Deadwood anyone?

by beksbks 51 Replies latest social entertainment

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  beksbks

  Face it...HBO just wouldnt get an audience if the F bomb didnt drop every other word or so. I find it a sad comentary on the state of our modern society when we expect crude articulation in all quarters.

  I must respectfully disagree, at least in this case. I think they were going for a very gritty realism. It's unfortunate that the language is so off putting to some, because they actually miss the far deeper horrors being portrayed.

  Dagney, you got it sis!

  Read the journals of the 1800's... newpapers, court transcripts, letters... folks up to the late 30's had a much better grasp of english than most do today.

  Absolutely in agreement here. Ken Burns "Civil War" is a perfect example.
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  Dagney

  Most of the characters in the show are barely literate, let alone leave writings. Apples and oranges, IMO.

  I agree, the writings from the era were beautifully eloquent...much like the way the actor/performer that comes to Deadwood spoke in the series.

  Seems to me Bullock and Wild Bill fell into that category and were portrayed as such. However, from what I've read about Jane, she was indeed foulmouthed, drank waaaay too much, but had a heart of gold. She also was portrayed that way as well.
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  hillbilly

  Actually the gritty realism of the old west was pretty boring.

  Have you ever noticed the same names come up over and over again? JW Hardin, Billy the Kid & Pat Garrett, Butch and Sundance, Wild Bill Hickock? Thats because these folks were about all there was for the most part. Garden variety criminals were not much more than they are today... we just know about the famous ones- legends of self promotion by a large part.

  Very few shootings.Bullets were expensive. Whores few and far between. Not much citrus in the diet. Dentists did extractions mostly. Porn was certain sections of Wards or Sears & Roebucks mail order book...once in a blue moon a 'French Post Card". True "rounders", scoundrels and tramps usually died of something like TB, Syphillis or some other STD or just a bad infection or respritory illness. Now and again a touring Bawdy show might come around... mostly a tease- but a diversion is a diversion.

  About the only thing to really do for fun was drink... and homeade booze was really more about creating a sellable commodity from excess corn. It's easier to store hooch than it is to can or store dried corn. Cutting firewood, making tons of hay, sweeping the house, building the house...all done by hand. Driving mules oxen and horses is not a soft touch either. The reins of a 4 -up waggon hitch weigh nearly 40 pounds in the drivers hands.

  Ever traveled much by horse? Most folks didnt venture much further than 50 miles back then. Cowboys were pretty much used up by the age of 25 ... they found other work or were dead by then. Most of the skeletons that get dug up from that era seem to have pretty good evidence of serious arthritus and other such maladys... even by 50 the body was pretty well worn out from work.

  I can see why HBO needs to add to the 'color' of foul language. The world is pretty bland when heated by wood, lit with coal oil and dusty and dirty as the ground your buried in. Most kids watching that show would not understand a vile oath or curse from that era anyway.

  Hill
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  hillbilly

  Calamity Jane was butt ugly... and about as dysfunctional as any modern crack whore of today might be. She like to wear mens clothes and worked as a teamster and a whore... and that says alot about the guys who would pay for that clapped up- tramp. If she was alive today she'd be featured on "Cops".

  The only way we even know of her today is due to the promotion of her and certain others she ran with in the pulp writing of the day. She was played up... and the myth extended by early Hollywood.

  I wonder who of our generation will be the stuff of future legend? Britanny Spears? Your local bar whore? Who knows?

  Hill
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  beksbks

  I'll not argue with you Hill. For the sake of peace, and for the sake of anyone interested in what is a great show. Which I find to be in short supply.
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  Dagney

  So that others will not be left with that last impression of Jane, I offer the following.

  Calamity Jane

  Martha Jane Canary (1848-1903) was born in Princeton, Missouri. This hard drinking woman wore men's clothing, used their bawdy language, chewed tobacco and was handy with a gun. She traveled from Arizona through the Dakota territories during her rough life. At her death, the "White Devil of the Yellowstone" was remembered as a saint by the citizens of Deadwood, where she helped nurse the sick during a smallpox plague. She is buried near Wild Bill Hickock at Deadwood, South Dakota.

  The following information about Calamity Jane is from a statement concerning her by Buffalo Bill:

  "I do not know much about her early life. I guess nobody else does but herself. Her maiden name was Martha Canary, and she was born in Princeton, Mo., in 1852. A few years after this her mother died, and in 1862, the family moved to Virginia City, Nevada, which was then in the early days of the boom. An Indian uprising separated her from her father and brothers, and at the age of 10 she was thrown on the world to make her own way alone.

  "She had friends and very positive opinions of the things that a girl could enjoy, and she soon gained a local reputation for daring horsemanship and skill as a rifle shot.

  "Before she was 20 General Cook appointed her a scout under me. From that time on her life was pretty lively all the time. She had unlimited nerve and entered into the work with enthusiasm, doing good service on a number of occasions.

  "Though she did not do a man's share of the heavy work, she has gone in places where old frontiersmen were unwilling to trust themselves, and her courage and good-fellowship made her popular with every man in the command.

  "Her old nickname was received in 1872 in a peculiar way. She was at that time at Goose Creek Camp, S.D., where Captain Egan and a small body of men were stationed. The Indians were giving a lot of trouble, and there was much fighting.

