Wolff, David A.
Associate Professor of History
Black Hills State University
Spearfish, SD 57799
Academic Degrees
Ph.D.
M.A.
B.S.
B.S.
Arizona State University
University of Wyoming
University of Wyoming
University of Wyoming
2000
1991
1988
1973
History
History
History
Pharmacy
Professional Experience
1998-Present
1992-1997
1989-1991
1990-1991
Black Hills State University
Arizona State University, faculty associate
Laramie County Community College, adjunct faculty
University of Wyoming, instructor
Courses Taught on BHSU Campus
HIST-151, United States History I
HIST-152, United States History II
HIST-153, American History Since 1945
HIST-359, Recent American History
HIST-455, American Civil War and Reconstruction
HIST-465, Westward Expansion of U.S.
HIST-467, History of the Black Hills
HIST-476, History of South Dakota
HIST-494, Internships
Courses Taught through Extended Studies
HIST-377, Economic History of U.S. Correspondence class.
IDL 399, Issues of the Yellowstone Ecosystem. Interdisciplinary class, taught at
Yellowstone.
SLDR-710, Leadership: Lessons Learned. On-line class.
HIST-592/ED-592, Topics: Facing History through Mt. Rushmore Monument and Crazy
Horse Memorial. Taught at the monuments.
Leadership Positions in Professional Organizations
Chairman of the Board of Directors, Adams Museum & Historic House, Deadwood, SD.
Vice-President of the Board of Trustees, South Dakota State Historical Society.
Member of the Board of Directors, South Dakota State Railroad Museum.
Member of the Board of Directors, Lawrence County Historical Society.
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Professional and Academic Organization Memberships
Western History Association
Mining History Association
Wyoming State Historical Society
The Westerners
Publications
Seth Bullock: Black Hills Lawman. South Dakota State Historical Society Press, 2009.
“Preface.” In Paul Horsted’s The Black Hills: Yesterday and Today, Golden Valley
Press, 2006.
“Black Hills in Transition.” Chapter in A New South Dakota History, pp. 218-317. Sioux
Falls: Center for Western Studies, 2005.
“Different Ways of Viewing a Monument,” Great Plains Quarterly, Spring 2005, pp 119122.
Industrializing the Rockies: Growth, Competition and Turmoil in the Coalfields of
Colorado and Wyoming, 1868-1914, University Press of Colorado, 2003.
“No Matter How You Do It, Fraud is Fraud,” South Dakota History, Summer 2003, vol.
33 no. 2, pp 91-119.
“Poverty, Politics, and Petroleum: The Utah Navajo and the Aneth Oil Field,” American
Indian Quarterly, Summer 1997, pp. 451-70.
“Mining Ground on the Fringe: The Horseshoe-Mogul Mining Company of the Northern
Black Hills,” The Mining History Journal, 1995, 15-27.
“Twenty Moments in Wyoming Politics, One Hundred Years Ago; Or, Twenty Brief
Essays on the 1890 Wyoming State Legislature,” Wyoming State Archives and Museum
Department and Wyoming Secretary of State’s Office, 1990.
“Pyritic Smelting at Deadwood: A Temporary Solution to Refractory Ores,” South
Dakota History, Winter 1985, vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 312-39.
Recently Published Book Reviews
The Mining Law of 1872: Past, Politics, and Prospects. By Gordon Morris Bakken. South
Dakota History, Summer 2009, vol. 39, no. 2, p. 186.
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Stricken Field: The Little Bighorn since 1876. By Jerome Greene. Pacific Northwest
Quarterly, Winter 2008/2009, vol. 100, no. 1, p. 40.
Hard Rock West: History and Geology along the Gold Rush Trail. By Keith Heyer
Meldahl. Journal of American History, 2008, vol. 95, no. 2, p. 528.
The Gold Rush. A PBS Video for the American Experience. Journal of American
History, 2007, vol. 94, no. 3, pp. 1027-1028.
Calamity Jane: The Woman and the Legend. By James D. McLaird. South Dakota
History, 2006. vol. 36, no. 4, pp. 403-404.
The Mechanics of Optimism: Mining Companies, Technology, and the Hot Springs Gold
Rush, Montana Territory, 1864-1868. By Jeffrey J. Safford. Western Historical Quarterly,
2006, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 96-97.
Livengood: The Last Stampede. By Audrey E. Parker. Alaska History, 2005, vol. 20, no.
2, pp 63-64.
Riding the High Wire: Aerial Mine Tramways in the West. Robert A. Trennert. Nevada
Historical Quarterly, 2005, vol. 48, no. 3, pp. 411-412.
When Coal Was King: Ladysmith and the Coal-Mining Industry on Vancouver Island.
By John R. Hinde. Pacific Northwest Quarterly, 2005, vol. 96, no. 2, pp. 106-107.
The Nature of Gold: An Environmental History of the Klondike Gold Rush. By Kathryn
Morse. Journal of American History, 2004, vol. 91, no. 3, pp. 1041-1042.
Growing Up with the Town: Family and Community on the Great Plains. By Dorothy
Hubbard Schwieder. Great Plains Quarterly, 2003, vol. 23, no. 4, p. 272.
Recent Paper Presentations
“Seth Bullock and the Politics of Early Deadwood,” West River History Conference,
2009, Rapid City, South Dakota.
“Using Lincoln’s Name in Vain: Political Opportunism in the Black Hills,” Dakota
Conference of History and Archaeology, Augustana College, 2009, Sioux Falls, South
Dakota
“Taking Risks to Stay Alive: Responses to Economic Change in Deadwood, SD,”
Western History Association Annual Meeting, 2008, Salt Lake City, Utah.
“Romancing the Myth: Seth Bullock’s Black Hills,” Island in the Plains Archaeological
and Historical Symposium, 2008, Sundance, WY.
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“What Are We Doing and What Needs to be Done? An Examination of South Dakota
Scholarship,” Dakota Conference of History and Archaeology, Augustana College, 2008,
Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
“Competition and Cooperation: Railroads and Towns in Western South Dakota,” Dakota
Conference of History and Archaeology, Augustana College, 2007, Sioux Falls, South
Dakota.
“From Boomtown to Urban Center: The Transformation of Deadwood,” Dakota
Conference of History and Archaeology, Augustana College, 2006, Sioux Falls, South
Dakota.
“What Gold Hath Wrought,” Plenary Paper, Dakota Conference of History and
Archaeology, Augustana College, 2005, Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
“That Parallel Lives of Harris Franklin and James K. P. Miller,” Society of Black Hills
Pioneers 121st Annual Meeting, 2003, Belle Fourche, South Dakota.
“Mining Town Connections in Colorado, Wyoming, and South Dakota,” Western History
Association Annual Conference, 2002, Colorado Springs, Colorado.
“The Coming of Modern Deadwood,” West River History Conference, 2002, Keystone,
South Dakota.
“Mines Beyond the Homestake,” South Dakota State Historical Society Annual Meeting,
2002, Pierre, South Dakota.
Recent Television Interviews and Appearances
“The Real Deadwood,” HBO Deadwood Series, on DVD for seasons one (2004), two
(2005), three (2006), and complete box set (2008).
“Wild West Tech: Deadwood Tech,” History Channel, 2005.
“Lost Worlds: Deadwood, Sin City,” History Channel, 2007.
“Deadwood Songbook,” South Dakota Public Television, 2008.
Recent Honors
Mining History Association’s Clark Spence Award for a book exhibiting excellence in
mining history to Industrializing the Rockies, 2005.
Black Hills State University Student Senate Outstanding Faculty Member Award for
2004-2005.
Co-Recipient of “Community Service Award” from Black Hills State University, 2003.
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