Sioux people living near the Homestake deposit knew about gold in the area but did not find it useful. Missionary
Pierre-Jean De Smet warned Native people not to tell settlers about the gold, because, "white men would kill every Indian on the plains if they found out about the gold." In 1876,
settlers Fred and Moses Manuel, Alex Engh, and Hank Harney discovered the Homestake deposit during the
Black Hills Gold Rush. The
Black Hills had been guaranteed to the
Lakota Nation by the
Fort Laramie Treaty, but the
land was stolen for its gold. A trio of mining entrepreneurs,
George Hearst,
Lloyd Tevis, and
James Ben Ali Haggin, bought the claim from Manuel, Manuel, Engh, and Harney for $70,000 in 1877 (~$ in ).
George Hearst reached
Deadwood in October 1877 and took control of the mine property. Hearst arranged to haul the mining equipment by wagon from the nearest railhead in
Sidney, Nebraska.
Arthur De Wint Foote worked as an engineer. Despite the remote location, deep mines were dug and ore began to be produced. An 80-
stamp mill was built, and began crushing Homestake ore by July 1878. In 1879 the partners sold shares in the
Homestake Mining Company, and listed it on the
New York Stock Exchange. The Homestake would become one of the longest-listed stocks in the history of the NYSE, as Homestake operated the mine until 2001. Hearst consolidated and enlarged the Homestake property by fair and foul means. He bought out some adjacent claims, and secured others in the courts. A Hearst employee killed a man who refused to sell his claim, but was acquitted in court after all the witnesses disappeared. Hearst purchased newspapers in
Deadwood to influence public opinion. An opposing newspaper editor was physically attacked on a Deadwood street. Hearst realized that he might be on the receiving end of violence, and wrote a letter to his partners asking them to provide for his family should he be murdered. Within three years, Hearst had established the mine and acquired significant claims. He walked out alive, and very rich. By the time Hearst left the Black Hills in March 1879, he had added the claims of Giant, Golden Star, Netty, May Booth, Golden Star No. 2, Crown Point, Sunrise, and General Ellison to the original two claims of the Manuel Brothers, Golden Terra and Old Abe, totaling . The ten-stamp mill had become 200, and 500 employees worked in the mine, mills, offices and shops. Hearst owned the Boulder Ditch and water rights to Whitewood Creek, monopolizing the region. His railroad,
Black Hills & Fort Pierre Railroad, gave him access to eastern Dakota Territory. In 1901, the mine started using
compressed air locomotives, fully replacing mules and horses by the 1920s.
Charles Washington Merrill introduced cyanidization to augment mercury-amalgamation for gold recovery. "Cyanide Charlie" achieved 94 per cent recovery. The gold was shipped to the
Denver Mint. Through 2001, the mine produced of gold and of silver. In terms of total production, the Lead Mining District, of which the Homestake mine is the only producer, was the second-largest gold producer in the United States, after the
Carlin district in
Nevada. Homestake was the longest continually operating mine in United States history. The Homestake mine ceased production at the end of 2001. Reasons included low gold prices, poor ore quality, and high costs. The Homestake mine released arsenic into the
Cheyenne River for decades. Although the area was designated a
Superfund site, water was still contaminated in 2017. ==Conversion to use for scientific research==