About this HBO show called "Deadwood"
(This is a very critical review, filled with crude language and cruel descriptions... adults only)!
After the "Premiere Episode" (1st show)...
After seeing the premiere, and a few "trailers," I think I have seen enough to understand the style and character... more than enough in fact. (I hope the majority of the public just watched the commercials and missed the show, otherwise we have a real problem on our hands).
It is obvious the movie-making people feel they must shock people into getting interested in this new show, with all the programming available to many viewers these days this may have been the only option for them... I just wish they had not chosen this Deadwood gold camp, and regret they have completely re-written our history in such a crude way. It remains to be seen what good can come out of it in the future, for now it will be a major black eye for the community!
It was a good thing this series did not begin before most people in the Midwest had started their spring work and were no longer spending late night hours glued to the television. (Most folks I have spoke to from Texas through Montana saw some of the previews and promotion, but missed the actual show)... that is a possibly the best thing that could have happened! It has however, along with many other untrue rumors, caused much concern... and a great deal of curiosity, which may have been the effect desired by those mixing up this history.
The biggest mistake made in the production was the incorrect use of derogatory language offensive to anyone not in a war zone, surrounded by men only, and then only those who are expecting to be dead at any time. (That is the last time I have witnessed such behavior against women and humanity in general... or such cruel language used in this manner).
Even in the most wicked drug infested armpits of the "lower east side" I have not seen grown men combine so many derogatory words inserted into one sentence. (I have witnessed a few child-minded people, while trying to learn to talk dirty, and showing off to the older boys, attempt such language... but very few grown men). In order to cuss like that a man must be one of two things, either scared to death, (at a time that they have no control over it), or so angry at all women they almost want to kill them for no reason... Only a few times in my memory, (while escorting groups of men to the medic tent for a shot after contracting VD), have I heard this kind of sustained talk against women lasting for such an extended length of time. Also several times when someone got a "Dear John" letter... but it seldom continued for very long.
It is possible a few in great danger, those who needed to feel more brave, may have talked like that... (but the "more intelligent" of those people never mixed cock sucker, mother fucker, and cunt... combined with the names of God or Jesus), unless they were badly wounded and out of their minds! In that day there was a big difference between talking vulgar and using the name of God in vain. Talking vulgar had more to do with words like shit and piss too... rather than a number of bad names for very private sexual happenings! (That was left to the very naive and ignorant minded, possibly a few who had witnessed first hand the "raping of the south" during the war, and maybe a select few who were very angry with the women of that day)!
In "Deadwood of old," and especially the first summer, men did not have much anger aimed at females... Those women who "followed the gold" at that time were very brave, they were treated accordingly. Most of the anger at first was directed to themselves, for getting into such a fix. Much resentment and some anger followed soon after... towards the few who had gold, goods, claims, or a comfortable place to stay. Greed and envy causes a different kind of cussing and resentment, mostly directed towards God or each other, but not normally towards women... that came much later!
There were a few derogatory words used to describe the woman's private parts, all men knew the words tits and pussy, those words were also used to describe that part of an animal. (More commonly pronounced differently, a cow or goat had "teats" for milking, another often used word came from calling gender by saying a Tom, or Pussy cat... An ass was normally only the four legged kind, a bitch was only a female dog in heat, seldom was bitchy even acceptable in mixed company). That was about the extent of "bad" words used by men around any girl, boob was more acceptable, (bosom if with the higher class), the bottom part was not mentioned at all, (not in the first person anyway). A man did not ask a whore how much for her pussy, the word "poke" was used, even when very drunk he did not speak openly about the size or shape of one, he would be thrown out of any public place for that. This attitude remained throughout the 1800's... even in the wildest rendezvous camp filled with Frenchmen, (some of the most vulgar of all men in the old west). It was in fact, long after that before the "F" word even came about as an English spoken word, the French had one somewhat like it all the way back before modern history, it also started with the letter F too, and sounded somewhat like fuck when spoken in broken English. French Trappers used it too, but not around any female... the Indians had a word too, but it more closely translates to the word fornicate, or possibly "to come within" (in the language of today)! The first time that word is actually documented as a spoken word in Deadwood, (or any words combining it with your mother), was after men came back from the first world war. It was again learned from the French, but gained popularity as women continued to fight for their rights to vote, to hold office, to own and control property... and men! So did other bad words for women, like the most wicked one... the "C" word. Over twenty names for that part of a woman were even placed in print around that time, snatch and pussy were overused while in a drunken state, flower and bush were more common when sober... (Actually cunt did not start out to be a bad word to begin with! It was used many years before the gold rush by doctors and professionals, as an easier word to pronounce than vagina, often used when describing the opening itself, rather than the entire area... Women of the day did not like the term, after that it became a bad word, but seldom used in a hurtful way).
After the first episode of this new vulgar program about Deadwood aired, people who are "normally quiet" even began to speak up. Especially those over the age of retirement! Most said even in the early times of Deadwood the brothel girls were treated like ladies or simply ignored, but were very seldom spoke of in such wicked ways. They also said language had never been a problem until maybe the last few decades. Even in the men's clubs... then or now, bad language was not tolerated. Most did not know of the "F" word being spoken openly here until after the second world war, and then only for a year or two. The man who collected "fine" payments from the brothels during that time told me all seventeen "houses" were united in putting a stop to such language. He said they all agreed on that, wicked talk was just not acceptable, it was not good for business either. You may think badly of these girls for what they did physically, but their job was only to provide comfort, and a much needed release for the men. It was not their intent to corrupt the mind, they were there to relax it if anything.
The men of the gold rush did not come to this town for that either, they came for the gold... free from the ground. When it did not turn out that way they may have been angry, but not at the women. Those who were lucky spent some of it on those women, but their body, (and their mind), got more out of that than any amount of whiskey or various other drugs gave them. And the comfort they received from the girls lasted longer too... (if some other "different" form of sex had been experienced, they did not talk about it either). For sure not in regular conversation, although not educated, they were not stupid, or that immature!
In those days most early education in reading was directly from the bible, often the only book carried all the way across the country. Although women were not really held in high esteem in this book, the one reading from it was normally their mother, no matter what they became in life, a bit of that always remained. (Hell was about the only commonly used bad word learned from the bible by many, but there were many other shameful words used. Men did know that using the Lord's name in a hateful way was a bad thing to do, but that did not stop them while drunk or angry)...
