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The
C.C. Gideon Room is on the second floor, has two queen beds and
futon sofa bed that makes into a double. The private bath has an
antique claw foot tub and there is also a two person spa tub in the room.
C.C.
Gideon was a contractor from the Minneapolis area. In 1918 he was
asked to come to the Black Hills and meet with Senator Norbeck, who
then hired Gideon to be the contractor for the construction of the
State Game Lodge in Custer State Park. Gideon, his wife Elma and four
children drove out to the hills and set up their home in a wooden
floored tent at the future site of the Lodge. The state provided
convict labor for Gideon, who was a good shot and always carried a
side-arm or shotgun. The lodge was completed in the fall of 1921. The
Gideons were asked to stay on as care takers for the winter. The Game
Lodge burned to the ground and was re-built and opened as public
facility in 1922. Gideon and his wife were asked to operate the lodge
as a tourist facility, which they did until 1945.
During
the years at the Lodge, Gideon was also involved in many of the
early projects of Norbeck's including the laying out of Needles
Highway, Iron Mountain Road (including the design of the Pig Tail
Bridges), the design of the Artist's Studio at Mt. Rushmore, the
concession at Wind Cave, and numerous other public and private
building construction in the area. There is a road side historical
marker at the Pig Tail Bridges on Iron Mountain Road honoring Gideon
as the "Man who turned Vision into Reality." |
