Noted People in Deadwood

Because of the high volume of people moving to Deadwood during the gold rush in the Black Hills, business owners also flocked there. Many of them became noted citizens. However, there were also some famous people and notorious ones.

Wild Bill Hickok arrived in Deadwood in July 1876. A noted gambler, lawman, and gunslinger, he participated in many shootouts before coming to the South Dakota town. Jack McCall shot him in the back during a poker game at Nuttal & Mann's saloon. He was holding aces and eights, which became known as the "dead man's hand."

Reverend Henry Weston Smith was also shot in the back, and his murderer was never found. He came to Deadwood in May 1876 because he felt called by God. He didn't have a church building but would preach in fields and on the streets, traveling around the area to minister to the people. On Sunday, August 20, 1876, Smith left a note on his cabin door that he was going to Crook City to preach and planned to be back at three o'clock. His body was found by the side of the road by a local resident.

Al Swearingen became a powerful force. He had his hand in a lot of the darker side of Deadwood: the opium trade, prostitution, saloons, the liquor trade, etc. He may have also been behind some of the murders in the area. He operated more like a mob boss.

Calamity Jane came to town at the same time as Wild Bill. She's known as a performer, frontierswoman, and scout, but she's always been controversial. Because she often made up stories about herself, it's hard to distinguish fact from fiction. Regardless, she is an interesting, colorful character, and her history in Deadwood is exactly that.

In my novel set in Deadwood, Beckett's Brides, a newspaper article tells of Wild Bill's murder after it happened. Al Swearingen and Reverend Smith make brief appearances in the book. I worked hard to keep the book historically accurate. It comes out on June 1 on Amazon and is available for preorder now.

Link to Beckett's Brides

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