During the gold rush, and for many years after, the use of the name of God in a vain way was still considered very wrong, and only used when angry or to make a point. Even then, when such a declaration was made, it normally ended the conversation... The impression left from the use of such language was one of a "clear sign of immaturity," one could not reason with such an individual, no further attempt was made to do so. Such foul mouthed behavior was often the downfall of many men, (who were not considered to have been raised correctly), they were run out of town in due time. It was this kind of cussing people referred to when the early times of this town was finally documented... cross-check your history!
Much more common was the use of the word hell... many different phrases and ways of using that word were used while drinking or angry, often considered acceptable even in mixed company. My grandfather was not born until the late 1800's, but he spent much of the twenties away from the homestead in the mountains of Colorado, (with men from Denver, who had been in Deadwood for the gold rush). He said the most common and acceptable phrase used by some people was a strange one to me... "Well, I'll be go to hell"... My great grandmother died from TB when she was in her early twenties, my great grandfather then married a girl who had spent a number of years in Cripple Creek, (the next gold rush after the one to the Black Hills). She also mentioned this same phrase as about the only one used by any men around her at that time, although she also said "the bunch from Deadwood" was a crude lot, often showing less respect for the woman's body, sometimes even staring at private areas, and making comments about seeing ankles and such.
It is documented that when this group of men were together and drinking too much whiskey, they would tell "tall stories" about the woman of Deadwood doing very wicked things... the word "cock sucker" was first documented at this time. It was not considered to be anything more than a wishful lie though, these men were physically thrown out of all bars for such talk... And this was in 1894! (Pecker sucker was a more acceptable use of this "description of the act," but again, it was more of something they joked about, not what actually happened). Such behavior was still considered very cruel and demeaning to everyone who was adult minded enough to be drinking whiskey. Such a dirty act was placed in a special category, and declared as unmentionable, (all the way up to and including the early part of the roaring twenties). Elsewhere in the "naughty" portions of our writings on the history of this town you will read what the term "blow job" meant, and it actually had nothing to do with the girl truly placing her lips on the typical unwashed/uncircumcised dick of that day!
During our gold rush the words shit and piss were written down and used often, but even they were considered a very vulgar way to talk, it was not common that they were used by the majority of the men, often not until it was the final word before departing... "I am pissed off and plan to take my shit and go"... And to use a common phrase better known today, the feeling from more responsible people of that day was probably... "and don't let the door hit you in the ass"!
"What in the hell have I gotten myself into" was another common phrase used in early times. And yes... sorry to say, the "F" word is used often in the Deadwood of today, but seldom three times in one sentence. That is clearly a sign of someone very young, immature, child minded, or totally out of his head. Few of this kind of people would have lived long enough to make it to the Deadwood of 1876. Embedding such language into the original history of our town is some wicked attempt to degrade all of us remaining here today. It implies our town is one of irresponsible actions and dirty deeds. Obviously those doing this production have chosen to use "trash-talk/gutter-slang/street-language" as a substitute for more expensive props and higher priced actors. (Maybe it was done to cover up what was really going on at the time involving the sins of greed and envy). The constant reference to the derogatory slang used to lower women, even mothers... must be some attempt to degrade women in general. Surly someone involved in this show is happily married?
Those making this production spent a great deal of time here in the area first... talking to people who knew many correct things, they even said in the "making of Deadwood" previews leading up to this that much attention was given to making this show as close to the truth as possible... Somewhere along the line somebody slipped them some serious drugs. The biggest mistake is the easy going terrain they showed, nobody ever got any heavy wagons down into this gulch from any trail other than the naturally formed gradual one from Cheyenne at first, for sure not without a much larger team and a great deal of help from each other. Seth Bullock and one other man rode all alone through hundreds of miles of Indian country, surrounded by maybe twenty thousand Indians, (who were fired up and getting ready for the Battle of the Little Big Horn, only a few weeks away)? What a brave man he must be... (The word stupid comes to mind, even the bravest of the mountain men leading such groups through that part of the country at this same time turned back in May and June of that year due to all the scary signs and angry talk, even among friendly Indians)! This wagon was loaded with over a ton of supplies, pulled by four mules, coming in from the north... through areas an older horse was said to have had trouble getting through without a rider? Give me a break... Calamity Jane meeting the family with the little girl, going out the same way? All wrong... Charlie Utter always came in from the south, and there was no road to the north a wagon like that could pass!
Another large mistake made in this "historically accurate" portrayal of the Hills of 1876 was the constant use of the name Spearfish... The name of that town appears much more than the name Deadwood, seven times in the first episode to be exact. (I would like to know just who is behind that one, some of the people writing this story must have been treated with more kindness and understanding by those in that community, than anyone within the city limits of Deadwood, which does not surprise me)... The real truth is that the town was not even there yet, a small Indian encampment was close by where the town was later founded. But that did not happen until after the area was opened for settlement. That location was on the open plains in Indian country... someone is very confused!
And while I am nit-pickin'... there was no planed wood used in construction of the few permanent buildings, all wood was rough-cut by hand, and only tabletops were planed or sanded anything close to a fine surface... The majority of the logs used were much bigger too. Most whiskey bottles no longer had any labels on them and there were a lot more tin cups than real shot glasses. Also, men pee their pants when they are hung... and the horses were not dressed right either, where in the world did they get that tack? Solid lead bullets, of that small of a caliber, will not go through both sides of a mature skull. (The man would not be awake either, and for sure not be able to think and talk for 20 minutes with part of the brain destroyed). Important men were addressed by last name only, nobody ever used both first initials unless in print, almost all other men were addressed by their nicknames, not just Wild Bill... (Few real names were given, some were running from history connected to that name, others did not want people connecting their name with the free money found, very few volunteered their real name). And finally, over 80% of the target audience will view this on a regular TV... why produce it in 16x9? This show will never make it to the "big screen," it is so poorly done I will be surprised if it does not get cut before the second season is contracted.
