Deadwood, South Dakota Photo Gallery

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Deadwood, South Dakota Photo Gallery

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The Gem Theater in Deadwood, South Dakota.

The Gem Theater in Deadwood, South Dakota in 1878.

The man in the buggy on the left is thought to be Al Swearengen.

Photo courtesy Adams Museum

Bar at the Gem Variety Theater in Deadwood, South Dakota

The Gem Theatre's bar. Al Swearengen is the third from the right behind the bar,

courtesy Black Hills Mining Museum

On April 7, 1877, Swearengen opened the Gem Variety Theatre that was described in the Black Hills Daily Pioneer as being “neat and tastefully arranged as any place of its kind in the west.” The Gem Theater soon provided the entertainment starved camp with comedians, singers and dancers, as well as a continuing display of “prize fights.” Though these services, as well as gambling, were profitable, the theater also made a handsome sum from its brothel, which soon gained a reputation for its debasement of the women who were pressed into service there.

Al Swearengen recruited women from the east by advertising jobs in hotels and promising to make them stage performers at his theater. Purchasing a one way ticket for the women, when they arrived, the hapless ladies would find themselves stranded with little choice other than to work for the notorious Swearengen or be thrown into the street.

See More Deadwood!

The Real People of Deadwood

Deadwood - Rough & Tumble Mining Camp

Deadwood Timeline

HBO's Deadwood - Facts & Fiction

Some of these desperate women took their own lives rather than being forced into a position of virtual slavery. Those who stayed were known to sport constant bruises and other injuries.

The Gem Variety Theatre was located in the heart of the city's notorious ''badlands'' at 611-613 Main Street. The original Gem Theatre burned in the fire of 1879 but was quickly rebuilt. Continuing to prosper, the Gem averaged a nightly profit of $5,000, sometimes even reaching as high as $10,000. But, for Swearengen, it was not to last. In 1899, the Gem suffered its final destructive fire and Swearengen called it quits, leaving Deadwood for good. After its final demise in 1899, the newspaper had this to say of the Gem:

"harrowing tales of iniquity, shame and wretchedness; of lives wrecked and fortunes sacrificed; of vice unhindered and esteem forfeited, have been related of the place, and it is known of a verity that they have not all been groundless."

Five years later, in 1904, a drunk and penniless Swearengen was killed while trying to hitch a ride on a Colorado train like a common tramp.

After the Gem burned in 1899, another fire, six months later, destroyed the adjacent buildings leaving a large vacant lot. In 1921, the site became the location of Deadwood's first gas station. Today, the location of the Gem Theater is the site of the Mineral Palace Casino.

The Interior of the Gem Theater, 1880.

The Interior of the Gem Theater, 1880, photo

courtesy Adams Museum.

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Also See:

Al Swearengen & the Notorious Gem Theater

Deadwood Timeline

Deadwood - Rough & Tumble Mining Camp

HBO's Deadwood - Facts & Fiction

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