Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Seth Bullock For Western Wednesday...!

There were so many notable characters in the Old West, we could never cover them all. However, some stand out a little more than others.

While Mr. Bullock may not be a name you are familiar with, maybe you should get to know his history a bit more. He was a very interesting man indeed!

Seth Bullock


Photo via Wikimedia

Seth Bullock will be familiar to anyone who watched the TV show Deadwood. Bullock was the inspiration for the main character of the show, bringing order to a lawless town rife with violence, gambling, prostitution, and men who moved there to escape the government.

Before all this, Bullock got involved in politics. At 22, he became a Republican member of the Territorial State of Montana and proposed legislation (later passed) to create the first national park in the country—Yellowstone. In 1873, Bullock became sheriff of Lewis and Clark County and went into business with longtime partner Sol Star. The two of them traveled to Deadwood in 1876.

Unlike in the show, Bullock never became friends with Wild Bill Hickok, as Hickok was murdered the day after Bullock arrived in Deadwood. In fact, it was this event that made the people of Deadwood (mostly the miners) demand some form of law. And that law wasn’t Bullock but a man named Isaac Brown, who was appointed marshal. However, he was soon killed in an ambush. Eventually, Bullock became county sheriff and brought order to Deadwood.While serving as a Dakota lawman, Bullock befriended Theodore Roosevelt, then a marshal, who held him in very high esteem. Bullock became part of Roosevelt’s Rough Riders and then served as a captain during the Spanish-American War. When Roosevelt became president, he named Bullock US marshal for South Dakota.

I told you he had a very colorful history. Made some well known friends as well. Guys like this are always a surprise to rfind out about.

Coffee in the kitchen this morning. Stormy outside.

6 comments:

Chickenmom said...

Interesting man - had to look up more about him. Thunderstorms here and lots of lightning! I'll bring a blueberry pie to go with your good coffee.

linda m said...

Very interesting man. Finally getting some sunshine here. Time to quick mow the lawn.

Momlady said...

I quit watching Deadwood because of the language. I'm sure they didn't use the f word like in the show. Yes, he was an interesting man.

HermitJim said...

Hey Phyllis...
Sometimes the most interesting folks in history go un-noticed. I think this man was a good example of that!

Thanks for stopping by today!



Hey Linda...
My grass is growing so fast, I can't keep up with it. Rain will do that every time!

Thanks for coming by today!



Hey Momlady...
Good to see ya out and about. Hope the glue job on your leg is holding up OK.

Thanks so much for dropping in today!

Dizzy-Dick said...

There were a lot of interesting people in the old west and I bet a lot that we have never heard of. Why don't you invent a time machine and I will buy the first ticket to go back to sample that era of time.

Mamahen said...

You always learn something intriguing at the Hermit's house :))