The only real story line worth following is several "cons" being set up so badly that nobody I talked to was able to catch them... a combination of poor language transmission due to slang drawls, dark settings, (making lip-reading impossible), combined with the lack of close-ups when the important parts are discussed. This production is made for a darkened theatre with accurate surround sound capabilities, not an average television... big mistake!
Finally, the women... oh my goodness, who wrote the woman parts? Those bastards need their nuts cut off, they better stay out of Montana. (I used the name bastards on purpose, which was the only bad name not used in the series, maybe due to the men who wrote it... A bastard could be a man, but these men may have had fathers, but they sure don't have any mothers helping them anymore). Why in the world did you make Calamity Jane call a group of men in trouble "ignorant fuckin' cunts"... that did not happen! (She was not shown as drunk at the time she said it... she would not use the "C" word, or another bad name for women, around mixed pioneer families. She was crude at times, but not around other women, and normally only when drunk in the bars).
And nobody in control of a valuable prostitute, at that time anyway, would have bounced them off of any walls, or stood on their neck while pulling on their arm, especially just to get them to say "I will be good"... Also one that has a gun, and has used it to kill someone that day for beating on her. (For that matter, why does she not even appear in the show until she is already badly beaten). What... they short on make-up people? If I was that pretty girl I would have complained about getting totally naked on the closing scene, and showing that much respect to this so-called big shot...
Is this a get-even movie aimed at Deadwood? Or is this just some child-minded attempt to give every woman in the world a black eye, or possibly just this town? Is this some wicked message to those who accidentally tuned in to see "Sexy girls in the City" or just a perverted idea of how to show men in charge of something besides their underwear?
I am ashamed and appalled at their wicked attempt to shift the truth away from what really happened in the Old West of Deadwood... (the evilness brought on by the sins of greed and envy, from some of the meanest people alive at that time).
Also, for your information, the part women played in this camp was one of comfort... they were not beaten, and did not need to be. (Can't anyone in this production company find room for at least one nice pretty girl, to put into this mess, without killing her off with drugs)?
Week two... (a new low for broadcast television)...
I could not believe my eyes, or the "balls" of the people from HBO... Who have they not offended by the end of week #2??? Showing a man pointing his dick, going from whore to whore? First he wants to pick the star of the show, (then it is mentioned he has been having sex with a buffalo)... then he is told to pick another girl. Now you get to hear round one, and see her afterwards in the most unattractive position possible, (large breasts resting on a double roll of fat, while bend forward... that woman was not even heavy, she is just positioned to look that way). Now the "old fat man" is standing in a doorway... dick in hand, on his way to round two, happy but not content, done... but still ready for more action?
I liked the way they showed him with his pants caught in his boots, with no underwear on... (Truthful, but totally not necessary, truly offensive to just about everyone who is still considered wholesome). It is no wonder most common people of good breeding walked out on the "private" airing of the first two shows... (When they brought all that fancy wide-screen equipment to the Deadwood Convention Center last week). I was glad I got to see it in private, I understood why my wife and daughter walked out on it when we watched it from tape... (in the second minute of week #2 they showed the "un-groomed pussy hair" of the female star). Truthful yes, but a new low for the TV in our living room, good thing they missed that little fat dick later on... (In the meantime, I was more concerned with the large mistake by those at HBO, those in charge of props... Notice the gun she takes out of her bosom as she disrobes to close episode one, now the following morning, after he takes a pee without holding the chamber pot up close... what? Anyway, he picks up the gun... now the larger one she had killed the guy with yesterday, and makes some comment not understood on a regular TV)...
This is bad acting... low budget "spaghetti western" style, I have produced better movies myself, and I am an amateur...
They were successful in covering one thing well though... (Offending the majority)! They did not leave hardly anyone out by the end of week #2... They have added to their list, and have now made fun of a crippled woman, all fat people, the "Jew-bastard" and Montana... aired out the room after the Irish, pissed on the set, and made Calamity cry... They now have the doctor turned into the best drug dealer, complete with laudanum based "pussy lotion," which of course must be applied on camera... They even had to hint that the owner of the Gem theater wanted to have sex with a very young girl, Calamity Jane offered herself instead, and of course was denied! The bad language has not improved, but now the main characters are cussing more, the normal folks less. We have two new phrases as well... "son of a fuck be it" and "the best mouthin' blow job is just 12 steps away"... I was also offended by the reference to "square-heads" and the foreign translation in the lyrics of the song after the end of the show. I was shocked that they worked into the script the reference to "that time of the month" as well as "where is your cycle of moons" for no reason other than to continue to upset the women...
I could not believe they used 1890's sheet-board in two buildings, had a stuffed elk head above the bar, and gave fifty more "credits" to Wild Bill. They "triangulated" a town with only one street, and made Charlie Utter shit his pants... Also, where did those Texas long horned cattle in that meadow come from?
They opened the second episode with a man telling the Chinaman to share the meat of a human being with the pigs and the dog... No truth to that at all, (I guess there were a few dogs in Deadwood by July of 1876, all else is wrong)...
And where did they get that history about the owner of the Gem being the only girls/cards/bar action in town? It is clearly noted in all information that this was about the only thing Deadwood had too much of at this time!
(Big shot Al Swearengen... kiss my cookies, he was not in control... if anyone was, the Jewish merchants were in control... but not really, they just owned the "meeting place" where the evilness was discussed. An owner of some bar did supply the whiskey for at least one of those meetings, but other than that they had very little involvement... The sale of booze was divided among almost 50 locations, it was not very important in the overall view of things at the time! The price going from a nickel to fifty cents a shot had more to do with supply and demand than any price fixing. According to my history information from those attending the "evil meetings" the only involvement the booze people had at any meetings was in lowering the price of an ounce of gold from $22 down to $18, the price of whiskey was never discussed). I guess the movie people may just need a good story line to follow, they do have to strike a tender nerve to get noticed these days!
We here in Deadwood must try to look at this thing positively... Yes it is "From Hollywood to Deadwood" all over again, Connie Chung style too... Did you not learn anything from what Kevin Costner did, (or didn't do I should say)? For two years I warned everyone who would listen all about that... I was even fired and ordered off the street for saying it, but it was too important not to speak up about... too many people took the wrong road that time too!
