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Seth Bullock: Black Hills Lawman
Much of Seth Bullock's modern renown comes from television, motion pictures, and his friendship with President Theodore Roosevelt. But Bullock was much more than the frontier law enforcer portrayed in fictional accounts. In Seth Black Hills Lawman , David Wolff examines the life work of Bullock as he helped build Deadwood, found the town of Belle Fourche, and promote the Black Hills. Wolff explores the many ventures that Bullock delved into once he moved from Montana to the Black Hills at the start of the gold rush in 1876. He points out that Bullock quickly became an integral part of the burgeoning community, attempting to create a lasting legacy for himself by working within local and regional politics, through his various businesses, and in his many positions at the forefront of Black Hills law enforcement and forest management. Bullock's life epitomized that of many entrepreneurs and pioneers across the nation, and Wolff describes the struggles and successes that this thinker and dreamer experienced in his forty-three years in the Black Hills. Seth Black Hills Lawman is the third book in the South Dakota Biography Series, which highlights some of the state's most famous residents.
206 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 24, 2023
I saw a television production about Seth Bullock, which made me quite interested in reading more about the man. The show dramatized his time as the Sheriff in Deadwood, Dakota Territory, but Bullock's life encompassed much more than that. He considered himself a "pioneer," and his careers included lawman, merchant, investor, civic leader, and ultimately, Superintendent of the Black Hills Forest Reserve. He was a personal friend of President Teddy Roosevelt. He was part of a most interesting generation that came of age during the time of the Wild West and who lived to see the conclusion of World War I along with all the technological advances in between.
The book is the third in the South Dakota Biography Series and author David A. Wolff tells Bullock's story smoothly. This is not a shoot 'em up biography of a Western lawman; therefore, if you're looking for an "action figure" move on to someone else, but it is an interesting look at an interesting life in an interesting time.
The book is the third in the South Dakota Biography Series and author David A. Wolff tells Bullock's story smoothly. This is not a shoot 'em up biography of a Western lawman; therefore, if you're looking for an "action figure" move on to someone else, but it is an interesting look at an interesting life in an interesting time.
June 20, 2010
By their nature, historic figures tend to be locked on particular periods in their lives. If they also happen to become a key character on television or in film, it is fairly certain they will be forever stereotyped by that portrayal. For many, Seth Bullock has become the handsome, somewhat idealistic and good-hearted sheriff from the HBO series
Deadwood
. Yet like all human beings, historic figures are always far more or much less than our image of them. With his concise biography,
Seth Bullock: Black Hills Lawman
, David A. Wolff shows that there was a great deal more to Bullock than commonly believed.
Indicative of how narrow the perspective of historic figures can be, Bullock served as sheriff for less than 10 months. The rest of his life was spent in pursuit of other activities that Wolff methodically casts into three stages.
Although the first period includes Bullock's time as sheriff, Wolff terms it a period as "pioneer and politician." Bullock was a sheriff and legislator in Montana before embarking for the northern Black Hils of what would become South Dakota during the area's gold rush in the summer of 1876. Yet indicative of his future activity, Bullock was not a wide-eyed gold prospector but, with his partner Solomon Star, headed to Deadwood, then little more than a mining camp, to open a hardware store with a fireproof storage facility. It was a business venture that would last nearly 25 years.
Just 11 days after arriving, Bullock was elected to the nascent community's first attempt at self-government and was appointed sheriff when county governments were created the following year. By that time, the town had a population of probably less than 5,000 but about 60 saloons. Although Bullock focused on bigger issues than disorderly miners, he was ousted in an election later that year. Bullock remained active in and a booster of the community, such as promoting the creation of a fire department. Promotion, even speculation, would mark the next phase of Bullock's life, a stage which, ironically, would find destructive fires affecting both its beginning and end. And while his role as sheriff might define him to the public years later, he did not become an Old West legend like other Deadwood personalities such as Wild Bill Hickok. That's because, Wolff writes, "Bullock's story did not contain the requisite amount of bloodshed."
