Deadwood has been a fixture in the mythology of the American West since its first days as a raucous gold camp. For decades Deadwood enjoyed notoriety in print media, but when silent movies began in the 1920s, the stories that made this city famous were just what Hollywood wanted. Thereafter dozens of movies featured Deadwood notables Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane. While neither bore much resemblance to their namesakes, actors ranging from Gary Cooper to Charles Bronson played Hickok and Calamity varied in appearance from Jean Arthur to Doris Day. The latter Jane sang and danced her way into western media memory on Broadway. Wild West Deadwood itself was the main setting in Hollywood westerns as well, with no less than Roy Rogers ridding the town of bad guys in several films.

Deadwood and its characters have been equally present on television. Many boomers grew up watching Guy Madison win the TV west as Wild Bill, along with his memorable partner Jingles. The era of TV westerns is largely past, but the mystique of Deadwood seems to be alive and well. In 2003, HBO launched David Milch’s Deadwood, distinctly more vivid and bawdy than all of the other versions. For three seasons Milch captured not only the peculiar character of the town and its famous residents, but a sizable portion of the viewing public as well. Like the actual city that has survived repeated fires, floods and economic downturns, the Deadwood of Hollywood seems to have earned a permanent place in the story of the American West.