This is a very cruel and graphic portrayal of Deadwood, in the style of the "Passion" movie. But that is Hollywood for you, and 6 million people tuned in too, broke all records... It is often said in town that it does not matter what they say or think, it only matters that they talk! It is possible that the show will improve, neutral people who have seen all 13 episodes say "it picks up after Wild Bill is killed," maybe they will even stop offending everyone after they get some of their money back with the "shock and awe fuck" scenes... Maybe they will even tend to the true history after they get going... after all, the real truth is quite boring and repetitive, a bit of fiction placed in every fact is what we did to put this place on the map in the first place... they just took it a step further!
Yes we have attracted a bad element of society to our community, and we will pay for it... but we have the cops to handle it, (donut sales will be down though, they will need to work harder)! But if you have been hassled by them in the past you should be happy, now they will have dangerous people, wicked behavior, and others more important to mess with...
Yes we may have run off some of the families and a few of the old people, but they are a very small part of gambling revenue, and we did not have much for young people to do yet anyway... in 2004! (I feel bad about that actually, Las Vegas is running them off too, bad timing... we could have had them back here before long).
Yes the virgins are scared, and so are their dads, but they should have not been working downtown anyway... and that also opened up about three new jobs! (Just kidding... yes we will have to watch out for our women for a while again, nothing new there, sure glad mine are gone though).
Yes we took the wrong road supporting movie stars again, but don't forget how many taxes they pay on the gambling houses they still own here, lets see... my taxes on a $60,000 paid-for house are $1,400 a year... (just for the right to live in it another year in this town)... Their tax on a 6 million dollar casino is WHAT... wow... (No wonder nobody is trying to sell shoes and underwear downtown anymore)!
I have had requests to explain that information in more detail... This was added several weeks later!
Property taxes on what many call the "better" casinos, (in the multi-million dollar range), are above $200,000 per year... some are much higher, that was just an example of one that was a remodeled older building... (At one time in the early 1980's the same building was sold for one third that amount, and the price included a business on the main floor)! To make it easy to figure some of the other taxes, let us say they now have 100 gambling devices. By the end of June they must pay an additional tax on each of the machines at $2,000 per year... add another $200,000. (This is before they open the door for business)... After they do, there is tax on the profit from the gambled money retained after pay-offs, more taxes on all employees, more tax on sales, bed and booze tax, even a 1% Tourism tax... the list goes on! (And from there it goes "under-the-table" as some would put it... The percent of profit set aside for payoffs to politicians/protection/policy changes etc. is not known... but it is a percentage just the same)! Each business in this category pays around a million every year in taxes, much of it locally... government income tax is another issue, they have better lawyers than we do and normally pay those people more that it costs them to our government!
This is hard to understand, when you put it in writing... In October of 1989, a month before gambling was made legal, I ask the mayor to total up the entire worth of the town and everything in it, right down to the last dog house at the edge of town, and including the cash on hand at the local bank. He gave me a figure of 24.3 million dollars, he said it was accurate to within 5%... We now have people in town with private holdings totaling more than that just in businesses, not counting all the homes they have purchased! (That 24 million was a high estimate too, you should have seen the value of the town two years before that, when a couple of local boys set the school on fire and we wondered if we could afford the plywood to board it up properly, or a year before, when those 17 businesses burned on main street... and we almost lost the # 10 Saloon). At that time I tried to invest in 1/5th of a "going concern" on main street at a selling price of $57,000... that business sold again 5 years later, in 1990, for over a million. I was also involved in a private home offered for back taxes, (a total of $736)! It needed so much work I backed out... the buyer put in $550 and a little of his time for a few years, only did "pretend" repairs... but sold it in 1991 for $52,000! (Some homes have only doubled or tripled in value, fallen down "fix-it" homes or those with large additional lots filled with weeds and junk went up the most... many as much as 50 times what was paid in the "hard times" of the mid 1980's).
The taxes paid by those doing business here in 1985 totaled less than one percent of the taxes paid in 1995, my question now becomes "where is all that money going"? Someday, I will complete my report on this and post a page that will shock all of you... Yes we are better off, I just do not know where to find the "improvements" yet. It is said the HBO show may attract additional new money into town, and some of it will not go down the "rat-holes" built into our "system" as it is right now... Maybe our kids will finally get some newer school books next year... (If we are real lucky maybe they will even help someone put in a day-care center for the younger children)! Or we could get totally ridiculous and ask for something to entertain all those living on less than $500 a month Social Security checks, like a Senior Citizens Center complete with a free parking lot and a wheel chair ramp... After all, based on the 2003 censes stating a total population of 1856 people now living in Deadwood... over half are either senior citizens, or still in school! I know many say we do spend some on our young... a good example of that was the prom I video-taped five years after gambling hit. (More was spent on the cops and breathalyzer equipment at entrance/exits... than on all the prom decorations)! And I am ashamed to admit I also took part in the "after-prom" party held in the other gym... where I dealt blackjack at the "casino-nite" event. (It was decided they would hopefully want to gamble for "school money" and bid on the thousands of dollars of prizes at the end... rather than do the other things this town is famous for... unprotected sex while inebriated)! I do not know if that was wise, but I do know it was voted in by the majority of the volunteering parents at the time! (And more than half of them were very much against all evil-minded things going on in Deadwood... most of them worked for or owned the "normal" businesses in town, like the medical/dental/hardware/logging etc... And almost all were not making any money after the sun went down! These people stated they must choose the lesser of evils... but something many of the kids would attend).
This may be hard to understand unless you have something to compare it too... Let us use the bible story of a "good family" living among perverted people in Sodom or Gomorrah, after a couple of other good people come to visit them... And all the wicked gather in a mob outside the door, demanding to be allowed to rape the "fresh meat" they saw go inside! (What Lot does is very hard to understand... he offers up his own virgin daughters to the crowd instead? And that "story" gets even more interesting a few pages later)! The point I am trying to make here is not evil minded... only an example of the mind-set of the people here, and what they have to deal with on a daily basis! (Apposed to some farm or ranch community where the most evil thing they have to deal with is a local auctioneer who occasionally pulls a bid out of thin air during the sale of good saddle-broke horse)!
