Al Swearengen is one of the first…

Al Swearengen is one of the first Deadwood residents not to be a prospector or miner; having arrived in May 1876, he represents the beginning of a second wave of residents, attracted here by the promise of riches to be stripped not from the earth, but from the prospectors and miners.

He had built a small saloon called the Cricket Saloon, which featured as entertainment in its close spaces local miners engaged in what were advertised as "prize fights", although no prizes were actually awarded.

Within a year, Swearengen has accumulated enough money to build the much larger and more opulent Gem Variety Theater, which opens on April 7, 1877, featuring the now traditional "prize fights" in addition to stage shows, and, mainly, prostitution.

Swearengen lures desperate young women from far away to Deadwood, then forces them into prostitution through a combination of bullying and physical brutality, by himself and his henchmen.

The results are highly lucrative, the Gem bringing in an average of five thousand dollars a night, sometimes as much as ten thousand dollars (between $140,000 and $280,000 inflation adjusted for 2009).

When it burns down along with much of the town on September 26, 1879, Swearengen rebuilds it larger and more opulent than ever, to great public acclaim.