Custer, South Dakota is the oldest town in the Black Hills and the county seat of Custer County. Custer sits on French Creek near the place where gold was first discovered July 27, 1874, by a prospector with General Custer’s expedition into the Hills. Custer was staked out in 1875 and originally named Stonewall in honor of Stonewall Jackson, a confederate general. The group of miners that were first on the site were ordered out because no treaty had been signed with the Indians. Later, after the Federal troops left the area, the town was named Custer at a miner’s meeting. Custer, South Dakota has probably one of the most colorful past in the days of mining and wide open towns. Today, Custer is a tourist town with a beautiful backdrop of scenery and history.