I was not surprised the people on the prize-donation committee did so well when they went to the casinos gathering donations. Some told the owners "in effect" that they were putting on an event to help encourage the kids to learn to gamble! Instead of getting the standard request for maybe a $10 portable CD player... they got big-screen TV's! It was no wonder the kids put off sex until later, and tried hard to gamble wisely, and get the larger piles of money for the bidding process at the end of the evening...
And as far as the older people are concerned... Deadwood wins the prize once again for ignoring them as well, unless they want their property or knowledge... And after they get it they want them to move to Arizona or somewhere far away so they do not find out what happened next! (I must quote one very colorful "old-timer" after he had seen a number of episodes of this new image of Deadwood on TV... These are the actual words spoken)- Them cock-suckin casinos people only take their dicks out of our children just long enough to piss on us about once a day... Just to get a free cup of coffee with my friends I have to plug a whole fistful of quarters and walk a quarter of a mile every two hours I want to stay and visit! Those ass-kissin wannabees give me at least one ticket a week cause I walk too slow when the snow is deep.... Fifteen years ago I figured most of the bastards who came to town and ran off half of my friends would leave town once their dicks fell off! Instead, I find most of them now have their balls in a vise and nobody even knows who is running the crank! I was born here, and I plan on dieing here... but I sometimes wish that time would come a bit quicker than next winter even... cause there is nothing to do anymore.
This is a shameful way to put it, but very true... The same man was interviewed in the same location in late April of 1990... just after he had returned from a five month trip to New Mexico, while the hard part of the winter made travel for him difficult here in Deadwood. (He had lost his suitcase at the Greyhound terminal in Denver and was trying to get some socks and underwear... He had walked from the Franklin Hotel down to the end of town and back up the other side). He was quite winded and I had given him a free parking spot in the lot I was guarding at the time for that hotel... he stopped to thank me and only made one statement that I remember very well. He said "This town has gone to hell in a hand-basket, and the only thing left for sale is booze and poker chips"... I was happy to be able to tell him about the new additions to the Mall in Lead, only three miles up the hill... that was before it slid down the hill...
I for one have decided to step back and wait for HBO to get done shocking and offending everyone on earth, (so far the only groups not offended are the blacks and the homosexuals, that will surely also be shocking however they figure out how to do that, especially if they tell the truth). But when they have covered all bases, have everyone's attention, maybe they will get down to the business of making this something interesting and attractive...
It fails to amuse me the way they are going at it, but I am a very small person in the overall perspective of important things and serious issues. I continue to pay my taxes and try to obey all the new laws, although I occasionally do unto others... (as they have "done did" unto me)... But I am going to back off from HBO until I find out who is behind all this, (it sure can't be Mel Gibson or any like him, and there is no church people involved, they don't like crude nudity below the waist and wickedness concerning a woman's birthing area). It may be just an attempt to take over the town by the "movie-star" mafia, but I am going to watch and listen for a while...
Remember one thing, while the rest of you are doing all this "HBO bashing"...
Let your actions speak louder than your words, don't cry foul while you are changing into a specially designed "pussy-framed" outfit, on your way to work at the Midnight Star... either get an escort, or change your job!
Make sure whatever you wear correctly reflects your feelings... do not talk out of both sides of your mouth, you will confuse the people on an issue that is already very complicated!
Take a lesson from all these people going around complaining, (about America "out-sourcing" all those jobs overseas), while wearing the wrong tags on their clothes... You cannot wait to see who wins and just sit on the fence in these issues, there is no more room! Hide in the bushes if you want, (but sooner or later you must take a stand, on one side of this fence or the other... and be sure you are standing at the time, it is a picket fence)...
Let your money talk if you have any, (I have designed a children's park you can invest in if you like)... If you are broke, and living on free food and coupons, then you need to listen for a while now, and then play "follow the leader" after you pick HER!
Deadwood has just become a word spoken around the world, HBO may have single-handedly ended our losing streak... but you cannot have it both ways. (This is also a world economy now, the dollar is down, all foreigners are richer, we are poorer... it is going to get worse before it gets better). Be angry, it is perfectly normal, be offended, you are correct... and then be quiet for a while. Wait for something good to happen, maybe it will... if it does, invest in it!
And if you are going to show off woman parts, don't show anything that would not make your mama proud, a little skin will make men live longer, too much and they will turn into animals! According to Sturgis a "little tittie" is good for business, a big one even better... (every man on earth still has a little boy in him, and still wants to nurse every breast he sees, many women are not afraid to show they are still capable of putting up with this nonsense). Such action should remain inside though, many people in the Midwest do not get HBO, and still have enough gas to get here... (they may be on their way here, we should be prepared for them if they happened to come).
Everybody uses sex to sell, especially when in a bind for profit, sometimes nothing else will sell in a bad economy... But be sure to do it in a stylish manner, no reason to do it any other way! If our girls must be on the front lines of this battle then show them the respect they deserve, and be sure to show them with a little class, not those from a little class... We must all do our best to protect our little children from all of this, they are learning from us as we speak!
After week three... (Still discouraged)...
The biggest disappointment was the major use of the "C" word by Wild Bill in a public place. Although the use of that word is historically correct, I do not think it was used that many times in a single statement, that would cause even a mean minded person to be appalled. The word is generally considered to be extremely offensive to women, especially in this day.
And, in the 1800's the word cunt was still mostly a "medical" term, (or an easier word to spell and pronounce for average folks). It was often used when someone talked directly about the birth opening
I am getting bored with this show, the same repetitive language and actions, the hard to understand dialogue, the darkened scenes... maybe I should go see more episodes in the HDTV format before passing final judgment...
Week four... (the real history begins)...
The murder of Wild Bill in Deadwood is our most important point in "known" history by the majority of the people not from this area. (Many people know nothing else about Deadwood when they come here, some have these facts badly twisted as well). The re-enactment of it on the television was fairly accurate for a change, with one important part left out... where he was captured.
Jack McCall was actually cornered in a tent or some kind of enclosed shop offering meat products and grocery items. This happened shortly after he attempted to steal the horse and fell off... What caused him to do this deed was also left out of the story for good reason. (It involved the "down-n-dirty" deeds of corrupt people controlling the town at the time)... This is not covered in the story line of the show, (in the way it is now being portrayed), so I guess it would not fit right to make note of it now. The setting of the shooting... in the canvas covered combination bar/misc. building that later became the Number 10 Saloon is true, the quickness of the action and the motions were as well.
