Sitting Bull Crystal Caverns: Our History

In 1929, Alex and Mamie Duhamel and their sons, Bud and Pete, began exploring and developing an impressive cave located on their property in Rockerville Gulch, a beautiful red rock canyon just east of the old-west gold town of Rockerville. The Duhamel's wanted to share this subterrainean geological treasure with visitors to the Black Hills and began preparations to lead tours through the caverns.

Black Elk (center), with friend Iron Hawk (left) and son Ben (right) playing a drum during the pageant. Black Elk and Iron Hawk both were survivors of the Battle of the Little Bighorn where General Custer was defeated.

With help from family friend and Lakota medicine man Black Elk, the Duhamels organized the Sioux Indian Pageant to help promote the caverns. The pageant offered a colorful and educational introduction to Lakota custom and culture. Indian families from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation were invited to spend the summers in the Hills participating in the pageant. In fact, it was Black Elk who chose the name Sitting Bull Crystal Caverns and Sioux Indian Pageant as a way to honor his friend and contemporary Sitting Bull, the famous Hunkpapa holy man who camped near the cave in the late 1800's.

This relationship with the Lakota people carried over to the Duhamel Trading Post as well. The trading post gave the Lakota people the ability to get needed hardware, clothing, and food in exchange for artwork, crafts, and artifacts. Visitors to the caverns and pageant were given a unique opportunity to purchase these authentic Native American items.

In 1992, Bud was honored with the prestigious Ben Black Elk Award for "promotion of Native American culture." A few years later, at 93 years old, Bud decided it might be time to retire so he turned over cave operations to his grandson, Peter Heffron. Today, Sitting Bull Crystal Caverns continues to be one of the leading attractions in the Black Hills, and Peter, in the spirit of his late grandfather, welcomes visitors to this unique experience.