William J. Bulow

In his first term Bulow pardoned the best-known gambler in the Black Hills. Alice Ivers Tubbs, born in Devonshire, England, in 1851 and called Poker Alice, kept a resort on Bear Butte Creek between Sturgis and Fort Meade. It was raided for bootlegging in 1924, and in 1925 she was convicted of operating a house of prostitution. Facing the penitentiary in 1928, she was saved by a petition from her community, signed by hundreds, citing her poor health. Bulow granted the pardon on December 20, 1928. She died at Rapid City in February 1930.

What the plaque says

William J. Bulow Twelfth Governor of South Dakota William J. Bulow was born in 1869 in Claremont County, Ohio. Receiving an LLB in 1893 from the University of Michigan, he came to South Dakota and opened a law practice in Beresford, where he served as mayor and city attorney before his election as governor of South Dakota on the Democratic ticket in 1926 and 1928. A life- long Cleveland Democrat, the governor incurred the wrath of New Deal President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In 1932 and 1936, Bulow was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he was instrumental in securing for Beresford its modern post office, dedicated in 1940. He also played a role in the routing of U.S. Highway 77 through the town's main thoroughfare. Before retiring from public life in 1942, Senator Bulow made many similar contributions to the community, state and nation. The senator died in 1960 and is buried in St. John's Cemetery east of Beresford. Erected 1989 by the City of Beresford, the S.D. State Historical Society and the S.D. Department of Transportation

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Spirit Mound Historic Prairie — 17 mi
  A lone hill north of Vermillion that Lewis and Clark walked to on a scorching day in 1804, now one of the few places left where you can stand exactly where they stood.
• National Music Museum — 22 mi
  One of the great collections of musical instruments in the world, on a college campus in a prairie town, built around a band teacher's thousands of horns, fiddles and curiosities.

More markers nearby

• Southeast South Dakota Experiment Farm — 7.2 mi
• Archie M. Gubbrud — 8.3 mi
• Civilian Conservation Corps Camp - Alcester — 8.3 mi
• Canton — 18 mi