Yep. Another Deadwood Post. So shoot me and feed my dead ass to Mr. Wu’s pigs. Topdawg and LeeAnn are also Deadwood fans, and I am a Topdawg and LeeAnn fan, so If you have not yet come around to being a Deadwood regular, the three of us will just toowalk amongst ourselves.

As Topdawg mentioned in her comments, much of the show is based, to one degree or another, on fact. For instance, the “good guy” in the program is Seth Bullock (played by Timothy Olyphant), who came to town with his partner Sol Star to establish a hardware store. Well, it turns out that there really was a Seth Bullock, and he really did come to Deadwood with Sol Starr, and they did establish the hardware store pictured above.

The real Seth Bullock ultimately became the Sheriff of Deadwood, eventually brining order to the place. After the hardware store burned down, he founded and built the Bullock Hotel, which, after several renovations, still operates today.** He also became good friends with Teddy Roosevelt, which most certainly will be fodder for future episodes.

As noted above, Bullock’s partner, Sol Star, is also based in fact. Sol Star ultimately served as Mayor of Deadwood for fourteen years, once hosting William Jennings Bryant during a presidential campaign visit. Following the vote that actually incorporated Deadwood a real town, Star was one of the first town councilmen elected. He also served as Postmaster and Clerk of the Courts, once real courts actually replaced the local saloon (or theater — see below) as the place for dispensing justice.

Oh, and Wild Bill Hickok actually was plugged by Jack McCall in Deadwood. Perhaps paving the way for OJ, McCall was acquitted despite a ton of evidence against him, including eight eyewitnesses to the shooting. Because the “trial” (actually held in a local theater, not in the saloon as was depicted on the show) was later determined to lack any legal authority, McCall was re-captured and tried in Yankton, South Dakota, where he was convicted of Hickok’s murder and ultimately hanged. (No double jeopardy defense for ol’ Jack.) He was buried with the noose still around his neck.

Finally (at least for now), Calamity Jane really was in Deadwood, and she really did help to nurse the victims of a smallpox epidemic that hit the town. After leaving Deadwood, she married, gave birth to a daughter, and toured with Wild West shows. Following her death in 1903, she was buried in Deadwood, next to Wild Bill.

**There have been numerous alleged paranormal events reported at the Bullock Hotel, many of which are attributed to the ghost of Seth Bullock who is thought to still wander about the place.

[/end Deadwood blather]