The Historic Flaigg Cabin

Johannes Flaigg immigrated to the US from Switzerland in 1866 and immediately enlisted in the infantry. He was sent to WY to fight Indian uprisings where he narrowly escaped death in the Battle of Goose Creek west of Ft. Reno (renamed Ft. Phil Kearney); he was among only ten soldiers escaping massacre and later was involved with the Hay Field Fight.

After his military discharge he married Martha Lorenze. They learned of the gold fields out west and decided to move their family to Deadwood. 1883; they homesteaded on Horse Creek. They built a one room cabin with hand-hewn logs transported from the Black Hills of dovetail construction. Here they lived and raised the children to adulthood until 1903 when they sold to Carl Gardner. The Gardner’s did not live in the cabin; they constructed a modern two-story house. Due to Mr. Gardner’s forge talents, the cabin became a blacksmith shop.

In 1986, the Flaigg Cabin was placed on the SD Register of Historical Places. It had many owners over the 127 years including Gardner and Viken families, became a storage shed and alas was in disrepair. In October 2004, new owners Glen and Sondra Boggess donated the cabin to the Museum. With a preservation grant in 2005, it has been fully restored and is now a great interpretive display.