Al Swearengen & the Notorious Gem Theater
The whispers of Deadwood, South Dakota, echo with tales of gold, grit, and the brazen characters who carved their fortunes from the rugged landscape. Among these figures, few are as darkly compelling as Ellis Albert "Al" Swearingen, the proprietor of the infamous Gem Theater. More than just a saloon or gambling den, the Gem Theater became a symbol of Deadwood’s raw, untamed spirit, a place where fortunes were made and lives were often broken. This is the story of Al Swearingen and the establishment that cemented his legacy – a legacy stained with both prosperity and profound moral compromise.
Ellis Albert Swearingen, born alongside his twin brother Lemuel in Oskaloosa, Iowa, on July 8, 1845, entered a world far removed from the boisterous chaos he would later cultivate. The eldest of eight children born to Daniel J. and Keziah Montgomery Swearingen, Al spent his formative years in the relative tranquility of Iowa, likely unaware of the destiny that awaited him in the Black Hills. The twins grew up in Iowa.
The allure of the gold rush drew Al Swearingen westward. He arrived in Deadwood in May 1876, a nascent town brimming with prospectors and opportunists, as one of the first entrepreneurs not directly involved in mining. With a keen eye for opportunity, Swearingen wasted no time. Within a week, he had erected a temporary dance hall, a rudimentary space where miners could unwind, gamble, and perhaps find fleeting companionship. He arrived with his wife, Nettie. She left him in September and later divorced him, claiming spousal abuse. Swearingen would marry two more times while in Deadwood, and both marriages resulted in divorces with similar abuse claims. The Gem Theater would become the focal point of his ambitions, but its foundations were laid in these humble, hastily constructed beginnings.
The initial dance hall soon gave way to a more permanent structure: the Cricket Saloon. This diminutive tavern, described by local newspapers as more of a "hall" due to its narrow dimensions, offered a glimpse into Swearingen’s showmanship. The Cricket Saloon offered "prize fights" in a confined 5×5 space, though no actual prizes were awarded. These brutal, unsanctioned bouts, often involving miners persuaded to participate, added to the saloon’s gritty appeal and hinted at the darker entertainment that would characterize the Gem Theater.
However, it was the opening of the Gem Variety Theater on April 7, 1877, that truly marked Swearingen’s arrival as a force to be reckoned with in Deadwood. The Black Hills Daily Pioneer, in a rare moment of positive press, described the Gem as "neat and tastefully arranged as any place of its kind in the West." On the surface, the Gem offered a diverse array of entertainment, including comedians, singers, dancers, and the continuation of the infamous "prize fights." But beneath the veneer of legitimate performance lay the Gem’s true, and far more sinister, purpose: a brothel. The Gem Theater quickly earned a reputation for exploiting and degrading the women who were forced to work within its walls.
Al Swearingen’s methods of recruitment were as calculated as they were cruel. He placed advertisements in Eastern newspapers, promising aspiring actresses and dancers lucrative opportunities at his Deadwood theater. These ads lured unsuspecting women with the promise of glamour and financial independence. He purchased one-way tickets for the women, ensuring their isolation upon arrival. Upon arriving in Deadwood, these women discovered the grim reality: they were stranded, with little recourse but to submit to Swearingen’s control. Those who resisted faced destitution or, tragically, even suicide. The women were known to sport constant bruises and other injuries. The Gem Theater became a prison.
Despite its morally reprehensible underpinnings, the Gem Theater flourished. Fueled by the constant influx of miners seeking entertainment and companionship, the Gem became the undisputed center of Deadwood’s social scene. The authorities, influenced by the support of many leading citizens, largely turned a blind eye to the Gem’s illicit activities, allowing Swearingen’s empire to grow unchecked. The Gem Theatre’s prosperity was built on the backs of the exploited.
The Gem’s physical layout reflected its dual nature. The front of the theater housed a bustling bar and rows of seats for spectators, while the rear of the building contained a labyrinth of small, curtained rooms where the Gem’s "painted ladies" catered to their clientele. A house band played nightly on the balcony. The women charged customers 10 cents for a dance, 20 cents for a beer, and $1 for a bottle of wine. In addition to the many girls, Swearingen’s staff included Dan Doherty, who acted as general manager, Johnny Burns, who was in charge of the girls, and several bouncers. These men were said to have been as brutal to the girls as Swearingen, with the beating of the women being a common practice. The Gem Theater became a microcosm of Deadwood itself.
