Paul Higbee

by Paul Higbee
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by Paul Higbee
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Paul Higbee is a freelance writer in Spearfish, S.D.

Paul Higbee, Writer South Dakota Magazine

"Congratulations on 'Impeach Justice Douglas!' It was fantastic!A job well done.I don't know when I have enjoyed an evening more."

(Paul Higbee, Writer, South Dakota Magazine)

That's what Spearfish writer Paul Higbee found when he went looking for the real Poker Alice.

In the January/February issue of South Dakota Magazine, Higbee tells what is known for sure about the dour-faced, cigar-smoking poker dealer, explores the ever-evolving myth of the Sturgis madam and probes the territory in between, territory inhabited by Clay County's Poker Alice Band.

"Poker Alice Tubbs is the only South Dakota ever portrayed by Elizabeth Taylor," Higbee writes."On the other hand, she's played by a chicken in a trained animal act at Reptile Gardens.That's Poker Alice for you.Seventy-three years after her death, her legend retains remarkable staying power, whether interpreted by Hollywood royalty of Rapid City poultry."

But what parts of the legend are to be believed?Is she most accurately remembered as a brothel madam or a professional gambler?
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"The stories contradict one another at every turn," Higbee said.

Searching historical records, talking to experts and visiting Alice's haunts, he answers these and other questions about the Black Hills enigma.The story is complete with historic photographs.

Paul Higbee
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Paul Higbee Paul has written several books, including Spearfish Canyon: A Journey Beyond the Rim available at www.royaltineimages.com.He is the Black Hills writer for South Dakota Magazine and lives in Spearfish, South Dakota.

He loved ag," Paul Higbee, a writer and researcher from Spearfish, said.
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"He (Smith) was back in the Black Hills for the roundup in Belle Fourche that next summer," Higbee said.
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"It's surprising to me that he isn't better known or doesn't have a school named for him or something," Higbee said.

Smith's story is only one of dozens of stories being told in an exhibit now at the Stanford Adelstein Gallery in The Journey Museum at Rapid City through Sunday, Nov. 16.

Higbee will share Smith's story and another about an Army Air Corps plane buzzing downtown Rapid City during a presentation Nov. 16 for the WWII Storyteller Series held in conjunction with the exhibit.

that pilots would make practice runs throughout the Black Hills region and then head back to Rapid City en route to the air base east of town.

"It was fun for them to come in low to see the sights of the town," Higbee said.

But one evening on a low-level sightseeing maneuver, a plane inadvertently knocked the neon sign from the top of the Hotel Alex Johnson.

"It didn't get a lot of press at the time.No one wanted a controversy that might lead to the Air Corps leaving," Higbee said.

Through research, Higbee found that the pilot pulled up after striking the sign and reported his location somewhere over Deadwood.The sign fell to the street below, but no one was hurt, Higbee said.

Witnesses had seen the plane coming in low, but it wasn't until years later that some of the crew members stepped forward to say they were on board when the accident happened.

"I think that was the most World War II action Rapid City got," Higbee said.

The Journey exhibit is composed of loaned artifacts collected in the European and Pacific theaters.Historians tell the home-front story.Writers Rex Allan Smith, Higbee and others share fruits of their research.

Paul HigbeePaul Higbee, who lives in the Black Hills, is a magazine and documentary television writer.He writes for South Dakota Magazine, and received his Masters degree from Notre Dame in 1990.Higbee was named the 2000 South Dakota Council of Teachers of English Author of the Year.