Camp J.G. Sturgis / Scooptown

The camp was named for Second Lieutenant James G. Sturgis of the 7th Cavalry, killed at the Little Bighorn at twenty-two and never identified among the dead; he is presumed buried in the mass grave on Last Stand Hill. On July 18, 1878, his father, Colonel Samuel D. Sturgis, came to command the camp that bore his son's name. It lasted under two months. The settlement a mile west, nicknamed Scooptown for what its store did to soldiers' pay, came to carry the colonel's name instead.

What the plaque says

Camp J. G. Sturgis Named for Lt. J. G. Sturgis, killed June 25, 1876 at Battle of Little Big Horn. Established July 1, 1878 in this area by Cos. G.F.I.K., 1st US Infantry; D.G. 11th US Infantry; Hq. & Trs. A.C.D.E.G.I.K.M. 7th US Cavalry; Col. S.D. Sturgis, Comdg. joined command July 18; Trs. H.L. joined Aug. 8. Aban- doned Aug. 28 troops moving to Camp Ruhlen (now Ft. Meade). Cavalry was one day late to prevent Wagnus massacre a few miles north. Scooptown Was located 1 mile west at Grasshopper Jim Frederick's store so named by the soldiers who were likely to be "scooped" (cleaned out) over at that caravansary. The name migrated when the soldiers went to Camp Ruhlen and Sturgis was so called for a time. Erected 1954 - Meade County Comm. - State Highway Comm. - S. D. Hist. Society

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Bear Butte — 2.3 mi
  Mato Paha to the Lakota and Noahvose to the Cheyenne, a lone mountain off the plains where both nations still come to fast and pray.
• Mount Moriah Cemetery — 16 mi
  The hillside where Deadwood moved its dead: Wild Bill and Calamity Jane side by side, Seth Bullock looking at his friend's tower, and the Chinese burner of 1908.
• Deadwood Historic District — 16 mi
  A gold-rush town on treaty land, rebuilt in brick after the 1879 fire and rescued a century later by a vote to let casinos pay for its preservation.
• Homestake Open Cut & Sanford Lab Visitor Center — 18 mi
  A 1,250-foot pit on Lead's Main Street, the visible top of a gold mine that went down 8,000 feet in 125 years and is a physics laboratory now.

More markers nearby

• Thomas E. Odell — 2.0 mi
• Death of the Bismarck Trail — 2.3 mi
• Bear Butte — 5.0 mi
• It Started Here — 5.5 mi