Custer’s String of Pearls

George Armstrong Custer’s 1874 Expedition to the Black Hills. Custer’s long line of 110 Wagons. William H. Illingworth took this photo using glass plates. Image Courtesy of 1881 Courthouse Museum, Custer, SD

William H. Illingworth

Image Courtesy of 1881 Courthouse Museum, Custer, SD

Amongst the lush pine-covered hills of southwestern South Dakota lies a quiet, unpretentious valley. A small, crystal-clear stream runs through to the end of the valley and merges into Castle Creek. There are magnificent limestone bluffs adorning the South side with forested steep hills on the North. You’ll find grazing cattle, deer, and elk undisturbed by the predators hiding in the trees. You can travel down the gravel road that runs its length for miles until it wanders into Wyoming.

The valley’s name comes from a time in 1874, when Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer was ordered to lead an expedition into the uncharted Black Hills of South Dakota. Custer took with him the 7th Cavalry, 1000 men, 110 wagons, 2100 horses, and a two-month food supply. With him came prospectors, hunters, adventurers, and the famous English photographer William H. Illingworth. Also accompanying him were several Native American scouts, such as Bloody Knife and Lean Bear. Custer’s mission was to search for a suitable location to build a fort, to find a route to the southwest, and to report on the prospects of gold being found in this region of the Black Hills.

Custer and his contingent camped in this same small valley. William H. Illingworth climbed one of the steep limestone bluffs, and from above, Illingworth captured the historic glass plate photo of the long line of wagons camped in the valley. After Illingworth processed his photo, the photo became known as the String of Pearls Valley.

As you turn off West Deerfield Road onto a gravel road named Soholt Ranch Road running north, you will enter the valley called the String of Pearls. The road is public, but much of the land on both sides is private property and should be treated with respect as such. Fences are few, so you may have a curious cow requesting a handout. Just don’t roll down your window. Cows do bite. Be cautious of all animals in these parts, as none are pets. Bears, mountain lions, coyotes, elk, deer, and a pack of wolves roam the valley and the hills freely, so caution is always recommended. Just remember, if you step out of your vehicle, you could become lunch in a land that is usually free of human intervention.

If you find the location of the small path that leads to where Illingworth took his famous photograph, please note that you will be venturing onto private and state property. Walking this path is required; do not take your vehicle, motorcycle, or motorized vehicle. And above all, take nothing, leave nothing, and leave all as you found it.

The ‘String of Pearls Valley’ today.

Photo taken August 2025, Courtesy of Corey Kretsinger, Midstate Design ©2025

A FUN FACT: In the photo above, on the bottom right, you will see a tall burned tree trunk. To the trunk’s right and a little uphill, you can see a cut-off tree stump (looks like a dark rock). On the original 1874 photo by Illingworth, in the bottom right corner, you can see there are two upright tree trunks, look like poles. However, in the 2025 photo, the left tree trunk is still there, and someone cut off the right burned trunk, leaving only a dark stump. This tells us that this remaining tree trunk was burned in a natural forest fire prior to the Illingsworth photo in 1874, and is still with us today, 151+ years later.

I have been blessed to know Travis Beeze and have ranged a few cattle on his ranch. In the photo below, I’m with Travis, on his horse in the background, working cattle on the same location toward the far end of the ‘String of Pearls Valley’. I’m bundled up here because it is about 10 degrees below zero.

Photo ©2021 Larry P. Meese

In the photo below, if you look further down the valley, where the gravel road starts to curve left and where you can see the road jut out and then back, is the location of the photo above, where Travis and I are herding cattle. The photo below was taken on the same day as the photo above.

Photo ©2021 Larry P. Meese