Deadwood was one of the richest gold camps in the Old West. The lure of overnight wealth proved a lodestone for prospectors and miners, grifters and outlaws, and a wide assortment of characters who inhabited the vice district. Vast amounts of money exchanged hands, and as a result, violence was commonplace. The town was tough and dangerous, no place for the faint of heart. Only the strong survived in Deadwood.
Yet the untold story had nothing to do with gold. Until now a footnote to history, it was the politics of Dakota Territory that deserved the greater infamy. Corruption and graft were rampant, and the stakes far exceeded the transitory riches of a mining camp. Power brokers and the vested interests, during the early 1880s, were involved in a systematic looting of the territory itself. The chief conspirator was the governor, and few public officials were untouched by the web of intrigue and shady practices. Dakota Territory was a textbook example of the system gone wrong, and the ultimate price was staggering. Ambition proved the deadliest killer of all.
Deadwood is for the most part a true account. Some license has been taken with time and date and place. The historical characters, however, are represented as they actually were, with no apology and no attempt at whitewash. Within the framework of the story, Butch Cassidy and Hole-in-the-Wall are also depicted with true-to-life authenticity. The tall tales surrounding Hole-in-the-Wall, like so many Old West myths, were fostered by outlaws and widely exaggerated by the press. On the other hand, the lawmen central to the story required no literary invention. Nat Boswell and Seth Bullock were legend in their own time.
Luke Starbuck represents yet another breed of lawman. A detective and an undercover operative, he was a master of disguise. His fame as a manhunter was unsurpassed, and his reputation as a mankiller was known throughout the Old West. His assignment in Deadwood deals more with truth than fiction. What he unearths during the course of his investigation is based on documented fact. He saw it happen exactly the way it’s told.