d think that Black Hills gold is mined within the Black Hills. No, Black Hills Gold jewelry denotes the use of the three colors of gold in the grape leaf and cluster motif. In 1980, a U.S. District Court Judge ruled that Black Hills Gold jewelry must be made in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

I wasn’t much of a fan of the jewelry until we visited Mount Rushmore on my 60th birthday. One style caught my eye in the gift shop, and became one of my favorite birthday souvenirs of that trip.

Our travels that year, 2004, included visiting where Grandma Leora lived as a preschooler. We didn’t know it would also include discovering where Guy’s Great Grandfather Amos Mark Runkle is buried. Here’s the story of that trip, and the other favorite souvenir, a book.