  "One day Captain Egan was surrounded by a large band. They were fighting desperately for their lives, but were being steadily, but surely slaughtered. Captain Egan was wounded and had fallen off his horse.

  "In the midst of the fighting, it is said, the woman rode into the very center of the trouble, dismounted, lifted the captain in front of her on her saddle, and dashed out. They got through untouched, but every other man in the gallant company was slaughtered.

  "When he recovered, Captain Egan laughingly spoke of Miss Canary as 'Calamity Jane,' and the name has clung to her ever since; so that while thousands have heard of her, very few have ever heard her real name. It was from her that Bret Harte took his famous character of Cherokee Sal in 'The Luck of Roaring Camp.'...

  "In 1876, Jane, by a daring feat, saved the lives of six passengers on a stage coach traveling from Deadwood to Wild Birch, in the Black hills country.

  "The stage was surrounded by Indians, and the driver, Jack McCall, was wounded by an arrow. Although the other six passengers were men, not one of them had nerve enough to take the ribbons. Seeing the situation, Jane mounted the driver's seat without a moment's hesitation and brought the stage safely and in good time to Wild Birch.

  The Livingstone Enterprise, August 8, 1903, "Calamity is Dead", as quoted in "Calamity's in Town," p.32, by Bill and Doris Whithorn, 510 S. 8th St., Livingston, MT 59047.

  ---
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  beksbks

  Right on Dag. She has become a heroine to me, along with Mary Reed the female pirate. They did not stick to the path laid out for women of thier time.
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  gymbob

  I loved the show Deadwood...I visited my sister several years ago who lives in Deadwood, S.D., or at least she did a few years back when I was a dub and she would still talk to me!

  But, I think room215 is right...Lonesome Dove and Unforgiven are suppose to be closer to the reality of that time. I've heard the same about Open Range.

  Hillbilly, love your comments! Gymbob
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  hillbilly

  The Livingstone Enterprise, August 8, 1903, "Calamity is Dead", as quoted in "Calamity's in Town," p.32, by Bill and Doris Whithorn, 510 S. 8th St., Livingston, MT 59047.

  You just made my case by quouting that newpaper clipping.

  What was usually regarded as the "frontier" was closed in 1892 or so... Western towns and writers were already starting to romanticize the past.

  That qoute is mostly from William F Cody, Buffalo Bill. He would pass in 1916. In 1903 he was running a "Wild West Show" that was pulling down record gate revenues...based on the growing mythology of the West. It would certainly not be in his best interest to smudge the reputation of the kind of folks he needed to be 'legends'.

  Harte could spin a bit of a yarn himself.

  It should be noted that in that era it would not have been considered polite or good form to speak ill of someone ...especially in a obit. Lot's of polish on that writing... and on par for the times.

  Beks...you are right.. not much to watch on TV...Deadwood would have had a broader audience and production life if the script played more with the manners and mores of the era instead of pandering to contemporary tastes.

  Hill
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  beksbks

  if the script played more with the manners and mores of the era

  I believe this is entirely the point Hill. Deadwood was something of a place unto itself.

  As far as Jane goes, I'm not saying she was a paragon of virtue, but from what I have read, she certainly was a character. She lived a hard life, and did not fall to the few options women had available to them. Her work with the sick is documented.

  Here's a quick bit of Wiki on Deadwood.

  History

  Deadwood started illegally, as its location was at the time in Native American territory. The Treaty of Laramie of 1868 had guaranteed ownership of the Black Hills to the Lakota people. However, in 1874, Colonel George Armstrong Custer led an expedition into the Hills and announced the discovery of gold on French Creek near present-day Custer, South Dakota. Custer's announcement triggered the Black Hills Gold Rush and gave rise to the lawless town of Deadwood, which quickly reached a population of around 5,000.

  In early 1876, frontiersman Charlie Utter and his brother Steve led a wagon train to Deadwood containing what were deemed to be needed commodities to bolster business, including gamblers and prostitutes, which proved to be a profitable venture. Demand for women was high, and the business of prostitution proved to be a good market. Madam Dora DuFran would eventually become the most profitable brothel owner in Deadwood, closely followed by Madam Mollie Johnson. Businessman Tom Miller opened the Bella Union Saloon in September of that year.

  Another saloon was the Gem Variety Theater opened April 7th, 1877 by Al Swearengen who also controlled the opium trade in the town. After the saloon was destroyed by a fire and rebuilt in 1879, it burned down again in 1899, causing Swearengen to leave the town.

  The town attained notoriety for the murder of Wild Bill Hickok, and remains the final resting place of Hickok and Calamity Jane, as well as slightly less famous figures such as Seth Bullock. It became known for its wild and almost lawless reputation, during which time murder was common, and punishment for murders not always fair and impartial. The prosecution of the murderer of Hickok, Jack McCall, had to be sent to retrial because of a ruling that his first trial, which resulted in an acquittal, was invalid because Deadwood was an illegal town. This moved the trial to a Lakota court, where he was found guilty and then hanged.

  As the economy changed from gold rush to steady mining, Deadwood lost its rough and rowdy character and settled down into a prosperous town. In 1876 a smallpoxepidemic swept through the camp