In 1876, the Wild West town of Deadwood was born when prospectors came across a gulch full of dead trees and a creek full of gold.
– deadwood.com
I’ll be the first to admit that I had never heard of Deadwood before being presented with the job option. Now it seems like Deadwood pops up all over the place! HBO has a show called Deadwood with 3 seasons. Deadwood the movie was released last year. On an episode of The Good Place, the judge proclaims, “Shawn, I don’t have time for this. I just started Deadwood finally and I need my daily dose of Timothy Olyphant!”.
Timothy Olyphant portrays Seth Bullock, Deadwood’s first sheriff. The show also features legends such as Calamity Jane and Al Schwearengen. Sure, I had heard the name Calamity Jane, but beyond associating it with western movies, I had no idea who this was.
Adam’s Museum
After seeing my patient’s in the hospital this morning, I headed over to Adam’s Museum to learn a bit more about the history of this town. Pioneer businessman W.E. Adams founded the Adams Museum in 1930. Its purpose is to preserve and display the history of the Black Hills.
Americana
The section called Americana is chuck full with a plethora of objects from around the United States and spanning several decades. There were old uniforms, rifles, walking canes, a gas mask from WWI, an Edison light bulb, and so much more. This section also included this interesting wall decoration:
It is made of human hair! Apparently this was a very fashionable thing to do for ladies back in the day, something their European counterparts had been making. Here is a close up:
Living the Legends
Another section was all about the legends that make up Deadwood’s wild history. The gold rush brought in a lot of people with hopes of finding gold and having a better life. It also brought in a lot of gambling (still one of the main features in this town), prostitution, and drama. The legend wall tells the tales of Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, Deadwood Dick, Dora Dufran, Poker Alice, and more. A recurring theme I noticed about these legendary people however was that their actual lives didn’t quite live up to the legends. A sign hanging in the room explains it well:
Potato Creek Johnny
John E. Perrett was 63 years old in 1929 when he arrived in Deadwood. The gold rush had been over for 50 years. The mining industry was high-tech and corporate at this point. Nonetheless, he is a famous figure in Deadwood’s history thanks to two important factors: his gold nugget and Deadwood’s tourist industry. Perrett found a 7.346 troy ounce gold nugget in Potato Creek. W.E. Adams bought the nugget from him in 1934 and Potato Creek Johnny was included in Deadwood’s new plan to attract tourists. Here’s a look at that nugget:
The museum had many other sections including information about the Black Hills, some displays with Lakota artifacts, a dinosaur skeleton, and random things like an albino deer and a two-headed calf. It truly was an eclectic mix. It gave me a good introduction to the history of the city though.
Deadwood has a few more historical museums I’d like to check out including Days of ’76 Museum, Historic Adam’s House, Homestake Adams Research and Cultural Center, and The Brothel Deadwood. I’m sure I’ll have more stories to share from the days of the wild, wild west.
mfg
