Deadwood South Dakota - Rough and Tumble Old West Town

Deadwood, South Dakota

By July of 1876, a million dollars of gold at $20 an ounce had been taken from the Black Hills. That same summer saw the arrival of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane in Deadwood. When he arrived, Hickok was already a legendary figure, having received numerous sensational newspaper accounts which described his legendary gun-fighting skills. Wild Bill had been dismissed from his job as a marshal in Abilene, Kansas for over-enthusiasm. The former actor, scout, lawman and gambler quickly began to frequent the Deadwood Saloons continuing his long-time habit of playing poker.

On August 2, 1876, Hickok was playing poker at Nuttall & Mann's #10 Saloon. Ignoring his cautious habit of sitting with his back to the wall, the table was already filled and he took a seat that exposed his back to an open door at the rear of the saloon. Given the advantage of surprise, Jack “Broken Nose” McCall, slipped from behind, shouted “Take that!” and fired a shot into the back of Hickok’s head.

Wild Bill Hickok

This image available for photographic prints and downloads HERE!

From Hickok’s fingers fell two aces, two eights and another card, a combination that has since been known as the dead man’s hand. McCall, a drunken nobody trying to make a name for himself, later claimed that he was seeking revenge for the slaying of his brother in Abilene, Kansas by Hickok.

The very next day, Deadwood held a trial in Deadwood’s Bella Union Theater, where McCall was acquitted on the grounds that Hickok had killed his brother. McCall, fearing reprisal from members of the settlement fled to Wyoming, where he bragged about killing the fastest gunman in the West. However, his cowardly triumph was short-lived. Because the first trial had taken place in Indian Territory, it was not recognized and in October, 1876, McCall was charged for Hickok’s murder. In December, McCall was tracked down in Fort Laramie, Wyoming and taken to Yankton, South Dakota for a second trail. During the trial, it was discovered that McCall had only sisters and no brothers. He was found guilty and sentenced to hang on March 1, 1877. McCall was buried in Yankton with the hangman’s noose still tied around his neck.

Calamity Jane was renowned for her excellent marksmanship, preference for men's clothing, and bawdy behavior. Jane was said to have been an Army scout, a bullwhacker, a nurse, a cook, a prostitute, a prospector a gambler, a heavy drinker and one of the most foul-mouthed people in the West. In June of 1876, she partnered with Wild Bill Hickok as an outrider for Colorado Charlie Utter’s wagon train, galloping into Deadwood with a shipment of prostitutes, fresh from Cheyenne. For the remainder of her days, Calamity Jane claimed to have been Hickok’s lover. But the record shows that Wild Bill had just recently married and his letters home from Deadwood indicate that he was happily married.

As chance would have it, he never saw his wife again, and in Deadwood's Mount Moriah cemetery, it's not Wild Bill's wife who occupies the grave next to his. Wild Bill shares his final resting place, as well as his place in history -- by her decree, not his -- with the self-proclaimed Queen of the Wild West, Calamity Jane.

Calamity Jane, 1895

This image available for photographic prints and downloads HERE!

By 1877, Deadwood was evolving from a primitive mining camp to a community with a sense of order. The crude tents and shanties that had housed the early miners quickly gave way to wood and brick buildings. The community organized a town government that relied on Sheriff Seth Bullock to keep law and order. The gradual transition of Deadwood from a mining camp to a civilized community nearly came to an abrupt end.

On September 29, 1879, a fire started at a bakery on Sherman Street and rapidly spread to the business district of Deadwood. The fire damaged the business district of the town, but rather than give up, the community rebuilt itself. The fire made clear the need for regulations preventing another fire. The local government enacted laws that would permit only certain building materials for building construction. After the fire, Deadwood rebuilt itself in brick and stone rather than in lumber.

To settlers coming to South Dakota in the 1880s, the atmosphere was electric with prosperity and promise. New lands opened up to homesteaders, gold was harvested from the Black Hills, riverboats ran the rivers, and railroad tracks were laid to new town sites.

By 1889, the population of South Dakota was large enough to warrant statehood and on November 2, 1889, the Dakota Territory became the states of North and South Dakota.

Continued Next Page

<< Previous 1 2 3 4 Next >>

From the Rocky Mountain General Store

Vintage Magazines - Legends of America and the Rocky Mountain General Store has collected a number of Vintage Magazines, including True West, Frontier Times, Treasure and more for our Old West and Treasure Hunting enthusiasts. For most of these, we have only one available. To see this varied collection, click HERE!