Seth Bullock

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Seth Bullock
Seth Bullock
Born	July 23, 1849

Seth Bullock (July 23, 1849 – September 23, 1919) was a western sheriff, hardware store owner and U.S. Marshal.

1 Early life
2 Deadwood
3 The Growth of Belle Fourche and the Bullock Hotel
4 Later Life and Death
5 External links
6 Sources

[edit] Early life

Many of the details of Bullock's early life are lost. He was born in Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada. His father, a retired British Army officer-turned fisherman named George Bullock, was known to be active in the politics of Sandwich, Ontario. Seth's mother was a Scottish woman named Anna Findley Bullock. Apparently not happy at home, 16-year-old Bullock ran away to Montana to live temporarily with his older sister, Jessie Bullock. By eighteen he had permanently left home. Some theorize that his father's military background may have set the tone for an overly strict home, while also planting the seed for the unbendable sense of morality and duty Bullock displayed in his life.

In 1867, Bullock became a resident of Helena, Montana where he had an unsuccessful run for the Territorial Legislature and a successful run for the Territorial Senate, serving in 1871 and 1872 and helping create Yellowstone National Park. In 1873 he was elected sheriff of Lewis and Clark County. Around this time, he and Sol Star opened a hardware store. In August, 1876, he and Star decided an untapped market for hardware existed in the gold rush town of Deadwood, South Dakota. The two purchased a lot in Deadwood from Sam Schwartzwald and Henry Beaman, and set up shop there as the "Office of Star and Bullock, Auctioneers and Commission Merchants", first in a tent and then a building.

[edit] Deadwood

Deadwood was a lawless, rowdy camp. The day after Bullock's arrival, the famed Wild Bill Hickok was shot in the back of the head by Jack McCall, who was later found not guilty by an impromptu camp court and released, after which he promptly left town. This was perhaps the last straw for the more settled town residents; in any event, a demand for law enforcement began, and Bullock's background made him the logical choice for Deadwood's first sheriff.

Bullock took his job seriously, deputizing several residents and tackling the job of civilizing the camp. Despite (or perhaps because of) a reputation for fearlessness and an uncompromising nature, Bullock managed the task without killing anyone. Bullock met his match, however, in Al Swearengen, proprietor of the notorious Gem Theater, Deadwood's most notable brothel. Swearengen had a knack for making money through vice, and shrewdly invested some of his profits in cultivating alliances with the camp's wealthy and powerful, so that Bullock's domain literally ended where Swearengen's began, on Main Street in front of the Gem.

When appointed Sheriff, one of Bullock's first duties was to confront the now famous Dodge City Marshal Wyatt Earp, who was possibly interested in the sheriff's job for himself. Bullock told Earp that his services weren't needed and that he should leave. A week later Earp left Deadwood to return to Dodge City.

Seth Bullock and Theodore Roosevelt

Deadwood having attained some stability, Bullock brought his wife Martha Eccles Bullock and daughter to town from her parents' home in Michigan, where they had been living during this period. (Contrary to the story in the TV series, Martha was not Bullock's brother's widow, but in fact had been Bullock's childhood sweetheart; the two had been married in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1874). They had one daughter, Margaret, at the time of Martha's arrival in Deadwood, and subsequently had another daughter, Florence, and a son, Stanley.

Bullock and Star purchased a ranch where Redwater Creek met the Belle Fourche River and dubbed it the S&B Ranch Company. Bullock is also credited with introducing alfalfa farming to South Dakota in 1881. Later he became a deputy U.S. marshal, partnered with Star and Harris Franklin in the Deadwood Flouring Mill, and invested in mining, the local growth industry. Bullock and Star eventually expanded their business interests to the towns of Spearfish, Sturgis, and Custer.

Bullock met Theodore Roosevelt, then a deputy sheriff from Medora, North Dakota in 1884 while bringing a horse thief known as Crazy Steve into custody on the range, near what would become the town of Belle Fourche. The two quickly became lifelong friends, Roosevelt later saying of Bullock, "Seth Bullock is a true Westerner, the finest type of frontiersman."

[edit] The Growth of Belle Fourche and the Bullock Hotel

Bullock and Star contributed further to the economic development of the region by convincing the Fremont, Elkhorn, and Missouri Valley Railroad to build a track, by offering them forty acres (162,000 m²) of free right-of-way across their land when a speculator purchased the right of way to Minnesela and demanded a high price from the railroad. The railroad built a station three miles northwest of Minnesela, South Dakota, in 1890, and Bullock and Star were instrumental in founding the town of Belle Fourche there, offering free lots to anyone moving from Minnesela. Belle Fourche became the largest railhead for livestock in the United States, and stole the county seat away from a declining Minnesela.

Bullock and Star's hardware store in Deadwood burned down in 1894. Rather than rebuild, they built Deadwood's first hotel on the site — a three story, 64-room luxury hotel with steam heat and indoor bathrooms on each floor, at a cost of $40,000. The Bullock Hotel continues to operate to this day, now incorporating a 24-hour casino.

[edit] Later Life and Death

Bullock's friendship with Roosevelt naturally led to his becoming a Captain of Troop A in Grigsby's Cowboy Regiment of Roosevelt's Rough Riders during the Spanish-American War; although the troop never left training camp in Louisiana before the war ended, Bullock still earned the title of captain. When Roosevelt became Vice President under President William McKinley, he appointed Bullock as the first forest supervisor of the Black Hills Reserve. After Roosevelt was elected president, Bullock organized fifty people (including Tom Mix) to ride in the inaugural parade in 1905. Bullock was then appointed U.S. Marshal for South Dakota for the next nine years. After Roosevelt's death in January of 1919, Bullock created a monument to him with the aid of the Black Hill Pioneers, dedicated on July 4, 1919, on Sheep Mountain, renamed Mount Roosevelt.

Bullock died of cancer shortly thereafter, in September of 1919, in his Deadwood home. He is buried in Mount Moriah Cemetery in Deadwood, along with Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane, his grave facing Mount Roosevelt.

Seth Bullock is one of the main characters in the HBO original series Deadwood, portrayed by actor Timothy Olyphant. There are some dramatic licenses taken that differ from actual history.