Volunteers with Passport in Time recently worked on the restoration of the Miller Cabin north of Deerfield Lake, about 15 miles northwest of Hill City. Workers replaced a shed roof, floor and walls, installed a door on the cabin and reinforced the fence around the cabin. Their goal was to stabilize the cabin to withstand harsh winters, according to a news release by Mystic Ranger District archaeology technician Michael Salisbury.

Passport in Time is a nationwide volunteer archaeology and historic preservation program of the USDA Forest Service.

The Miller Ranch was bought in 1882 by John A. Miller, according to the Forest Service's news release. The original structure was built in what is now Deerfield Reservoir. The cabin was moved to its current location in the 1950s before the reservoir was inundated. In the mid-1980s, the Forest Service bought the land and cabin. Future plans include a trail to the cabin along with an interpretive sign giving people an idea of what it was like to live in the Hills 100 years ago.

For more information, go to the U.S. Forest Service's Web site at www.fs.fed.us/r2/blackhills; for more about Passport in Time, go to www.passportintime.com.