author
Watson Parker
1924–2013
Best remembered as one of the great chroniclers of the Black Hills, he turned local history into vivid storytelling about gold rush towns, mining camps, and the people who shaped the region. His work grew out of a lifelong connection to western South Dakota and a deep love of place.
1 Audiobook
Suzy
by Watson Parker
About the author
Watson Parker was an American historian, author, and academic who specialized in the history of the Black Hills of South Dakota and eastern Wyoming. He taught history at the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh, where he was awarded a Rosebush Professorship, and he was later inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame in 2011.
Raised in Hill City, South Dakota, Parker developed an early attachment to the Black Hills that stayed with him throughout his life. Sources about his career describe him as a prolific writer on ghost towns, mining history, and Deadwood, and his books helped make regional history accessible to general readers as well as serious researchers.
He was born on June 15, 1924, and died on January 9, 2013. Even after retiring from teaching in 1986, he continued researching and writing about the region he knew best, leaving behind a body of work that remains closely tied to the history and character of the Black Hills.