Lesser-known Legends of the Old West: Al Swearengen

You may have heard the name Al Swearengen from the hit HBO series, "Deadwood." Al Swearengen was a real individual that lived in Deadwood South Dakota. He is portrayed as a mean, cruel, vile and foul-mouthed man. His portrayal by Ian McShane captures the essence of the man known to be cunning, manipulative, sinful and cynically amoral of all the characters, showing no hesitation in resorting to violence and murder when it serves his business interests

The original Deadwood, a haphazard, anarchic, and lawless camp that sprang up in 1875 after prospectors found gold in a flood-prone creek lined with driftwood,burned to the ground in 1879, but the town quickly reinvented itself, a trick it has managed to pull off several times over the years. "Some people come here thinking they're going to see a Hollywood set," says Mary Kopco, director of Deadwood's Adams Museum & House and adviser to the HBO series. What they find instead is a restored late 19th-century community-the entire town is a registered historic district-complete with a touch of Wild West rowdiness.

Swearengen arrived in Deadwood in May, 1876 and quickly established himself as one of the shrewdest operators in Deadwood. One of the first ones in, he staked out lots as most others staked gold claims. He knew a good saloon in a mining camp was a much better bet. Swearengen was the first non-miner to set up business in Deadwood. A little over a year later on 7 April 1877 he opened the now infamous "Gem Variety Theater." The Gem Theater soon provided the entertainment starved camp with comedians, singers and dancers, as well as continuing its display of "prize fights." The theater did in fact have performing artist and skits, however, the theater was mostly a masquerade for its primary purpose as a brothel and bar, which soon gained a reputation for its defilement of the women who were pressed into service there.

The Gem Theater

Swearengen recruited women from the big cities back east by advertising jobs in hotels and promising to make them actresses and singers at his theater. This was a ruse to elicit women into the trade of prostitution by purchasing a one way ticket for the women. When they arrived, the hapless ladies would find themselves stranded with little choice other than to work for the notorious Swearengen or be thrown into the street. Some of these desperate women took their own lives rather than being forced into a position of virtual prostitution's slavery. Those who stayed were known to sport constant bruises and other injuries.

Swearengen was a mean and violet man that beat his working women with reckless abandon, extending the same courtesy to his hired hands, general manager, Dan Doherty and Johnny Burns,who was in charge of the girls welfare. Both Doherty and Burns were known to have brutally beat the women working at the Gem on a regular basic. Swearengen encouraged and supported this kind of behavior.
Swearengen prospered, as the unaware eastern girls filtered into Deadwood, giving him an advantage over any competition with fresh, nice girls, new to the scene of prostitution and the west. Regardless of the many bruises and injuries the women employed by Swearengen sported, the Gem was a cash machine that routinely made between $5000.00 and $10,000.00 per week. A sum that in 1877 made Swearengen prosperous and politically able to bribe his way around the little existing laws, pay for alibis, and maneuver and forge relationships with other formidable citizens that he may have not otherwise been able to persuade to "look the other way," as he applied his unappealing business practices.
Though a popular spot amongst the rowdy miners of the camp, the Gem Theratre quickly gained a reputation as a violent saloon where gunshots flying through its interior became commonplace. Sometimes aimed between men in drunken fights, the bullets were just as often aimed at the girls themselves. At one time a Gem Theratre prostitute named Tricksie shot a man through the front of his skull after having taken a beating from him. However, the man didn't immediately die. The doctor was called in who put a probe through the man's head, amazed that he survived the gunshot at all. He died about thirty minutes later. This scene was depicted on an HBO episode of 'Deadwood."

Swearengen lived in and around violence, committing many vilonce acts on a regular basic, including murder. His ruthless nature and crimes against humanity ruined many lives, directly and indirectly. In the early summer of 1879, the Gem suffered a fire, but the damage was quickly repaired and rebuilt. Just three months later, in September, 1879, the entire town of Deadwood suffered a disastrous inferno that claimed some 300 of its buildings, including the Gem Theater.
Swearengen again rebuilt, this time from the ground up, resulting in a bigger and better theater. When the new Gem was opened in December, 1879 The Daily Times touted it to be the finest theater building ever proposed for Deadwood. In 1899, the Gem suffered its final destructive fire and Swearengen called it quits, leaving Deadwood for good.

According to his obituary, Albert Swearengen was found dead in the middle of a suburban Denver street in late 1904. He apparently died of a massive head wound and was not "hopping a freight train as a common tramp." However, no one witnessed his death and it shall always remain a slight mystery.