Bullock spent much of the 1880s and 1890s pursuing business interests while at the same time seeking to help their survival by promoting economic development and trying to gain railroad access for the Black Hills. His investments were varied and included mining, ranching and even breeding horses for harness racing. At one point in 1886, he was president of no less than 13 newly formed mining companies. According to Wolff, Bullock tended more towards being an idea man, often leaving the day-to-day work to others. Between that and the somewhat speculative nature of many of the efforts in which he was involved and invested, Bullock's personal economic well-being was quite sensitive to the vagaries of the local and national economy. Even though this phase of Bullock's life doesn't have and can't be described with the excitement or imagery of the rowdy mining town of lore, Wolff details not only the variety oif Bullock's ideas and investments but the boom and bust cycles he faced.
As the nineteenth century drew to a close, Bullock's level of investment and boosterism declined. His spirits were re-enaged by the Spanish-American War, an event that would contribute to public service becoming the final predominant theme of his life. Bullock headed up a cavalry troop made up of volunteers from the Black Hills. While the troop never left the U.S., Bullock gained some attention in the national media as Deadwood's Old West sheriff. Equally important, the service strengthened Bullock's ties with Teddy Roosevelt, who he had met in the early 1890s. Back in the Black Hills after the war, in 1901 Bullock was appointed superintendent of the Black Hills Forest Reserve.
In his introduction to the book, Wolff, a professor of history at Black Hills State University, suggests Bullock "was the most important person in the Black Hills in his lifetime." If so, perhaps the widest impact stems from being forest supervisor and pushing for and implementing multiple use of the forest. This approach would help bring a balance between economic development and preservation of the resources that were the foundation of that development. There is less detail in this portion of the book, which may well stem from the fact that the source material likely is not lively, contemporaneous frontier newspaper accounts and public records but official documents of a government bureaucracy. Bullock would ultimately return to law enforcement, though, serving as South Dakota's U.S. Marshall from 1906 to 1914.
When Bullock died in Deadwood in 1919, both the town and the region were far different from the Old West image that town carries to this day. That change reinforces the subtitle in the sense that Bullock was one of the guiding forces in converting the lawlessness of the mining camps into the type of order necessary to create viable communities. In so doing, Wolff makes it clear that viewing Bullock only through the prism of a frontier town sheriff is to do him and history a disservice.
(Originally posted at A Progressive on the Prairie)
Indicative of how narrow the perspective of historic figures can be, Bullock served as sheriff for less than 10 months. The rest of his life was spent in pursuit of other activities that Wolff methodically casts into three stages.
Although the first period includes Bullock's time as sheriff, Wolff terms it a period as "pioneer and politician." Bullock was a sheriff and legislator in Montana before embarking for the northern Black Hils of what would become South Dakota during the area's gold rush in the summer of 1876. Yet indicative of his future activity, Bullock was not a wide-eyed gold prospector but, with his partner Solomon Star, headed to Deadwood, then little more than a mining camp, to open a hardware store with a fireproof storage facility. It was a business venture that would last nearly 25 years.
Just 11 days after arriving, Bullock was elected to the nascent community's first attempt at self-government and was appointed sheriff when county governments were created the following year. By that time, the town had a population of probably less than 5,000 but about 60 saloons. Although Bullock focused on bigger issues than disorderly miners, he was ousted in an election later that year. Bullock remained active in and a booster of the community, such as promoting the creation of a fire department. Promotion, even speculation, would mark the next phase of Bullock's life, a stage which, ironically, would find destructive fires affecting both its beginning and end. And while his role as sheriff might define him to the public years later, he did not become an Old West legend like other Deadwood personalities such as Wild Bill Hickok. That's because, Wolff writes, "Bullock's story did not contain the requisite amount of bloodshed."
Bullock spent much of the 1880s and 1890s pursuing business interests while at the same time seeking to help their survival by promoting economic development and trying to gain railroad access for the Black Hills. His investments were varied and included mining, ranching and even breeding horses for harness racing. At one point in 1886, he was president of no less than 13 newly formed mining companies. According to Wolff, Bullock tended more towards being an idea man, often leaving the day-to-day work to others. Between that and the somewhat speculative nature of many of the efforts in which he was involved and invested, Bullock's personal economic well-being was quite sensitive to the vagaries of the local and national economy. Even though this phase of Bullock's life doesn't have and can't be described with the excitement or imagery of the rowdy mining town of lore, Wolff details not only the variety oif Bullock's ideas and investments but the boom and bust cycles he faced.