But the hero of this show, Seth Bullock, was actually in on the killing, or was at least aware it was going to happen. Also, Calamity Jane was not awake yet, or at least not around when it happened. This event was not even considered one of the "highlights" of that day... most of the people out and about when it happen were "day people" and not interested in bar killings. (They were a different kind of people than those who made a living in the "dark of the night" within this community). And Jack was actually more of a day person... one of their kind, and liked more by them than someone such as Wild Bill. He had also been more useful to some of the whores and their kind, when he helped supply them with cats for company... and had been nursed by several for the scratches he had received in the process.
Week five... (the trial of Jack McCall)...
Once again, the true history is being mixed with interesting rumors to make a better story. The trial of Jack McCall was one of the only things clearly documented from all other bits and pieces that remained after fires and floods destroyed almost all record of life in the camp during the gold rush year. It was actually the prosecuting attorney who took those records and testimonies back to "the states," and followed up on seeing that Jack was hung for his crime.
The trial was later turned into a play, as well as a major tourist attraction for Deadwood. Although a few famous characters have been added to the script from time to time, for the most part what was said is correctly replayed six nights a week every summer to this day. I first saw the play over forty years ago and thought it was better at that time than maybe ten years ago, when it was sold to new management. In the "old days" the characters were local residents who truly believed in playing their part, on and off stage, year after year... After the long-time owners sold the play rights, (along with the wax museum), to someone with other concerns, the play suffered a great deal. (It became a joke in fact, with teenagers and "magic-marker" beards)! Now each year depends on who they get to direct it, who plays the important parts, and how well they perform them... It is no longer a good money-maker, with gambling now taking center stage, it remains another shameful casualty of our second "gold rush" in this town. Last year they started making the "Trial" show a free one to all the public... It has moved from the original location to a much smaller stage and most of the old play has been eliminated, it is now more of a side-show than anything else!
The time-frame of this series has also been expanded to about ten or fifteen years of history being placed into one month of the first summer of 1876. The settings, props, and characters... even the events are mixed up. Bringing up the names of people from towns that were not there yet, like Lead and Spearfish, is more for recognition than anything else, which is not all bad. But starting a plague is getting a bit ahead of ourselves, by many years in fact. True history would be much more boring, and this has got to last for at least eight more hours of entertainment, before life in Deadwood became so normal it is not worth TV time...
Week six... (the plague hits Deadwood)...
Actually that didn't happen until years later, but Small Pox's is one of the epidemics that did kill many people, (the Indians gave it back to us the same way we gave it to them... in the blankets). Calamity Jane was one of those helping the sick people, and she was not affected, other than the good words later spoken about her.
For the first time no nudity was present, but having Jane say the "F" word around a child just learning English was not appropriate. The series did not "pick up" as promised... it slowed down if anything! I am not sure why they had to spend so much time dealing with epileptic seizures, sick women, and the "plague," all in one episode... guess they just got on a roll!
Seth did not go after Jack or kill any Indian, Charlie did not make a run to Cheyenne just for a few pack animals, (he was actually in camp when Wild Bill died... they were even living in the same tent). The "meetings" were always held in the Jewish Merchants "church" room... and there was no "chink-town" yet, not even any Chinese...
The scenes about the "way" of an Indian warrior were not caught on a normal TV with regular sound, five of the seven points made were missed by my screen-checkers at first viewing, three of them were not understood even on a big screen. The re-creation was accurate though, just too bad they rushed it... The fight with the Indian was not realistic in any way, anyone living with a gun on his side would have used it right away, and any warrior with a "bashing stone" on that long of a stick would have killed even the strongest man with the first strike to the head. People writing such "history" stories should at least ask for the help of one real Indian warrior...
Meanwhile, back at the ranch... Deadwood was celebrating the 109th anniversary of the actual Bullock Hotel this Saturday! (The hotel was built in 1895 by Seth Bullock and two others). On hand for the celebration were several famous Hollywood people, and one of our own famous women... a very realistic "saloon girl" out of the old west.
Producer Scott Stevens... our "Deadwood Alive" gal... and John Hawkes, (who plays Sol Star).
Outside the hotel a crowd gathered for a little show put on by our Wild Bill and his "troupe"...
There were several horse-drawn wagons available for props, the mayor and a few important local people were also present. Everyone who showed up got some good pictures, posters, autographs, and free food. It was well worth being there, but attended by less than one hundred total... (actually not a bad crowd for this time of the year).
Actors from the "troupes" were in fine form, down to the last detail... only the guns were a bit rusty!
Wild Bill did a great job of putting on a "pre-season" show, regardless of the rain...
As "bad guy number one," (shown on the wagon), said... His part is easier than Wild Bill's... He only gets killed at 2, 4, and 6 PM... Wild Bill must die at 1, 3, 5, and 7 inside the #10 all summer long. (I have played his part before, there is nothing to it, and it is nice working the crowds afterwards). Also, note the Mustang Sally's sign... the spot where Seth and Sol Star built the original hardware store was about 20 feet straight down!
Regardless when you come into this town, there are a number of "old west" characters around, and most of them are very good at true history. Even if you ask them something they do not know for sure, they know where to find it out...
After episode seven (Small Pox epidemic of the 1890's)...
The "cured" appearance of the one guy so far that lived through this dangerous "plague" is not truly like an average "after" appearance, more like someone who had a very bad case of the more moderate "chicken pox" version of this decease... Pictures of such people are normally only used as something to make those disfigured by Small Pox to feel better about their scars. Those I have known, (a few remote Indian tribes and many living in foreign countries), have maybe one or two round scars visible on their face, and they were always larger... more the size of a quarter, or at least a nickel. The way they portray it on HBO is more like many looked after surviving the milder cases.
The movie people have mixed up history again... (added many years of various happenings within a few weeks in time). They are trying to make the story more interesting by including many highlights... (or low points), of all the history in the entire area. (They are planning the next 13 episodes now, maybe they will at least get the train to Deadwood before the model T's)...
