Thoen Stone
| 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 a sandstone slab dated 1834 that was discovered in the Black Hills of South Dakota by Louis Thoen in 1887. The discovery of the stone called into question the first discovery of gold and the history of gold mining in the Black Hills; 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. It is currently on display at the Adams Museum & House in Deadwood, South Dakota.
The early history of the people mentioned on the stone is limited. Two experienced miners were among the party of seven: William King and Indian Crow. According to the stone, Ezra Kind and his party traveled to the Black Hills in 1833 in search of gold, at which time a treaty prevented the party from entering the area legally. The stone itself was inscribed in 1834 by Ezra Kind after his entire party was killed by Native Americans. Kind himself later died of unknown causes.
On March 14, 1887, Norwegian immigrants and brothers Louis and Ivan Thoen discovered the slab while collecting sandstone on the west face of Lookout Mountain near his home in Spearfish. The stone was buried several feet below the surface. The men took the slab home, and Louis invited Henry Keats (a later mayor of Spearfish) to see the stone and the location where it was found. The stone was then taken to the Spearfish Register. One day later, Louis decided to display it in a store in Spearfish that was owned by John Cashner; Cashner and Louis sold pictures of the stone as postcards. In 1888, Cashner traveled to the Detroit Free Press in Michigan and sold the story of the stone to the newspaper. Louis died in 1919 during the 1918 influenza pandemic. The stone was named for Louis Thoen. In 1966, historian Frank Thomson published a book about the stone, titled The Thoen Stone: A Saga of the Black Hills. A monument complete with a replica of the stone was later placed on a hill above the Spearfish City Park, and an annual seven-mile run past the marker is named after the stone.
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