As we were leaving Wyoming a short side trip took us to the Devils Tower and it's not a bad name given that one of the theories around its formation is that it is a volcanic plug or that it is the neck of an extinct volcano. It must have something to do with the Devil because we saw a number of Hells Angels types cruising around. Apparently the tower is part of a motorcycle circuit that originates in nearby Sturgis, South Dakota, and bikers are drawn to the area as soon as the nice weather appears. Sturgis is the magnetic centre of the earth for anyone owning a motorcycle and the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally draws 450,000 participants to a town with a population of 6,600. Like our friends Art and Kevin in nearby Minneapolis, most of the attendees are motorcycle teddy bears but the Rally also draws in the 1% bikers (approximately $250,000 worth of motorcycles are stolen annually at the rally). Surprisingly most of the bikers we saw were wearing their colours but most seemed non-threatening like "Bob’s Bike Gang" but DH saw a gang she thought I should be joining- the “Pissed Off b******s”- who are in fact identified as 1% Bikers (I would argue that getting annoyed by screaming kids in a restaurant makes me a Grouchy Old Dude not a Pissed Off b****** but I don’t know if there is such a gang). We followed a parade of grey haired biker types all the way to Deadwood, SD.

One man who would very likely be a 1% biker if he were alive today is Wild Bill Hickok who was a gunfighter of some renown and he was involved in several notable shootouts. After a long life as a scout, marksman, actor and professional gambler, Wild Bill was an off and on lawman (usually being relieved of his duties after killing too many people). Like most lawmen, he retired early and left to seek his fortune in the gold fields of South Dakota. Hickok told travelling companions that he would likely be killed in Deadwood and, sure enough, while playing poker (without having his back to the wall as was his usual custom), a drunken coward shot Hickok in the back of the head at point-blank range (Jack McCall was hanged on March 1, 1877- the cemetery was moved in 1881, and when his body was exhumed, the noose was found still around his neck). When he was killed Bill was holding the now infamous 'dead mans hand’ of Aces and Eights and this is on display all throughout Deadwood.

Back in her lawman days, in order to carry her six shooter DH (where the 'D' didn't stand for "Deadeye") would periodically have to attend the gun range in order to re-qualify. She quickly picked up the moniker of Wild DH (or maybe it was just "wild DH"). It wasn't unusual for her to plug a number of bulls eyes during her testing but often times they weren't on the target she was shooting at. Her neighbours, thinking that was the object of the exercise, would shoot at her target and, of course, everybody would qualify.

Following in the footsteps of a lightening quick gunfighter like Wild Bill Hickok, DH went to great pains to ensure she didn't replicate the mistakes of Wild Bill when we visited the town of Deadwood. She was careful not to upset any of the descendants of this formerly lawless community, she avoided drinking and gambling, and, most importantly, she always sat with her back to the wall (she has always claimed that this habit came from policing but I think it just gives her a better view of any unfolding dramas around us).

In the same vein as Tombstone and Virginia City, Deadwood hangs onto its notorious past and a walk through the downtown area and the graveyard does give you a flavour of the legendary old wild west (if you can ignore the souvenir T-shirts). Two bars currently fight over the title of Wild Bill Hickok's last card game and there's even a daily re-enactment of the cowardly shooting. If those streets could talk...After our short visit, I’m sure that they’re still chatting about Wild DH and Pissed Off b****** prowling the local boardwalks in their cowboy boots.