Homestake Mining Company

Abstract The Homestake Mining Company was founded in 1876 and operated for 126 years, ultimately growing into the oldest, largest, and deepest gold mine in the Western Hemisphere. A critical contributor to this large-scale success lies in the company’s early acquisition of water rights in the Black Hills. The water rights collection housed at the Homestake Adams Research and Cultural Center details the mine’s systematic attainment of these water rights, as well as the legal struggles that occurred in...