Old Deadwood Days

By Estelline Bennett

Book Overview

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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0803260652
• ISBN13: 9780803260658
• Release Date: March 1982
• Publisher: Bison Books
• Length: 314 Pages
• Weight: 0.96 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Old Deadwood Days

Excellent book and read. It is a first person account, which is always better than second hand by someone who actually did not experience the information. Gave me a better perspective of the actual daily life of someone who lived thru the times of Deadwood before it became a state. Highly recommend this book & all the other 'Narrativepress' books. After reading this, I purchased several more of these books.

Surprisingly great

I'm fascinated by Deadwood so I expected to like this. But I also thought it would be rather dry and amateurish, being an historical memoir. Anything but! She is a superb writer and this book is elegant and fascinating, full of wit and some amazing anecdotes.

Interesting

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.

Fantastic!

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

Very Good - Through the eyes of a young girl

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.