Deadwood's first sheriff, Seth Bullock, was born…
October 1876 CE
Deadwood's first sheriff, Seth Bullock, was born in Amherstburg, Canada West (now Ontario).
Apparently not happy at home, the sixteen-year-old Bullock had run away to Montana to live temporarily with his older sister, Jessie Bullock.
By age eighteen, he had permanently left home.
In 1867, Bullock had become a resident of Helena, Montana, where he unsuccessfully ran for the Territorial Legislature.
He was subsequently elected to the Territorial Senate, serving in 1871 and 1872 and helping to create Yellowstone National Park.
In 1873, he had been elected sheriff of Lewis and Clark County, Montana.
During his tenure as sheriff, he killed his first man, Clell Watson, who had stolen a horse; after a gunfight with Bullock, in which Bullock was slightly wounded in the shoulder, Watson had been taken into custody.
When Watson was prepared to be hanged, a lynch mob had appeared and scared off the executioner.
Bullock had climbed the scaffold and pulled the lever, sending Watson to his death, then held off the mob with a shotgun.
Around this time, he and Sol Star opened a hardware store.
In August 1876, he and Star decide an untapped market for hardware exists in the gold rush town of Deadwood, South Dakota.
The two purchase a lot in Deadwood and set up shop there as the "Office of Star and Bullock, Auctioneers and Commission Merchants," first in a tent and then a building.
The settlement of Deadwood had begun in the 1870s and has been described as illegal, since it lies within the territory granted to Native Americans in the 1868 Treaty of Laramie.
The treaty had guaranteed ownership of the Black Hills to the Lakota people, and disputes over the Hills are ongoing, having reached the United States Supreme Court on several occasions.
However, in 1874, Colonel George Armstrong Custer had led an expedition into the Hills and announced the discovery of gold on French Creek near present-day Custer, South Dakota.
Custer's announcement had triggered the Black Hills Gold Rush and given rise to the lawless town of Deadwood, which had quickly reached a population of around 5,000.
In early 1876, frontiersman Charlie Utter and his brother Steve had led a wagon train to Deadwood containing what are deemed to be needed commodities to bolster business.
The wagon train brought gamblers and prostitutes, resulting in the establishment of profitable ventures.
Demand for women is high, and the business of prostitution proves to have a good market.
Madam Dora DuFran will eventually become the most profitable brothel owner in Deadwood, closely followed by Madam Mollie Johnson.
Businessman Tom Miller opens the Bella Union Saloon in September of this year.
Deadwood is a lawless, rowdy camp.
The day after Bullock's arrival, Wild Bill Hickok had been murdered by Jack McCall, who shot Hickok in the back of the head while he sat playing poker.
McCall is later found not guilty by an impromptu camp court and released, after which he promptly leaves town.
The demand for law enforcement had grown following Hickok's murder and Bullock's background makes him the logical choice for Deadwood's first sheriff.
Bullock takes his job seriously, deputizing several residents and tackling the job of civilizing the camp.
Despite (or perhaps because of) a reputation for fearlessness and an uncompromising nature, Bullock manages the task without killing anyone.
Bullock has several 'run ins' with Al Swearengen, proprietor of the notorious Gem Theater, Deadwood's most notable brothel.
Swearengen has a knack for making money from vice and has shrewdly invested some of his profits in cultivating alliances with the camp's wealthy and powerful.
When appointed sheriff, one of Bullock's first duties is to confront Dodge City Deputy Marshal Wyatt Earp, who had possibly been interested in the sheriff's job.
Bullock tells Earp that his services are not needed.
A week later, Earp leaves Deadwood to return to Dodge City.
As the economy changes from gold rush to steady mining, Deadwood loses its rough and rowdy character and settled down into a prosperous town.
In 1876, a smallpox epidemic sweeps through the camp, with so many falling sick that tents have to be set up to quarantine them.
Also in this year, General George Crook pursues the Sioux Indians from the Battle of Little Big Horn on an expedition that ends in Deadwood, and that comes to be known as the Horsemeat March.