The Black Hills Gold Rush began in 1874. The first gold seekers were General Custer and his men. They first found small amounts of gold in the now Custer, South Dakota, and moved to find better gold hot spots. They moved north and founded the  towns of Hill City, Sheridan, and Pactola. At each spot they found small amounts of gold, but not the riches that they wanted. Custer and his men found the gold they were looking for in Deadwood and Whitewood Creeks in the northern Black Hills. By 1876, gold seekers from all over the country claimed the land in that area, which was supposed to belong ot the Sioux Indians. Although all the land taken many more prospectors flooded the land in hopes of striking it rich. The gold the miners found was placer gold. Placer gold is  loose gold pieces that were mixed in with the rocks and dirt around streams.  Like many gold rushes around the world, the easiest found gold was gone in only a couple of years. However, because of the rich lode deposits in the Black Hills, the mining in that area continued for many years after. Many mines worked on and off for the years after in present day Lawrence and Pennington Counties. The Homestake Mine ultimately became one of the largest and deepest gold mines in North America.  Over 40 million ounces of gold was mined there between 1878 and its closure in 2002.