Gold was discovered in Deadwood Gulch in 1875, triggering a rush that brought 5,000 people within a year. The problem: the Black Hills belonged to the Sioux by treaty. The government couldn't stop the prospectors and wouldn't protect the Sioux; the result was war, culminating in Custer's defeat at Little Bighorn in June 1876. Deadwood grew anyway, a tent city becoming a wooden town, illegal under federal law, ungoverned by territorial authority, a genuine frontier with no law but what armed men imposed. Gold claims changed hands through violence; disputes were settled with pistols; fortunes were made and lost by men who might be dead by morning.

Wild Bill Hickok arrived in Deadwood in July 1876, already famous as lawman, gunfighter, and showman. He was 39, his eyesight failing, his reflexes slowing. He gambled and drank; thirty-nine days later he was dead. Calamity Jane, whose tales of frontier adventure made her famous, claimed romantic connection to Hickok that no evidence supports. She's buried beside him anyway, achieving in death the relationship she invented in life. Seth Bullock became the town's first sheriff, brought order through force of will, and later befriended Theodore Roosevelt. The characters were real; the legends they became were partly self-created and partly the work of dime novelists who made the West mythical.

Deadwood in its first decade offered every vice: gambling, prostitution, opium dens, and enough saloons to serve a population ten times its size. The Gem Theater, run by Al Swearengen, was notorious - a brothel disguised as a theater, staffed by women lured or coerced into prostitution. Violence was epidemic; robbery and murder were business hazards. The wealth that flowed from the mines created markets for every excess; the lack of law created impunity. Deadwood's reputation spread nationwide as an example of frontier depravity. It wasn't unique among mining camps, but it had better publicists - the legends ensured the stories survived.

Deadwood nearly died when the gold played out. The population crashed; the town deteriorated. In 1989, South Dakota legalized limited-stakes gambling in Deadwood, funding historic preservation through gaming revenue. The gamble worked. Casinos opened in restored Victorian buildings. Tourists arrived to see where Wild Bill died and Calamity Jane drank. The Main Street that looked like a movie set became a movie set - HBO's 'Deadwood' dramatized the town's early years. The town that vice built was saved by legalizing vice again. Mount Moriah Cemetery remains the essential stop, the graves of Hickok and Jane still visited by thousands who want to stand where legends are buried.

Deadwood is located in the Black Hills of western South Dakota, approximately 40 miles northwest of Rapid City via Interstate 90 and US-85. The historic Main Street contains dozens of casinos, restaurants, and shops in Victorian buildings. Mount Moriah Cemetery holds the graves of Hickok, Calamity Jane, and other notable residents - a short drive up the hill from Main Street. The Adams Museum covers local history. Days of '76 celebration in July features rodeo and reenactments. The trial of Jack McCall is reenacted regularly. Lead (pronounced 'Leed'), with the Homestake Mine visitor center, is adjacent. The combination of Wild West history, gambling, and Black Hills scenery makes Deadwood a distinctive destination.