Welcome To South Dakota’s Holy Terror

South Dakota is rural, it's friendly, it's peaceful. That's why the folks (like me) that live here love it!

But truth be known, we do have a Holy Terror here in the Sunshine State. And people from all over the world have experienced it and enjoyed themselves.

Our 'Holy Terror' came to South Dakota not to long after 'There's gold in them thar Hills' echoed across the territory. It was the late 1800's and everyone flocked to South Dakota's Black Hills to get rich, and...

...while some did, most didn't. But that didn't diminish the dream. Any stream could hold gold, any new mine could be the difference between 'where's my next meal coming from' and riches beyond one's wildest dreams.

And so the 'Holy Terror' was born.

According to the Visit Keystone Website, it was June of 1894 that William Franklin and his adopted daughter Cora discovered gold at the base of Mt. Aetna. The mine would become one of the richest in the country. Life was good! But what to name this mine?

Well, it would be great to be able to say that there's a long history of ghost's in the mine, of spooky tales and eerie sounds. Things that terrified the people who worked there. You know, para normal activity, unexplained goings-on. And because of that, it would come to be called the 'Holy Terror'. Yep, that would be a great tale to tell.

But...no.

William Franklin, the founder of the gold mine, had a friend who told him he should name the new mine in honor of his wife. And because his wife would go looking for him in the local saloons and drag him out, he would reportedly say to the other saloon patron's 'Ain't she a Holy Terror?'

And so when Franklin's partner said he should name the mine after his wife, well, he did.

Indeed, rather than calling his new gold mine 'Jennie', it became the 'Holy Terror'. So the next time you're in the great Black Hills tourist town of Keystone, have a cold one in salute to Jennie.