Moving on...
I don't know for sure what to say about this program anymore, they are getting closer to true happenings but are still very mixed up about when they happen!
I have even learned something I did not already know on week nine and found it to be accurately portrayed! The bad language and irresponsible creation showing wicked life of women in the camp continues to be the main thing making everyone mad. I do not know what can be done but several plans are in the works...
Prices of everything are going up in town and many think it will be the best tourist season for many years, I have my doubts but do not know what to tell you.
At this time I must put everything off until after June 1st... Stay tuned for an update after that!
After episode eleven (the last straw)...
At this time I must say I cannot watch this series anymore, nor do I want to discuss it with anyone outside this town!
HBO has crossed the line and there is no going back on this one... Whatever were they thinking, how wicked can they get?
I have referred to the vulgar way they have portrayed the women of Deadwood in past episodes, but the series has reached a new low now... (With the re-created blow job performed by a new actress). I wonder how they cast that position for this show?
Having the original girl on the set go to her new-found lover... (and offer herself completely), was a good start towards showing true history as it was! (Many of those considered "whores" actually did have lovers on the side... often these lovers provided them with the same comfort the "fallen woman" provided to those in the camp who were without their wives). This may be hard to understand here in the America of this day, it is much more common in other countries where money and power causes sex to be the most important and valuable commodity a women can possess. When such a woman has sex with a stranger for money to support her family it is considered more of a task or duty than anything beyond that. Many of these women lead a double life in the bedroom and are able to have feelings of a special love for a gentle man throughout those years, if one should come along.
This may be considered unbelievable by many, as less than ten percent of the women in this area are involved with such feelings in modern times and only those few can truly understand such things... It remains much more common in other poor countries around the world, where almost half of the younger women are involved. I have seen it here in Deadwood too though, but it is now more "in the dark" than it was maybe twenty years before the year 2000. The Rapid City area also had more of it going on from 1985 through about 2002, (it happened more in conjunction with the more private "stripping trade" than any open prostitution connected with the Deadwood area). A few encounters our survey people reported started out with a "private table dance" in a topless club... or sometimes only a drink followed by a meal after a girl was hired for a private club performance. Often the actual act of sex was quite expensive during these days, sometimes in the hundreds, I know of one girl who charged over one thousand for a weekend! The Deadwood area became very "seasonal" from about 1979 until 1987, (the legal prostitution openly was outlawed in 1980, and the back-room girls were mostly gone by 1981, except for major summertime events). After that the girls went into dancing or just stripping on demand, (the ones who were with men full time learned to dance if possible and very few had actual sex with most of the people they made their money on, only when they were in a bind... or were offered a great deal of money). The "exotic dancer" trade got a bad rap after these extra girls hit the market, for at least the first ten or fifteen years, (the typical working lifetime of girls in this trade). The only places openly advertising were located in the Rapid City area for the most part. (Outer Limits was about the most wide open for sexual contact without vaginal penetration, as well as the snakes, fire dances and private room jacking off for $100)... One place downtown and another in the hills had some of the older or uglier women who would do just about anything for money. I would not really call them dancers at all, and they seldom even had a nice outfit... these girls were over the hill, and had a very rough ride down the other side. A few other places had topless only, some with dancing, some only "cocktailing" or bartending... A select group of girls only did private parties! (These gals would do just about anything ask of them, providing enough money was involved). We also had one escort service with three girls, and two belly-dancing groups that did not even get naked for any price!
Everything changed after 2002 in the county that included Rapid City. (The gal who owned the biggest place outside the Air Force Base "found god" about the time she found she was dieing of cancer)... She and a local minister went on a crusade that shamed even those who talk openly about sex such as people like me. (We are now all going straight to hell if we do not join with her in this quest to eliminate all nudity and any bad thoughts... I wish her well though, and always thought she was a very interesting person). After a few town meetings all totally naked stripping was outlawed, and any sexual teasing was closely monitored in the few topless places still open. The only "escort service" still advertising in the entire region would no longer send any lady closer than the Denver area from the west coast. The girls operating during the Cheyenne Frontier Days would still make an appearance in the Deadwood area to rest up some, but very little actual sex took place. One classy topless place later opened up close to the airbase at Box Elder, but none of those girls have any sex with anyone but their husbands or long-time boyfriends as far as we know. This area is mostly for teasing, like a good share of Deadwood... although I will not say you cannot find a girl to have sex with anymore, just that if you do you will need a great deal more money than in days past! (It is much easier to just go to a bar and buy a round for the house, flashing a large roll of hundred-dollar bills... almost any given night you will have several girls close by shortly who want to help you spend that money wiser). Most of these girls will show you a good time, in and out of bed, for as long as that money lasts... And you should leave that information here after you leave that girl and this area! The next time you come here she will be gone, but others will have grown up enough to handle the need.
Believe it or not a woman can have sex with a number of men in one night, faking orgasm with all but the last one after work, (he being their one and only true lover). If she is very worn out and numbed by these experiences she can even fake it with the last one, (to make him believe he has done well... most men are so self-centered they seldom notice the difference). Sometimes these same women can also hold down a respectable day job as well, although they often do not make as much money as the men working with them.
When they talk of such things it is very interesting to hear the various stories within this discussion, you will be surprised... (You can read more about some of these stories in other places on this site, under the history of the girls)!
One scene in this new Deadwood show had a new twist to it though... (the part about Sol Star kissing his true love on the mouth during the love-making, and her saying it was a risky thing to do). This did happen then, and it still happens today, but for different reasons... Then it was mostly because almost everyone ate with a sharp knife, now it is not done due to the concern of passing along several diseases like herpes and Aids!! (It does remain the final expression of love or everlasting commitment... it also always follows the opening of the heart by both parties). Either way it is very uncommon to witness "suck-face/French kiss/whatever" involving any "soiled dove" not completely committed to whomever they call their man! If you do witness this, do not attempt to come between these two people, they may simple have to make you disappear! (Once again, this is addressed in several web pages within this site and this is not the place to discuss it in great detail)...