As the nineteenth century drew to a close, Bullock's level of investment and boosterism declined. His spirits were re-enaged by the Spanish-American War, an event that would contribute to public service becoming the final predominant theme of his life. Bullock headed up a cavalry troop made up of volunteers from the Black Hills. While the troop never left the U.S., Bullock gained some attention in the national media as Deadwood's Old West sheriff. Equally important, the service strengthened Bullock's ties with Teddy Roosevelt, who he had met in the early 1890s. Back in the Black Hills after the war, in 1901 Bullock was appointed superintendent of the Black Hills Forest Reserve.
In his introduction to the book, Wolff, a professor of history at Black Hills State University, suggests Bullock "was the most important person in the Black Hills in his lifetime." If so, perhaps the widest impact stems from being forest supervisor and pushing for and implementing multiple use of the forest. This approach would help bring a balance between economic development and preservation of the resources that were the foundation of that development. There is less detail in this portion of the book, which may well stem from the fact that the source material likely is not lively, contemporaneous frontier newspaper accounts and public records but official documents of a government bureaucracy. Bullock would ultimately return to law enforcement, though, serving as South Dakota's U.S. Marshall from 1906 to 1914.
When Bullock died in Deadwood in 1919, both the town and the region were far different from the Old West image that town carries to this day. That change reinforces the subtitle in the sense that Bullock was one of the guiding forces in converting the lawlessness of the mining camps into the type of order necessary to create viable communities. In so doing, Wolff makes it clear that viewing Bullock only through the prism of a frontier town sheriff is to do him and history a disservice.
(Originally posted at A Progressive on the Prairie)
April 21, 2018
After visiting Deadwood and seeing the HBO series I did want to know more about the real man. He was pretty busy right up until his death. The book could have been written with more of a feel for the man. It was rather like a textbook. However, I was glad to read about the real person.
April 17, 2018
Very, very thorough. But also kinda dry. If you want to know who Seth Bullock really was, and how he diverged from the character in the Deadwood HBO series, this is your book.
September 19, 2020
This biography about South Dakota legend, Seth Bullock, seems to be well-researched. Bullock was quite a character. It’s easy to understand why he and Teddy Roosevelt became friends.
June 21, 2021
This was the most detailed book I've read about Seth Bullock! Great Book!!
July 8, 2010
The book is, obviously, about Seth Bullock but because of his involvement in the town, by necessity, it becomes not only a biography of Bullock but also of Deadwood itself. Bullock may have been a lawman but he had many other positions in town too and was also an entrepreneur who had his hand in many business deals. Making sure that Deadwood survived was very important to Bullock and Wolff outlines his involvement in trying to organize and start what the town would need. You are told about mining, and trying to attract businesses and railroads, and start banks, and organize a government and all the many other struggles and obstacles the town needed to overcome to survive and grow. The book revolves around Bullock and his involvement in many of these things but it does broaden to a wider scope in that it shows the birth and growing pains of the town and its surrounding environs and all the other people who helped along the way. I didn’t know much about Seth Bullock when I started the book and it was very interesting to learn how involved he was in the workings of Deadwood and to see how farsighted and far-reaching his business ideas were. I also liked the close look at all that it takes to start a frontier town and keep it going, all the hard work and effort and not just the gunfights and glory. But I have to admit that there came a point when I had heard more about processing ore than I really cared to. Wolff researched his subject well as you can tell from the copious notes and long bibliography. The writing was easy to read and understand but definitely academic in style and reads more like a text book than a story. It is full of interesting information and nitty-gritty details and I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in Seth Bullock or the old west in general.
June 12, 2015
I read this book to find out about the man whose grave I climbed up to, 750 ft. above Mt. Moriah Cemetery in Deadwood, SD, just because it was there. This book served that purpose.
May 1, 2016
Interesting book for those in to South Dakota history like me...
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews