(gentle guitar music) ♪ Back roads and byways ♪ ♪ Campfires, we'll lie awake ♪ ♪ Sweet grass and summer sage ♪ ♪ Come on baby ♪ ♪ Come and take my ♪ ♪ Take my hand ♪ ♪ Take my hand ♪ ♪ We're Dakota bound ♪ (gentle guitar music) - [Eliza] Join us as we travel to share stories and songs from the prairie.

The Black Hills Gold Rush took place in Dakota Territory in the 1870s.

Prior to the rush, the Black Hills were used by Native Americans, primarily the Lakota but others as well, for wintering and sacred ceremonies.

And the United States government recognized the hills as belonging to the Lakota by the Treaty of Laramie in 1868.

Despite being within the native American territory, and therefore off limits, when prospectors found gold in 1874, thousands of gold seekers flocked to the hills, in direct violation of the treaty.

Violations that are still unresolved today.

Mining itself has a controversial legacy.

Mining powers modern life, but the industry often leaves scarred lands and polluted waters behind.

Similarly, while there is a wealth of folk music, song and dance associated with mining, much of it is sad, documenting the abysmal conditions miners endured.

For many however, there is still pride in the heritage and a love of the mining way.

For this month's episode of Wish You Were here, with Eliza Blue, We are going to a less well known site Cloverleaf Mine in Lawrence County.

Historically, this mine was associated with the Galena Mining District in what is now the Black Hills National Forest.

Gold was located there in 1878, but due to financial problems and excessive flooding, it was closed in 1937.

New owner Joe Nonnast, is giving the abandoned mine new life, by refurbishing and adding to existing structures with an artisan's flare.

Joe's Craftsmanship reclaims, and Re imagines, a landscape and tradition that was once only extractive and in the process is making a beautiful place to share stories and songs.

Hello, my name is Eliza Blue and we are here today at the Clover Leaf Gold Mine a little outside of Lead South Dakota.

And I wish you were here because we are about to have some really great music and some great conversations about mining.

Well, I'm really excited to be here at the Clover Leaf Gold mine.

And the band we are going to be presenting today is called Humble Town.

This is Morgan and Dylan, and they play all over the hills really all over the state of South Dakota.

And they play a lot of different styles of music.

But what, what would you categorize as sort of like your main genre?

- I would say equally bluegrass and old time because, - And folk.

- Yeah, and folk - Which are my sort of favorites.

So, so I'm really thrilled to be able to listen to you today and also get to play with you, but there's sort of an added layer of significance because Dylan your dad actually is a retired miner.

So the first song you're gonna play I don't know if you wanna tell us a little bit about it.

- Yeah, so this, this first song I'm gonna play it's called Hole So Deep and it, it's a dedication to my dad who is a career gold miner and, and and the town of Lead where I grew up.

And it has kind of a bluesy, bluesy connotation about it but it's actually, it's really a happy tribute to the town of Lead and, and to my dad and all the other miners.

So - All right, well let's give it a try.

(folksy guitar music) ♪ Hear the train whistle sound ♪ ♪ In this old snowy town ♪ ♪ It'll take me away from this place ♪ ♪ Down the tracks I will go ♪ ♪ Till I don't see falling snow ♪ ♪ And sunshine will wake me in the morn ♪ ♪ It's not a crime, some will stay ♪ ♪ While others drift away ♪ ♪ Never wondering what they left behind ♪ ♪ For there's gold up in the hills, ♪ ♪ And they're finding it still ♪ ♪ Though the money goes down long ago ♪ ♪ And the sun never shines ♪ And the sun never shines ♪ In that hole so deep ♪ In that hole so deep ♪ And the rumble ♪ And the rumble ♪ It wakes me at night ♪ It wakes me at night ♪ While I sleep ♪ While I sleep ♪ And the crater they dug ♪ And the crater they dug ♪ Left a scar that won't heal ♪ Left a scar that won't heal ♪ And the chill in the air ♪ And the chill in the air ♪ Only a miner can feel ♪ Only a miner can feel (gentle bluesy guitar music) ♪ Just a glimmer in the stream ♪ ♪ A prospectors dream ♪ ♪ And a summon for the companies to come ♪ ♪ what used to be holy ground ♪ ♪ Now's just a hole in the ground ♪ ♪ And a sin that's not yet undone ♪ ♪ And the sun never shines ♪ And the sun never shines ♪ In that hole so deep ♪ In that hole so deep ♪ And the rumble ♪ And the rumble ♪ It wake me at night ♪ It wakes me at night ♪ While I sleep ♪ While I sleep ♪ And the crater they dug ♪ And the crater they dug ♪ Left a scar that won't heal ♪ Left a scar that won't heal ♪ And the chill in the air ♪ And the chill in the air ♪ Only a miner can feel ♪ Only a miner can feel (gentle bluesy guitar music) ♪ And the sun never shines ♪ And the sun never shines ♪ In that hole so deep ♪ In that hole so deep ♪ And the rumble ♪ And the rumble ♪ It wakes me at night ♪ It wakes me at night ♪ While I sleep ♪ While I sleep ♪ And the crater they dug ♪ And the crater they dug ♪ Left a scar that won't heal ♪ Left a scar that won't heal ♪ And the chill in the air ♪ And the chill in the air ♪ Only a miner can feel ♪ Only a miner can feel ♪ And the chill in the air ♪ And the chill in the air ♪ Only a miner can feel ♪ Only a miner can feel (gentle guitar music slowly ends) - So one thing we were talking about as we prepared for this show, because we all kind of come from this traditional folk background, is that a lot of the the ballads that have miners as narrators, or that reference mining are very dark both literally and figuratively.

And they really seem to be documenting kind of the, the dark underbelly of the industry.

So as we said, Dylan's song had some some sad, sadder connotations we can say but Morgan has also written a mining ballad and we were joking that if his was called a hole so deep hers could be called a hole even deeper.

So Morgan, what inspired you to write your mining song?

- Well, so you mentioned we come from a folk, and specifically old time background.

And so those we're always talking, are often talking about the rights of workers, and sort of the darker elements of mining.

And mostly they talked about coal mining.

So it was interesting to take this perspective on gold mining, which was quite a bit safer than coal mining, but still had a laws of had lot of of hazards in recent years it's been a lot safer.

But anyway, this song is about a man who passes in the mine.

And yeah, it's something that does happen.

But now I've met a lot of gold miners who love mining.

So, and we're gonna, lot of perspectives.

- We're gonna find out more about that in just a few minutes, but I'll let you guys take it away.

(soft lonesome banjo music) ♪ It was a long and dusty road ♪ ♪ And I didn't know where to go ♪ ♪ So I followed that mountain highway ♪ ♪ And looked down that old, deep, dark hole ♪ ♪ They say there's gold in them hills ♪ ♪ But there ain't no glitter ♪ ♪ In these holes I drill ♪ ♪ Fifteen hours and my shadows dark ♪ ♪ These streetlights at night ♪ ♪ Where skies turn dark ♪ (forlorn bluesy banjo music) ♪ Well Johnny never saw that shadow ♪ ♪ The blast that moved boulder ♪ ♪ Had nowhere to go ♪ ♪ And the gold never knew poor Johnny ♪ ♪ Just a rock that makes them rich ♪ ♪ While the others fall below ♪ ♪ When you wear that gold heart on your chest ♪ ♪ Remember men like Johnny ♪ ♪ Who's lives were laid to rest ♪ ♪ The men that dug that gold ♪ ♪ Paid ten times the price ♪ ♪ Before it even sold ♪ ♪ Six feet under ♪ ♪ Six feet under ♪ ♪ Ain't that deep ♪ ♪ Ain't that deep ♪ ♪ When you're in the mine ♪ ♪ When you're in the mine ♪ ♪ Troubled thoughts ♪ ♪ Troubled thoughts ♪ ♪ Haunt their sleep ♪ ♪ Haunt their sleep ♪ ♪ For every ounce ♪ ♪ For every ounce ♪ ♪ Of gold you find ♪ ♪ Of gold you find ♪ ♪ Six feet under ♪ ♪ Six feet under ♪ ♪ Ain't that deep ♪ ♪ Ain't that deep ♪ ♪ When you're in the mine ♪ ♪ When you're in the mine ♪ ♪ Troubled thoughts ♪ ♪ Troubled thoughts ♪ ♪ Haunt their sleep ♪ ♪ Haunt their sleep ♪ ♪ For every ounce ♪ ♪ For every ounce ♪ ♪ Of gold you find ♪ (slow gentle banjo ending) - Well we decided we have to get to the bottom of this mystery of, of why the mining songs describe something that actually sounds pretty terrible and treacherous.