It was accurately portrayed when the lovers faced each other during the session, and that they continued after the interruption... That kind of thing was documented by a number of sources in 1876, both in and out of the trade. Also having Seth tell of the act in normal conversation... sex was not considered much of a big thing at that time, often sharing a meal with a woman received more "gossip" from many than performing the duty of sexual release. As I explain in much detail on other pages... the "poke" was compared to the first drag on a good cigar, nothing more!
Oral sex by anyone at that time was not openly spoken of in any way though, (if it was even done... which I sometimes doubt very much)! And the way this blow-job was re-created did not happen even with the non-English speaking "China Dolls" in the later years of the 1800's.
I can find no true documentation of a such an act in Deadwood until the spring of 1918... (the same time period that Aids was introduced to mankind in some remote village deep in Africa). Several of the cuss words so common in that show surfaced at that time too. (But it had more to do with immature guys returning from a war, the resentment of the advances that women in America had received by that time concerning their rights, and something called competition). It is true this act has become very common in modern times, but only with very liberated women or stupid younger girls, most of whom for the most part, are only sexual partners who have their own gain in mind!
Sex has not really changed for common folk throughout all time, it is still properly done in the missionary position with complete satisfaction by both the male and the female... And once join as one, they remain as one for all time. That has not changed one bit for at least the last twenty thousand years... And yes, that has been documented, check with any wise person of at least 4 or 5 of the 7 colors originally on earth!!!
As for the constant mention lately of "A$$-fuckin" and the so-called higher price of it, (mis-quoted at $7 in the summer of 1876)... I must regrettable admit it did happen, but it was not mentioned in public, (no more than the sex with animals that was joked about by the wicked drunken fools at times). Doctors told many it was the main reason for the spread of most VD strains and the number one cause of infection in women. The first time I find it in my research is at the same time the tiny Chinese girls began to be offered in Deadwood, which happen much later. (And it was mostly offered to all those fellows with the tiny dicks).
This cruel and inhumane act was also often done to girls who gave away their true heritage, (with a southern drawl), by men who had lost someone dear to them in the Civil War! (Although over ten years had passed... the "Hookers" were violently raped and labeled if they accidentally gave themselves away for at least the first three or four years of Deadwood). I can take you to the grave of one such Southern Belle, who came to Deadwood to be a waitress, and was buried in the St. Ambrose Catholic Cemetery shortly afterwards... If you go there with the woman I know who talks to spirits, she may replay the last days of this nice young lady for you too... only then should you stand in judgment!
One final note before I stop the reporting on all the truth/fiction of this wicked series... I am glad to see the replaying of a bit of all that corruption on many levels of the government, as well as the law in these last few episodes. (Although they kind of left out most of what was going on right under their noses in the town itself both then and still now... maybe they are just afraid of the remaining relatives). Whatever the reason, at least they are trying to tell more of the truth as time goes by in this series. I for one must turn over the reporting on this page to someone with tougher skin than mine... I refuse to continue watching our women shown in such terrible and untrue manner!
Maybe I could have done it before the fall of 2000, (when I got back my heart and soul), but I cannot do it right now, and I doubt I will ever be able to again. For some reason those two things in me say to go away before 611... and stay away until after this "Deadwood Issue" is settled... but if you know me you know they will drag my dead body from this town, (I just hope they don't feed me to the pigs)!
Season II... Deadwood Series... Finally, some accurate happenings!
The time is now at times much later... (appearing later 1870's summertime). And some things that really happened are being told, although the "touch of Hollywood" is mixing things up. (Mostly to make it into a soap-opera type show, rather than dwell on the uncomfortable dull life of many who did not have enough meanness in them to gather "market share"... or should I say "evil doings"... which would be more accurate!
The fancy whores coming in by stage from Bismarck is wrong... They came from everywhere, and they were not fancy, pretty, or "of better stock" at all. They were coming to fill the needs of more common men, many who worked for far less pay than at anytime the first year... (And the price of a "poke" went down to around 25 cents at times due to the typical "supply vs. demand" rule). Some say a few Civil War Hookers were so damaged by scars and sexual wounds that the only sex they were able to get paid for was oral... I still do not believe this to be true and challenge everyone to back that up with real proof in handwriting from someone who did it "first hand" or saw it for real! (I have read otherwise, and I still say this is just something taken from the moral feelings of this time we live in now).
It is not uncommon today to hear even nice girls talk openly about "knowing how to give good head" or explaining to friends why they have an earring in their mouth. (This is a major change in attitude by women that started not to long after AIDS began to kill many women everywhere). Before that some girls, (mostly those who have trouble feeling a love for men), would do this act with what they want that man to think is a real enjoyment and romantic time for them. I am sorry to say some really have themselves thinking it to be "the best fun they can have" or another phrase more common..... This is not good, not right, and not at all smart. (It does not help solve the AIDS issue either), it is only naive thinking actually, and dangerous! The same danger all girls of any age/statue/predicament in the Gold Rush days faced... an uncircumcised member belonging to someone who seldom bathed and had far from a clean standard of living. Deadly germs you cannot see are present even after washing... and will "come" in contact with a cut on the lip, a cavity, or any other open sore or "red spot" anywhere close by, as long as liquid is present. This was the problem in those days, and remains a problem today. I am sorry too, that so many of our youth take part in this act these days, but it still does not make it correct to say it happened in the way they portray it in the old days of Deadwood.
The main characters fighting almost to the point of death was common... although Seth Bullock never did any of that I do not think. (He was a no-nonsense guy that would kill someone rather than fight with them. At least up until the time he ran his own whores within the hotel).
The gross behavior, with thumbs up the ass to new ways for working the fuck word into every sentence is getting real old! Many in Deadwood no longer want this program discussed in public places because of it.
For sure most Deadwood people no longer want this program discussed in mixed company... Some are even surprised I continue to speak of it at all, let alone try to analyze other portions of the series.
To end on a positive note I will say the series took a better turn between episode 9 and 10 of season 2... (The theme and story line got very involved about then, the time and efforts of the producers began to dwell on more important event as well).
The visitors coming to town seem to be less vulgar in their manner, (and numbers are up across the board)... We must wait and see what the long-range effects will be, for sure the area has changed. Time will tell if the good will out-weigh the bad.
I will add some updated information at times, in the meanwhile go to this HBO site for show updates...
Larry @ 605-722-5701
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