{"id":3312,"slug":"broken-boot-mine-deadwood-south-dakota","story":[{"heading":null,"paragraphs":["The Broken Boot is the Seim's — the '78 mine that the Norwegians dug, the 15,000 ounces that weren't much. The reopening was the '17 — the WWI sulfur that made it profitable, the '18 armistice that closed it. The boot was the find — the '54 renovation that discovered the name, the crushed boot that was the relic.","The candlelight is the tour — the ration that was three a day, the drifts that are walked. The panning is the souvenir — the 'share' of stock that's the gift, the gold that's the hope. The Broken Boot is the modest — the mine that wasn't the Homestake, the tourism that it became.","The file keeps the Broken Boot: the 1878 Seim's Mine, the '17 reopening, the '54 boot, and the candlelight tours.","The Broken Boot is the archive's Deadwood file — the modest mine."]},{"heading":"Why this file matters","paragraphs":["The Broken Boot is the archive's Deadwood file — the small mine's tour.","A mine keeps its boot — the file's suggestion being that the Broken Boot's hold is the modest: the 15,000 ounces that were little, the '54 discovery, and the candlelight that's the tour."]}],"name":"Broken Boot Mine","aliases":[],"type":"SITE","type_label":"Site","cats":["GHOST_TOWN","LOCAL_FOLKLORE","HAUNTED_PLACE","MINING"],"groups":["ghost-towns","hauntings","legends"],"desc":"The mine tour under Deadwood—the tunnels the miners dug.","full_desc":"Broken Boot Mine is a site in Deadwood, South Dakota. The mine tour under Deadwood—the tunnels the miners dug. Its accounts name only a collective — the miners. The dossier holds 2 reported claims, 1 legend, 1 documented fact and 1 named or described presence — documented record and retelling kept side by side. The site is open to visitors.","address":null,"city":"Deadwood","county":null,"state":"South Dakota","postal":null,"region":"Midwest","lat":44.387048,"lon":-103.720742,"coord_kind":"CITY","status":"ACTIVE","access":"PUBLIC","access_notes":null,"ownership":null,"website":null,"phone":null,"year_built":null,"year_opened":null,"year_closed":null,"year_demolished":null,"designation":null,"current_use":"Historic site","research_notes":"plains batch; VERIFY task auto-queued.","stage":"SOURCE_RESEARCH","quality":{"level":"MEDIUM","score":59.4,"dims":{"location_confidence":0.75,"identity_confidence":0.65,"historical_confidence":0.8,"source_quality":0.3999999999999999,"paranormal_claim_provenance":0.8,"coordinate_confidence":0,"current_access_confidence":0.7,"freshness":0.65}},"claims":[{"id":3416,"type":"APPARITION","description":"Reported figures in the tunnels. The reports at Broken Boot Mine are the site's second history — unofficial, unverified, and stubbornly retold. The claim comes from paranormal investigation work: suggestive results, no accepted proof. The account appears in 'Broken Boot'. It is the sighting the place is known for, and it hasn't stopped.","evidence":"PARANORMAL_INVESTIGATION_CLAIM","evidence_label":"Investigation claim","entity":null,"where":null,"first_report":null,"approx_date":null,"confidence":0.8,"conflict_notes":null,"source":{"name":"Broken Boot","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_Boot_Gold_Mine","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4},"conflicting_source":null,"variants":[]},{"id":3417,"type":"NAMED_GHOST_LEGEND","description":"The miners are reportedly seen. Broken Boot Mine's file is thin on proof and long on persistence — the standard profile of American place-lore. It's a documented legend: the telling is real, the contents remain folklore. The name travels further than the proof; the sightings keep renewing the lease.","evidence":"DOCUMENTED_LEGEND","evidence_label":"Documented legend","entity":"The miners","where":null,"first_report":null,"approx_date":null,"confidence":0.8,"conflict_notes":null,"source":{"name":"Broken Boot","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_Boot_Gold_Mine","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4},"conflicting_source":null,"variants":[]}],"history":[{"description":"The mine’s history is documented. A documented history gives the file real substance; this entry is part of that spine. The fact is historically verified — the part of the file that doesn't need hedging. The detail is preserved in 'Broken Boot'. It's the sort of fact that gives the haunting reports their context.","evidence":"HISTORICALLY_VERIFIED","date_start":null,"date_end":null,"confidence":null,"source":{"name":"Broken Boot","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_Boot_Gold_Mine","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}}],"legends":[{"name":null,"summary":"The miners are reportedly seen. The site in Deadwood, South Dakota gives the account a documented setting: real place, real history, unresolved reports. The story is documented as legend — recorded and retold, never verified as fact. Sources including 'Broken Boot' keep the claim in circulation. The retelling is the record now — the legend metabolized the facts long ago.","earliest":null,"evidence":"DOCUMENTED_LEGEND","source":{"name":"Broken Boot","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_Boot_Gold_Mine","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}}],"entities":[{"name":"The miners","claimed_identity":"The miners","verified":null,"summary":"The miners are reportedly seen. The site in Deadwood, South Dakota gives the account a documented setting: real place, real history, unresolved reports. The file keeps The miners on the roster; the sightings keep the name alive. The reports keep the address on the map. The reports keep the address on the map.","behavior":"The miners are reportedly seen.","area":null,"first_ref":null,"source":{"name":"Broken Boot","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_Boot_Gold_Mine","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}}],"events":[],"investigations":[],"encounters":[],"media":[],"persons":[],"visitor":{"tour_availability":"Verify before visiting","notes":"Site access varies; verify before visiting.","last_verified_at":"2026-09-18 11:32:55","source":{"name":"HauntHunt generic access guidance","url":"https://haunthunt.com/about#access-guidance","publisher":"HauntHunt editorial","type":"DIRECTORY","authority":2}},"sources":[{"name":"Broken Boot","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_Boot_Gold_Mine","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}],"conflicts":[],"wiki":null,"counts":{"claims":2,"history":1,"legends":1,"entities":1,"sources":1}}