So we brought two miners here to, to talk to us.

And I have to say this is part of the inspiration for the episode as we were saying, This is Dylan's dad, Tom and this is my neighbor Sion Hansen.

He's my closest neighbor.

And so he's been regaling me with stories for years about his times in the mine and they always sound really fun.

And my concept of the mine, was based mostly on the Merle Travis song Dark as a Dungeon, which describes in detail sort of how terrible it is.

So I, we just wanted to know what, what, what makes mining actually something that you, that you both say as a profession, you were glad to have been a part of.

- It.

It is exciting, challenging work.

It's you do stuff that nobody else does that's kind of nice.

You do stuff that other people have tried to do and couldn't, like me playing music.

It's a camaraderie.

It's a, it's a institution of like-minded people.

And - When I was talking to you earlier about it though Tom you were saying that the Merle Travis song is actually accurate.

That that actually is what it's like down in a mine.

- Well, when I first heard the song I knew that a miner must have written it because he was describing mining and how it gets into your soul or whatever I forget the term he used.

But it does get, well I don't, addictive is not the word but it's something you get up and go do.

You know, you may hate getting up in the morning or going to work on night shift, but once you get there then when I started I was working with a partner There was two of us working in our stove and then we had an opposite shift with two more people.

And for 10 years that's how we worked mining.

And then eventually that changed to mechanize mining where they're using diesel equipment.

And so then you got more assigned a task to do instead of the open cut and fill mining you were doing pretty much something different every day from the day before.

- Oh - And you might move rock for a while, then you would set up in rock boat, then you would drill your round or if you got to one part of the cycle you might just be moving a whole bunch of rock all day long.

But eventually that got done and you were doing something else.

- So that was part of the appeal too is that it was something different.

- Varied.

Varied occupation.

There was certain steps that you repeated but that you got breaks from one to do the next.

- All right, so meanwhile you just made a joke about music and not being able to play music, however you did write a song that we are gonna perform.

- Oh yeah.

- So, and it's, it's a, it's a, it's a really awesome song, but it's also uses a lot of.

really specific miner terminology.

So I was wondering if you could just explain some of the terms that are in the song before we listen to it.

- Two of the terms, add it, A D I T, is a tunnel in the side of a mountain to enter a mine.

You go in the adit.

It's like the doorway.

The other term on there is Prill, which is a blasting agent.

It is nitrogen fertilizer mixed with fuel oil.

And it's once they're mixed together, it's called it's been prilled.

And it's called Prill.

Comes in 50 pound bags or bulk and - Looks like little styrofoam beads that smell like ammonia.

- [Sion] Yeah, looks like beanbag beads - You've dumped those into a basket with the air hooked up to it.

And then when you push the button on your hose it would blow that stuff into the hole and pack it in there and - [Sion] And that's - And the cap would be at the end of the hole.

- So before we started filming, we were talking about, one of the lines in the song you wrote, where you talk about a rumble that wakes you in your sleep.

And you were saying that's actually literally that literally happened to you.

So I just wondered if you'd tell us a little bit more about that line from your song.

- Yeah, well that line and, and really all the other lines in the song are really just kind of about creating some imagery about, about growing up in the town of Lead and, and the open cut, and just all the the kind of memories of growing up.

And that was, that was one of them.

I would wake up a few times a night sometimes to, to blast.

So - - [Tom] They had the upper part of the mine was only like 1700 feet deep or something and they would do big blast occasionally [Hansen] DCR.

PCR blasts [Tom] And it would actually, you could feel the shaking in, in the ground from the blast.

- So it was actually, and you were both talking about how the, the blast would be strong enough, that it would shake houses.

So for someone growing up in Lead, that would be, that line would be very, I guess relevant to their experience because literally your houses would shake from from blasts underground.

- Yeah.

- Well so what do you think?

Should we, should we go try playing this song?

