The first recorded discovery of gold in the Black Hills occurred on July 27, 1874. On that day, 
 a scout by the name of Horatio Nelson Ross and his mule stood beside a rushing stream. 
 Bending  to get a drink of crystal clear Black Hills stream water, Horatio focused his attention on
 a scattering of bright colors that had caught his eye. Those colors proved to be gold. It was 
 that gold strike that touched off a stampede for riches which was unparalleled in history. The
 grape and leaf motif, in three colors of gold, apparently originated in California during the 
 Gold Rush Days of 1849. The designs and patterns gradually worked eastward through the 
 gold camps of Idaho, Nevada, Montana and Colorado. The designs were brought to the Black 
 Hills from Montana by a man named LeBeau who opened a shop in Central City in 1876. It is 
 quite likely that most of the early  day artisans in the Black Hills were trained by LeBeau. 

 In the early 1900's, George M. Butler and R.S. Quimby operated retail jewelry stores with 
 small manufacturing shops as a part of their operations in the Black Hills.

 During the same period, Clarence Thorpe ran a small shop in Lead which had several
 employees. In 1919 he sold his shop to his brother, Frank Thorpe and E.O. Lampinen, who
 worked for Clarence Thorpe. Together they operated in the City of Lead as a partnership
 under the name of F.L. Thorpe Company, later moving the business to Deadwood. When the
 partnership of Thorpe and Lampined was dissolved, Ed Lampinen bought the old original
 tools and equipment from the George M. Butler Shop, and operated his own shop in
 Deadwood under the name of Black Hills Jewelry Manufacturing Company. Mr. Ivan
 Landstrom bought the business from Ed Lampinen in 1944 and moved it to Rapid City,
 where Lampinen continued to train employees of the company. Today, the business
 continues to operate under the name of Black Hills Jewelry Manufacturing Company,
 manufacturers of Landstrom's Original Black Hills Gold Creations. 

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