The Real Deadwood: True Histories of the Old West torrent

The Real Deadwood: True Life Histories of Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, Outlaw Towns, and Other Characters of the Lawless West - John Edwards Ames [epub]

The Black Hills of the Dakota Territory – sacred grounds for the Lakota, and one of the richest sections of land the world has ever known. With "easy color" ripe for the taking, the population of the gold rush town of Deadwood jumped from about eight hundred to over ten thousand, as over a million dollars of gold was pulled from the ground between June and July of 1876. With no law, no order, and a volatile collection of inhabitants still recovering from the Civil War, there weren't enough pigs in Chinatown to dispose of all the bodies.

Not since the first signs of color have so many people flocked to Deadwood, only now they're tuning in to the acclaimed HBO series of the same name. With a cast of historically rich characters, The Real Deadwood explores the lives of "Wild Bill" Hickok, Al Swearengen, Calamity Jane, Sol Star, and a host of others. An historical crossroad of the American West, even Wyatt Earp came to Deadwood, only to bump heads with Seth Bullock. Other celebrated visitors over the years include Buffalo Bill Cody, the Sundance Kid, Bat Masterson, and Teddy Roosevelt. Looking at a world of primitive medicine, prostitution, and law from lawlessness, The Real Deadwood separates the facts from the fiction in its overview of a town violent enough to rival the likes of Tombstone, Dodge City, and Abilene.

"Poor man's diggings" is what they called it, how it was found, taken, and swindled away is the story of life on the frontier – when roughing it was truly rough. It's good versus evil and civilization versus anarchy. It's the real Deadwood