This is gonna be the world debut of Sion Hansen's song, Love of a miners, or is it called Love of a Miner's Way?

- Love of the Mining Way.

- Love of the Mining Way.

All right, well let's go, let's go.

Give it a try.

(upbeat folksy guitar music) ♪ Here my bean can on my hip ♪ ♪ A great big jug of water ♪ ♪ I'll bake rock till the sun comes up ♪ ♪ Then dance with the miners daughter ♪ ♪ Take my prize ♪ ♪ Take my prize ♪ ♪ As a yellow check ♪ ♪ As a yellow check ♪ ♪ Long for a head frame change ♪ ♪ Long for a head frame change ♪ ♪ Now own things ♪ ♪ Now own things ♪ ♪ I never would have had ♪ ♪ I never would have had ♪ ♪ Except for the ore I've made ♪ ♪ Except for the ore I've made ♪ ♪ Missing funds and soaking socks ♪ ♪ Bury my bones in a powdered box ♪ ♪ Dreams I had of the golden rocks ♪ ♪ And the love of the mining way ♪ ♪ Smoke and dust ♪ ♪ Smoke and dust ♪ ♪ And the awful noise ♪ ♪ And the awful noise ♪ ♪ Falling rock around me ♪ ♪ Falling rock around me ♪ ♪ Smoke cigarettes ♪ ♪ Smoke cigarettes ♪ ♪ While I'm drilling my round ♪ ♪ While I'm drilling my round ♪ ♪ Blast from the adit door ♪ ♪ Blast from the adit door ♪ (upbeat banjo music) ♪ Rock, drill, oil, and a rack of bits ♪ ♪ The dark house where the shifter sits ♪ ♪ Salty sting of the airborne Prill ♪ ♪ Love of the mining way ♪ ♪ Take my prize ♪ ♪ Take my prize ♪ ♪ As a yellow check ♪ ♪ As a yellow check ♪ ♪ Long for the ♪ ♪ Long for the ♪ ♪ Head frame change ♪ ♪ Head frame change ♪ ♪ Now own things ♪ ♪ Now own things ♪ ♪ I never would have had ♪ ♪ I never would have had ♪ ♪ Except for the ore I've made ♪ ♪ Except for the ore I've made ♪ (upbeat banjo music slowly ends) - Awesome.

- [Eliza] And now some notes from the field.

(slow gentle banjo music throughout) (waterfall running in background) (banjo music continues) (waterfall running) (soft slow guitar music) ♪ If I could mine the marrow of my bones ♪ ♪ Turn the iron in to steel ♪ ♪ I'd build spokes and two wheels ♪ ♪ I'd put 'em on my bike.

♪ ♪ I'd ride past your home.

♪ ♪ The middle of the night ♪ ♪ When you felt most alone ♪ ♪ And you'd never know ♪ ♪ Cause I'd never tell ♪ ♪ Maybe you'd feel ♪ ♪ Maybe you'd heal ♪ ♪ The blood in my veins ♪ ♪ The marrow in my bones ♪ ♪ In the middle of the night ♪ ♪ And you'd feel less alone ♪ ♪ Sometimes we gotta reach ♪ ♪ Sometimes we gotta dig deep ♪ ♪ Sometimes we just need to sleep ♪ ♪ Beneath our feet ♪ ♪ Lies a city of bones.

♪ ♪ That's hard to hear ♪ ♪ but it's harder to own.

♪ ♪ I'm not saying we forget.

♪ ♪ Not saying we ignore.

♪ I'm saying let's let them be ♪ What else is it for ♪ ♪ Sometimes you gotta dig deep ♪ ♪ Sometimes you gotta believe ♪ ♪ Sometimes ♪ ♪ It's okay just to be ♪ ♪ Ooooh ♪ (gentle guitar music ends) (new song begins) ♪ Back roads and byways ♪ ♪ Campfires we'll lie awake ♪ ♪ Sweet grass and summer sage ♪ ♪ Come on baby.

♪ ♪ Come and take my ♪ ♪ Take my hand ♪ ♪ Take my hand ♪ ♪ We're Dakota bound ♪ - [Eliza] To Find and watch previous episodes of Wish You Were Here with Eliza Blue, Head to watch.sdpb.org.