Life inside the Gem was a volatile mix of revelry and violence. Gunshots were commonplace, often erupting during drunken brawls or directed at the women themselves. One incident involved a prostitute named Tricksie, who shot a man through the skull after enduring a beating. The man survived for about 30 minutes. Marshal Seth Bullock, the town’s lawman, reportedly struck an agreement with Swearingen, drawing an imaginary line down Main Street that demarcated the "Badlands" from the rest of Deadwood. Swearingen controlled lower Main Street. Bullock controlled upper Main Street. Swearingen’s talent for alliances and financial payoffs kept him insulated from the general drive to clean up the town. This tacit agreement allowed Swearingen to operate with impunity, further solidifying his control over Deadwood’s underworld.
The Gem suffered a fire in the early summer of 1879, but the damage was quickly repaired and rebuilt. In September 1879, the entire town of Deadwood suffered a disastrous inferno that claimed some 300 of its buildings, including the Gem Theater.
Undaunted, Swearingen rebuilt the Gem from the ground up, creating an even grander and more opulent establishment. When the new Gem opened in December 1879, The Daily Times hailed it as the finest theater building ever proposed for Deadwood. Continuing to prosper, the Gem averaged a nightly profit of $5,000, sometimes even reaching as high as $10,000. The rebuilt Gem Theater stood as a testament to Swearingen’s resilience and his unwavering commitment to his particular brand of enterprise.
However, Swearingen’s reign was not destined to last forever. In 1899, a fire once again engulfed the Gem, this time proving fatal to the establishment. Swearingen, perhaps sensing the changing tides of Deadwood or simply weary of the constant rebuilding, decided to call it quits, leaving the town for good.
After its final demise in 1899, the newspaper had this to say of the Gem: “harrowing tales of iniquity, shame, and wretchedness; of lives wrecked and fortunes sacrificed; of vice unhindered and esteem forfeited, have been related of the place, and it is known of a verity that they have not all been groundless.” The Gem was one of the longest continuously operating entertainment venues in Deadwood; however, after its demise, the press referred to it as the “everlasting shame of Deadwood,” “a vicious institution,” and a “defiler of youth and a destroyer of home ties.”
Swearingen returned to Iowa and married Odelia Turgeon in 1899. Six months later, another fire destroyed the adjacent buildings to the remains of the Gem, leaving a large vacant lot. In 1921, the site became the location of Deadwood’s first gas station. Today, the Gem Theater is the site of the Mineral Palace Casino.
The final chapters of Al Swearingen’s life were shrouded in mystery and violence. On October 2, 1904, Al’s twin brother Lemuel was attacked after leaving his meat market with $200 in his pocket. He suffered a blow to the head and was shot five times but was not robbed. Lemuel was found unconscious the next day and seen by doctors but died without regaining consciousness eight days later. Al Swearingen left Iowa and eventually made his way to Denver, Colorado, at about the same time. Less than two months later, on November 15, 1904, Al Swearingen was also found dead on the street near his home. He, too, had been struck on the head with a heavy, blunt object. At the time, the Denver city police could not determine if his death was caused by an accident or murder. Later, reports said he died penniless while trying to hop a train. Modern historians believe that Lemuel’s attack was a case of mistaken identity and that Al was the actual target. If correct, they believe that Al’s death was a homicide.
The legacy of Al Swearingen and the Gem Theater remains a complex and unsettling part of Deadwood’s history. It serves as a stark reminder of the moral compromises that often accompanied the pursuit of wealth and power in the Wild West. The Gem Theater, while offering entertainment and contributing to Deadwood’s economic growth, did so at a terrible cost, leaving an indelible stain on the town’s collective memory. The name Al Swearingen and the Gem Theater are forever entwined, a symbol of both the allure and the darkness that characterized Deadwood’s frontier days.
