Al Swearengen
Ellis Albert Swearengen (born July 8, 1845 in Oskaloosa , Iowa , † 1904 in Colorado ), called Al Swearengen , was a co-founder of the city of Deadwood , South Dakota , where he ran the Gem Theater .
Life
Swearengen and his twin brother Lemuel Swearengen were the eldest of eight children of Daniel and Keziah Swearengen from Oskaloosa.
In the summer of 1876 Swearengen and his wife Nettie Swearengen came to the gold digger Camp Deadwood. Nettie later divorced due to her husband's violence. Swearengen married two more times. Both marriages broke up because of his irascibility.
Swearengen was the first Deadwood resident not to dig for gold or work in any of the mines. For the more adventurous, he set up a small bar called the Cricket Saloon . His bar turned out to be extremely lucrative.
On April 7, 1877, he therefore opened the much more magnificent Saloon Gem Variety Theater . In addition to the variety shows and alcohol, the gem was best known as a brothel . For this, Swearengen lured young women with promises to the remote Deadwood and then forced them to prostitution, among other things by using violence .
Over time, Swearengen gained increasing power and was soon considered the most influential man in Deadwood. With his network of opium couriers, henchmen and contract killers, he acted as a kind of godfather. His gem fetched an average of $ 5,000-10,000 in the evening , which after inflation and today's standards are roughly equal to $ 85,000-170,000.
During the great city fire on September 26, 1879, the Gem burned to the ground. Swearengen took this as an opportunity to rebuild his establishment even larger and more splendid. Even after a second fire in 1894, Swearengen rebuilt the "Gem". During another fire in 1899 the fire brigade found that someone had removed the keys to the hydrants; the building burned down.
Swearengen left town and went to Colorado. In 1904 he was found dead in Denver with a serious head injury. The circumstances of his death have not been investigated.
Others
Al Swearengen is one of the main characters in the television series Deadwood . He is embodied by Ian McShane .
Web links
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Swearengen, Al |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Swearengen, Ellis Alfred (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American pioneer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 8, 1845 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Oskaloosa , Iowa |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1904 |
| Place of death | Colorado |