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Ellis Alfred Swearengen (July 8, 1845 – November 15, 1904) was an American pimp and entertainment entrepreneur who ran the
Swearengen originally owned and operated a canvas-and-lumber saloon in Deadwood known as the Cricket, which featured gambling and hosted prizefights. Shortly afterward, he closed it down and opened a larger saloon known as the Gem Theater.
The Gem functioned as a saloon, dance hall, and brothel. Swearengen lured desperate young women to Deadwood, then forced them into prostitution through a combination of bullying and physical brutality committed by him and his henchmen. Calamity Jane, who was one of his first dancers at the Gem, procured 10 girls from Sidney, Nebraska for him on one occasion.
The results were highly lucrative: the Gem earned a nightly average of $5,000, and sometimes as much as $10,000 (). The Gem burned down on September 26, 1879, along with much of the town, but Swearengen rebuilt his establishment larger and more opulent than ever, to great public acclaim.
Swearengen's talent for making canny alliances and financial payoffs kept him insulated from the general drive to clean up Deadwood, including the otherwise successful work of
From 2004 to 2006, the television series ''
Deadwood Genealogy
*[https://www.9news.com/article/news/the-real-al-swearengen-died-near-alameda-and-santa-fe-was-his-death-an-accident-or-murder/73-987b1b70-7624-4098-b11c-156419ece32f "The real Al Swearengen died near Alameda and Santa Fe. Was his death an accident or murder?" 9news Denver CO. June 3, 2019] {{DEFAULTSORT:Swearengen, Al 1845 births 1904 deaths 1904 murders in the United States 19th-century American people 20th-century American people American crime bosses American people of Dutch descent American pimps People from Deadwood, South Dakota People from Oskaloosa, Iowa People murdered in Colorado People of the American Old West Unsolved murders in the United States Deaths from head injury 19th-century American businesspeople
Gem Theater
The Gem Theater was a saloon in Deadwood, South Dakota, owned by Al Swearengen.
Opening
Swearengen opened the Gem Variety Theater on April 7, 1877 at the corners of Wall and Main streets to entertain the population of the mining camp with " ...
, a notorious brothel
A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub p ...
, in Deadwood, South Dakota, for 22 years during the late 19th century.
Personal life
Swearengen (sometimes spelled Swearingen, Swearengin, Swearngir, Swegen, etc.) and his twin brother Lemuel were the eldest two of eight children of Dutch American farmer Daniel J. Swearingen and Keziah "Katie" Montgomery of Oskaloosa, Iowa. Swearengen remained at home well into his adult years and only arrived in Deadwood in May 1876, with his wife, Nettie Swearengen. Nettie later divorced him on the grounds of spousal abuse. Swearengen married two more times; both of these marriages ended in divorce.Deadwood
Swearengen originally owned and operated a canvas-and-lumber saloon in Deadwood known as the Cricket, which featured gambling and hosted prizefights. Shortly afterward, he closed it down and opened a larger saloon known as the Gem Theater.
The Gem functioned as a saloon, dance hall, and brothel. Swearengen lured desperate young women to Deadwood, then forced them into prostitution through a combination of bullying and physical brutality committed by him and his henchmen. Calamity Jane, who was one of his first dancers at the Gem, procured 10 girls from Sidney, Nebraska for him on one occasion.
The results were highly lucrative: the Gem earned a nightly average of $5,000, and sometimes as much as $10,000 (). The Gem burned down on September 26, 1879, along with much of the town, but Swearengen rebuilt his establishment larger and more opulent than ever, to great public acclaim.
Swearengen's talent for making canny alliances and financial payoffs kept him insulated from the general drive to clean up Deadwood, including the otherwise successful work of Seth Bullock
Seth Bullock (July 23, 1849 – September 23, 1919) was a Canadian-American frontiersman, business proprietor, politician, sheriff, and U.S. Marshal. He was a prominent citizen in Deadwood, South Dakota, where he lived from 1876 until his death, o ...
, the town's first sheriff.
In 1899, the Gem burned down once again and was not rebuilt. The same year, Swearengen left Deadwood and married Odelia Turgeon.
Death
It is often reported that Swearengen died penniless while trying to hop a freight train, but research suggests he was murdered. According to his rediscovered obituary and contemporaneous newspaper accounts, Swearengen was found dead in the middle of a suburbanDenver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...
street on November 15, 1904, apparently of a massive head wound. Less than two months earlier, his twin brother Lemuel had been shot by unknown assailants and survived, although suspiciously was not robbed.
In popular culture
From 2004 to 2006, the television series ''Deadwood
Deadwood may refer to:
Places Canada
* Deadwood, Alberta
* Deadwood, British Columbia
* Deadwood River, a tributary of the Dease River in northern British Columbia
United States
* Deadwood, California (disambiguation), several communiti ...
'' depicted Swearengen as a powerful and influential figure in the early history of the town, ruthlessly murderous and abusive, but ultimately guiding it toward its development and annexation to the Dakota Territory once he comes to see this course as fitting his best interests. The series altered Swearengen to be English-born, and also changed his first name to Albert. The English actor Ian McShane
Ian David McShane (born 29 September 1942) is an English actor, producer and director. He is known for his television performances, particularly as the title role in the BBC series '' Lovejoy'' (1986–1994), Al Swearengen in ''Deadwood'' (20 ...
won a Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
for Best Actor in a Television Drama in 2005 for his portrayal of Swearengen. He was also nominated that year for Emmy and Screen Actors Guild Awards, and ''TV Guide'' named him #6 in its 2013 list of The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time. The series also altered timelines; it shows the Gem (historically opened in April 1877) as a going concern during the famous events of August 1876.
McShane reprised his role of Swearengen in '' Deadwood: The Movie'' (2019), which takes place in 1889, 10 years after the series ended, and abandons any link to history.
See also
*List of unsolved murders
These lists of unsolved murders include notable cases where victims were murdered in unknown circumstances.
* List of unsolved murders (before 1900)
* List of unsolved murders (1900–1979)
* List of unsolved murders (1980–1999)
* List of unsol ...
References
External links
Deadwood Genealogy
*[https://www.9news.com/article/news/the-real-al-swearengen-died-near-alameda-and-santa-fe-was-his-death-an-accident-or-murder/73-987b1b70-7624-4098-b11c-156419ece32f "The real Al Swearengen died near Alameda and Santa Fe. Was his death an accident or murder?" 9news Denver CO. June 3, 2019] {{DEFAULTSORT:Swearengen, Al 1845 births 1904 deaths 1904 murders in the United States 19th-century American people 20th-century American people American crime bosses American people of Dutch descent American pimps People from Deadwood, South Dakota People from Oskaloosa, Iowa People murdered in Colorado People of the American Old West Unsolved murders in the United States Deaths from head injury 19th-century American businesspeople