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Gold Divides Dakotans as River Did

Gold Divides Dakotans as River Did
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October 9, 1988, Section 1, Page 28Buy Reprints
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Here in Deadwood Gulch, where Wild Bill Hickok drew eights and aces, along with a bullet, people still talk about the good old days, when gold mining was booming and the brothels were operating freely and openly.

That was way back in 1980. Some residents blamed ''East River'' sensibilities for the state's order shutting down the brothels (the Green Door, the Red Door and the Purple Door), enterprises that they said had helped fuel the tourist trade. Now they're fearful those same people living east of the Missouri River will harm gold mining, which provides some of the best-paying jobs in the Black Hills region to the west of the river.

A measure on the ballot in November would increase taxes on gold mining and impose costly environmental strictures on excavation. The widest support for the proposal is expected to come from voters living east of the Missouri River, a sort of longitudinal Mason-Dixon line that divides this state between the Midwest and the West.

''People around here will tell you they got it all wrong when they divided the Dakotas,'' said State Representative Gordon Pederson, a ''West River'' man. ''It should have been West Dakota and East Dakota.'' World and Time Apart

Crossing the river brings a sudden and striking change, indeed, from nurtured prairie flatland to untamed hillsides and dizzying canyons, and the clock moves back an hour, from Central to Mountain time. And among the people, the differences shape everything from fashion to politics.

Followers of politics here sometimes joke that two strains of ideology compete for South Dakota voters: conservative and very conservative. To be sure, the western region is a conservative Republican stronghold.

But one of South Dakota's Senators and its only Representative are Democrats, with most of those votes coming from the east, the home of former Senator George McGovern.

In some measure, the differences reflect an urban-rural split, with most of the larger, industrialized cities located in the east. But the differences also illustrate the varying philosophies of ranchers, who generally balk at government intervention, and farmers, who depend on Federal subsidies. Differences Began Early

Moreover, the western region was settled largely by homesteaders, men and women who migrated here from another part of the nation and shared a belief in rugged individualism. The eastern sector, meanwhile, experienced a great influx of Scandinavian and German immigrants after the turn of the century, groups that tended toward unions and Democratic politics.

Hardly anyone speaks of any sense of competition between the two Dakota states, founded 99 years ago. But the rivalry between East and West remains strong, and not always so friendly.

''We think the East River people are snobs,'' said Donna Haefs, a 24-year-old waitress in Deadwood. ''And they think we're rednecks.''

The nuances that separate Dakotans might be lost on much of the rest of the nation. But natives here say the differences are so obvious that people can be distinguished on sight. Feeling Out of Place

Bob Kadlecik, an East River construction worker visiting Deadwood recently, sat on a saloon stool and conceded that he looked out of place from head to toe. ''I'm wearing high-topped tennis shoes among all these cowboy boots,'' he said. ''And I don't even own a cowboy hat.''

In the contest for bragging rights, West River people boast that they have the gold, the cattle and the scenery. But the East side has the people, nearly 75 percent of the 700,000 South Dakotans. Many of the Easterners, who tend to be more affluent, vacation in the Black Hills. And they recoil at the thought of ugly scars maiming the natural treasure. Mr. Kadlecik, for example, intends to vote for the mining tax and environmental requirements.

''They see the Black Hills as their playground,'' said Karl Lalonde, who works in the gold mines. ''We see it as a matter of economic survival.''

A mine here owned by the Homestake company produces more gold than any other mine in the nation. The company reported earnings in South Dakota last year of $34.6 million. Its workers earn an average of $16 an hour in this region where many jobs pay little more than the minimum wage. Mining officials say the proposals on the ballot would cost them millions in new taxes and reclamation expenses and could threaten the health of the industry here. Wanted Nuclear Waste Site

The mining measures mark the latest in a series of divisions between the East and West sides of South Dakota over the competing interests of the environment and the economy.

The town of Edgemont, where scores of houses have been abandoned in recent economic hard times, campaigned vigorously to get a nuclear waste company to locate a dump there. When some politicians in the state raised concerns about the safety of the nuclear deposits, the Mayor of Edgemont posed for newspaper cameras with a uranium chip between his teeth, an effort to show there was no danger. In the end, however, the site was rejected by the state, and many Western South Dakotans blamed East River environmentalists.

In an effort to boost the economy, some politicians in Deadwood, the burial place of the legendary marksman Calamity Jane, have called for legalized gambling here. But the proposal has encountered resistance from east of the river.

''Brothels, waste sites, you name it,'' Ms. Haefs said. ''those East River people vote against everything.''

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section 1, Page 28 of the National edition with the headline: Gold Divides Dakotans as River Did. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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