Deadwood Gulch

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The gulch's history is marked by violence and rapid change. In early 1876, frontiersman Charlie Utter and his brother Steve led a wagon train into Deadwood Gulch carrying what they believed were needed commodities, including gamblers and prostitutes like Madame Mustache and Dirty Em, who set up shop in what was referred to as Deadwood Gulch. The business of prostitution proved to have a good market, with women in high demand by miners. Madam Dora DuFran eventually became the most profitable brothel owner in Deadwood, closely followed by Madam Mollie Johnson. The town's lawlessness meant murders were common, and justice was not always fair and impartial. A smallpox epidemic swept through beginning August 12, 1876, so severe that tents were erected to quarantine the stricken. On September 26, 1879, a fire devastated Deadwood, destroying more than 300 buildings and consuming the belongings of many inhabitants, causing many of the newly impoverished to leave town.

In Their Own Story

On April 7, 1877, Al Swearengen, who controlled Deadwood's opium trade, opened a saloon called the Gem Theater in the gulch. The saloon burned down and was rebuilt in 1879, then burned down again in 1899, after which Swearengen left town. In September 1876, businessman Tom Miller opened the Bella Union Saloon. The gulch also saw General George Crook's expedition end there in early September 1876, known as the Horsemeat March, after he pursued Sioux Indians from the Battle of the Little Bighorn. The Chinese quarter arose on Main Street in the gulch, attracting Chinese immigrants whose population peaked at 250, with Wong Fee Lee arriving in 1876 and becoming a leading merchant and community leader among Chinese Americans until his death in 1921.

Reader's Guide

To understand Deadwood Gulch, one must view it as the physical and economic heart of the settlement. The gulch's gold deposits drew miners and entrepreneurs who created a lawless town that quickly reached a population of approximately 5,000, then about 12,000 by 1877, with other sources putting the peak number at 25,000 in 1876. The economy changed from gold panning to deep mining, leading individual miners to go elsewhere or work in other fields, and Deadwood lost some of its rough and rowdy character, developing into a prosperous town. The Homestake Mine in nearby Lead was established in October 1877 and operated for more than a century, becoming the longest continuously operating gold mine in the United States, with gold mining operations not ceasing until 2002. The entire town has been designated as a National Historic Landmark District for its preserved Gold Rush-era architecture, with five history museums operated by the nonprofit Deadwood History, Inc.

Did You Know?

• Deadwood was named by early settlers after the dead trees found in its gulch.
• Wild Bill Hickok was killed in Deadwood on August 2, 1876, and his murderer Jack McCall was prosecuted twice despite the U.S. Constitution's prohibition against double jeopardy.
• Deadwood had electricity service less than four years after Thomas Edison commercialized the incandescent lamp in 1879, with Judge Squire P. Romans founding the Pilcher Electric Light Company of Deadwood on September 17, 1883.
• A fire on September 26, 1879, destroyed more than 300 buildings in Deadwood, devastating the town.
• The Chinese quarter in Deadwood's gulch had a population that peaked at 250, with Wong Fee Lee arriving in 1876 and becoming a leading merchant and community leader until his death in 1921.