Old Deadwood Days (Hardcover)

by Estelline Bennett (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

For roughnecks in search of trouble, Deadwood was the place to go. An outlaw town—its very beginnings as a mining camp violated government treaties with the Sioux—Deadwood soon acquired a reputation that dime novels could hardly exaggerate. It attracted both the great and the gritty. Calamity Jane lived there, Wild Bill Hickok was shot in the back there and Buffalo Bill was an irregular visitor, not to mention Seth Bullock, Mineral Jack, Slippery Sam, Cold Deck Johnny, and Belle Haskell, the best-known madam in town.

 

To reform the town's notorious habits, Federal Judge Granville G. Bennett moved to Deadwood with his family in 1877, and his young daughter, Estelline, grew up with the town. She saw it change from a congeries of horse thieves, claim jumpers, road agents, painted ladies, and slick or shabby gamblers to a middle-class railroad town, a little dazed by its history and success. Her story of the settlement that grew up around Deadwood Gulch remains one of the finest and fullest accounts of the taming of the West.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Estelline Bennett was a little girl in Deadwood, South Dakota (Sioux Territory) in the late 19th century. She saw it transform from a rough mining camp into a real city with three-story buildings and laws to uphold. An inquisitive and observant young woman, Bennett took note of all the important events that affected the town's residents. Her story is lively and absorbing, and it gives an unparalleled glimpse into many aspects of life in the west.

Bennett's father was the town judge, so she had an inside view into crime and punishment in Deadwood, which was a classic wild west mining town:

"Close-built log cabins faced each other from behind pathetically important square false fronts across a rough road in the building of a Main street never intended for permanence. Ten thousand venturesome, excited gold seekers panned gold in the streams and crowded into the cabins."

As a female, Bennett had a different perspective from most other chroniclers of the American west. Her anecdotes of community life in the town are unique and interesting; she describes in detail the interactions between Chinese, whites and Indians and between the different levels of the social order. Bennett seemed particularly fascinated by Deadwood's prostitutes, and her book is often concerned with their shadowy lives and deaths.

Deadwood was certainly full of activity: men made fortunes in placer mining, gamblers and prostitutes enjoyed piano music and whiskey in the saloon, respectable ladies did their shopping on Main Street, outlaws were hung, and 'bullwhackers' passed through on their way from place to place. Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok were locals, and the residents had names like Buckshot Bill and Blonde May.

Her meeting with Calamity Jane, Deadwood's most famous resident, was one of the high points in Bennett's early life:

"I was walking along Main street dawdling along as much as possible on an errand for my mother hoping something interesting would happen, when Father overtook me. He said my uncle the General, was looking for me. He wanted to introduce me to Calamity Jane...If I had been summoned to meet Joan of Arc or Alice in Wonderland or the Ice King's Daughter, it would not have been more marvelous or unreal..."

Bennett goes on to narrate some of Calamity Jane's local exploits, and follows her story to the end of Jane's life. She intertwines her own and her family's adventures with those of more famous people. Bennett is an excellent writer, and if you have any interest in the wild west in general or Deadwood specifically, this is a terrific book. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 314 pages
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press (February 1, 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803211732
• ISBN-13: 978-0803211735
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,441,884 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Good - Through the eyes of a young girl, November 24, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Old Deadwood Days (Paperback)

This book was excellent. Written through the eyes of a young girl growing up in Deadwood, it makes you feel as though you are there. I live in Deadwood now and it is interesting to actually see the streets and parts of town that were written about in this book.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic!, August 19, 2002

By	"angrylemur" (West Point, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Old Deadwood Days: The Real Wild West of My Childhood (Paperback)

Wonderful glimpse into history from a very bright young girl. Names of those long gone are brought back to life in this narrative. Highly recommend!
T. Addison

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, March 27, 2007

By	Nicky O'Reilly "Nick" (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Old Deadwood Days: The Real Wild West of My Childhood (Paperback)

It was very enjoyable to learn about the west in the days of Deadwood, the place, people and adventures. Ofcourse the real thing is not as exciting as the T.V. series, but I really enjoyed it because its what really happened.