Timeline of Events--Summer of 1927
January 8. Official Invite sent by the state of South Dakota to President Coolidge inviting him to spend the summer in the Black Hills.
May 31. The President’s secretary, Everett Sanders makes the official announcement given that President Coolidge would be spending the summer in the Black Hills.
June 15. President Coolidge arrives by train in Rapid City, South Dakota. They are greeted by thousands of well-wishers and then drive to the State Game Lodge in Custer State Park.
June 19. The Coolidges attend church in Hermosa for the first time and listen to the sermon of a young seminarian named Rolf Lium, the pastor at the church.
June 22. The state legislature changes the name of Sheep Mountain to Mount Coolidge.
June 23. General Leonard Wood, the 65-year old governor general of the Phillipines, visits with the president at the State Game Lodge.
June 30. The state legislature changes the name of Squaw Creek to Grace Coolidge Creek.
July 5. President and Mrs. Coolidge attend the Belle Fourche Round Up Rodeo with 20,000 in attendance.
July 7. President Coolidge visits the Rapid City Indian School. They toured the schools, met a number of students, and received gifts made of local Indians.
July 16. President Coolidge attends farmer’s picnic at Ardmore. The picnic was held at a government experimental farm set up to research crop rotation and other planting methods.
July 27. President and Mrs. Coolidge attend the Gold Discovery Pageant in Custer. The pageant was held annually as visual display of Black Hills history.
August 2. Marking the fourth anniversary of Warren Harding’s death and his own assumption of the duties of the presidency, Calvin Coolidge announces in Rapid City that he will not be a candidate for president in 1928. The move clears the way for Herbert Hoover to run.
August 4. President Calvin Coolidge is adopted into the Sioux Tribe during a ceremony in Deadwood and given the name Wamblee-Tokaha, “Leading Eagle.” He is the first U.S. president to be adopted by the tribe. The ceremony takes place even as the Sioux are putting forth a claim for $700,000 for confiscation of the Black Hills.
August 10. President Calvin Coolidge gives his first prepared address since coming to the Black Hills. His address was given to commence carving on Mt. Rushmore.
August 11. Mrs. Coolidge gives her first address in the Black Hills. Her address was to dedicate the Custer community hall.
August 17. President Coolidge visits Pine Ridge Indian Reservation with his wife Grace and son John.
August 18. President Coolidge visits Hot Springs, SD. While staying in the Black Hills Coolidge also visited the communities of Hermosa, Belle Fourche, Ardmore, Deadwood, Mystic, Custer, Pine Ridge, Nisland, and Newell.
August 21. President Coolidge leaves for Custer to prepare for a week long trip to Yellowstone National Park.
August 25. A Federal mail plane carrying mail to Coolidge in the Black Hills crashed en route at Bridgeport, NE. No deaths or life threatening injuries occurred.
August 31. The Boy Scouts of South Dakota dedicate their camp as Camp Coolidge. President Coolidge, Mrs. Coolidge, and their son John attend the first day of dedication.
September 1. President Coolidge visits Newell and Nisland Area to inspect the Federal Irrigation Project.
September 2. President Coolidge honors the 109th Regiment of Engineers.
September 9. President and Mrs. Coolidge depart for Washington. 5,000 people gather to see them off.